NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: social sciences, caribou, traditional knowledge, wildfire

Objective(s): To document todzi sites associated with habitat that remain undisturbed and others where habitat has been burned by wildfires.

Project Description: The long-term objective of this project is to document todzi (boreal caribou) sites associated with habitat that remain undisturbed and others where habitat has been burned by wildfires. The research team will focus on the research/monitoring questions of ‘when do todzi return to and stay in an area that has been burnt. This year the team is scoping places where todzi have been watched and hunted over time. The team will first meet to determine the base camp and the most likely places to be studied. Places with significant habitats will be selected by the harvesters and elders. They will also consider places known to be frequented by todzi and impacted by wildfires between 1966 to 2014 as well as places not impacted by wildfires that are frequented by todzi. The elders have already suggested islands and points with key vegetation, soil, and animals. The team will then set the parameters of the site according to how the elders see the place. Once a place is selected as a site to watch, the researchers will use: i) Global Positioning System (GPS) to set the boundaries, ii) document plants and animals, and iii) any information from the past the elders and harvester think is important. For example, the year of the fires are known. The research team anticipate the elders and harvesters will share their knowledge of fire severity, and how, when and what vegetation and animals return before and after todzi returned to that part of their range. It should be noted that the team discusses the project, and then follow those who have the knowledge and intelligence (elders and harvesters) to show and explain what we need to do. The scoping of significant places will be the basis of future monitoring using Tlicho ways of monitoring. Over the long-term the information gathered can be used in curriculum and culturally as well as when making environmental decisions. The elders asked for the project to be conducted. The research team consists of Tlicho citizens, and they will be using narratives to think about how their knowledge will be used to monitor todzi habitat in the future. The team plans to have a display at the Tlicho Gathering in Behchoko where the Tlicho Government will be celebrating a decade since Tlicho Land Claim and Self Government Agreement was finalized. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from June 15, 2015 to July 17, 2015.