NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: traditional knowledge, land use, management planning

Objective(s): To document Aklavik Inuvialuit Traditional Use (hunting, trapping, fishing, collection of berries, camp locations, travel routes, etc.) and Traditional Knowledge related to focal species in the context of renewing the Yukon North Slope Conservation and Management Plan.

Project Description: To document Aklavik Inuvialuit Traditional Use (hunting, trapping, fishing, collection of berries, camp locations, travel routes, etc.) and some Traditional Knowledge related to focal species in the context of renewing the Yukon North Slope Conservation and Management Plan. Over a 4-5 week period starting in February 2015, the Principle Investigator (PI) and a community co-researcher will interview approximately 35 Inuvialuit harvesters with respect to their Traditional Use of land, water and ice in the Mackenzie Delta and Yukon North Slope. A Data Collection Manual, including a structured map biography survey, will be used to document Inuvialuit subsistence use areas, camp locations, and travel routes. Depending on the results of methods pretesting a second questionnaire-based survey will be conducted which asks Traditional Knowledge Holders to describe habitat features associated with focal species. Interview audio recordings will be transcribed and returned to interviewees for validation. Spatial data will be digitized and organized/managed in a geodatabase that will be used for analytical and cartographic output purposes. Draft results and thematic maps related to Traditional Use & Traditional Knowledge documented during the community interviews will be presented for confirmation/validation to community members in one or more workshops and a public meeting. The Aklavik Hunters and Trappers Committee (HTC) and the Wildlife Management Advisory Committee North Slope will also review draft results and reports related to the research. Data from the Traditional Use and Traditional Knowledge components will be used by Round River Conservation Studies in developing a renewed Yukon North Slope Wildlife Conservation and Management Plan. Aklavik HTC is directly involved in planning all stages of the proposed research. One or more local, Inuvialuit co-researchers will be retained to assist with the research (community interviews, community communications and confirmation/validation meetings). Community consultations and a methods pre-test will be held in AklaviK. Draft results and thematic maps related to Traditional Use documented during the interviews will be presented for confirmation/validation to community members in one or more workshops and a public meeting. The Aklavik HTC and Wildlife Management Advisory Committee North Slope will also review draft results and reports related to the research. MS-Power Point presentations will be prepared in plain English bullet format with graphics for the workshops and public meetings as well as reporting meetings with the Aklavik HTC. Plain English summaries of the final and/or summary reports will be prepared. Public communication with respect to the project will be conducted through the Aklavik HTC using community posters, the AHTC Facebook group, and other means to be determined by the Aklavik HTC. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from February 11, 2015 to December 31, 2015.