NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: social sciences, geography, land use management, place names

Objective(s): To establish a community-directed cultural landscape management framework, capable of being updated as Inuvialuit perspectives and priorities change, and as new information becomes available; and to generate information and GIS spatial data for use in land-use planning, impact assessments, and proactive efforts at lands and heritage management.

Project Description: The goals of this project involve establishing a community-directed cultural landscape management framework, capable of being updated in an iterative manner as Inuvialuit perspectives and priorities change over time, and as new information about specific locations and climate related impacts become available. The research being proposed will result in the completion of the Inuvialuit Place Names Project in cooperation with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation’s (IRC's) Research and Support Services (RSS) office. The project will also generate information and geographic information system (GIS) spatial data for use by the IRC and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre which are capable of being applied in land-use planning, impact assessments, and proactive efforts at lands and heritage management more generally. The project has been designed to take place over three stages: 1) Inuvialuit Place Names Project: The Principal Investigator (PI) will be working in concert with the IRC’s Research and Support Services (RSS) office to complete the digitization of nearly 4000 place names. This work will involve reviewing dozens of reports and numerous interview transcripts to record details of named places within a GIS spatial dataset. This information is controlled entirely by the RSS office and my access to it will be governed by non-disclosure and information sharing agreements being prepared by the RSS office. 2) Community meetings and interviews: A series of map-interviews will be conducted with community members to confirm place name details, as well as to record perspectives pertaining to: a) places deemed culturally significant which have not already been recorded; b) how different aspects of heritage are deemed significant among contemporary Inuvialuit; and c) to encourage feedback on what constitutes the ‘proper management’ of Inuvialuit cultural landscapes. Elders and knowledge holders will be recruited with the aid of the RSS office and Hunters and Trappers Committees (HTC's. Paper maps and audio recording equipment will be available to help collect information shared by participants at each session, but the option will be given to decline having interviews recorded. 3) Fieldwork: A survey of the Toker Point area is being planned for the summer of 2019. The region will be documented over the span of two weeks using a variety of survey methods, including ‘drone’ mapping, pedestrian surveys using formalized archaeological survey techniques, differential GPS recording methods to ensure a high degree of spatial accuracy, and extensive photographic documentation. Archaeological remains observed during survey will be documented in-situ and will not be collected, nor will materials or features related to current land-use practices be disturbed in any way. The core goals of the ‘Cultural Landscapes of Kugmallit Bay’ project are to increase the level of Inuvialuit involvement in heritage management decision making processes and to establish an open ended set of ‘best practices’ capable of informing cultural landscape management efforts which are both socially relevant and culturally appropriate. The project has been designed with guidance from the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation’s Research and Support Services office, which has resulted in the establishment of a mutually beneficial arrangement to coordinate efforts on completing the Inuvialuit Place Names Project. Fieldwork plans will involve assistance of a wildlife monitor from the community of Tuktoyaktuk, in consultation with the Tuktoyaktuk Hunters and Trappers Committee. The field program will also yield an opportunity for an Inuvialuit student of high school or college age to hold a position as a crew member. This position will involve an opportunity to spend two weeks camping at Toker Point and provide experience with modern survey methods such as remotely piloted vehicle (drone) mapping techniques. In order to provide information about the doctoral research that this new project is based on and to generate public interest in the upcoming map-interview sessions, the PI has published an article in the fall 2018 issue of Tusaayaksat Magazine. The PI intends to continue working with the staff of the Inuvialuit Communications Society to produce further articles for Tusaayaksat on topics of public interest related to this project. I will continue to maintain a strong track record of academic publications and conference attendance in the coming year. The PI has been invited to give a paper at the Canadian Archaeological Association conference in Quebec City in May 2019, and am currently working on a publication which details the specific GIS methods to be used (Grounded Visualization) as they relate to this postdoctoral research project. The PI also plans to seek out opportunities to deliver guest lectures for schools in Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik on the topic of climate change impacts to ancestral materials and cultural landscapes. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from February 5, 2019 to August 31, 2019.