NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Dehcho Region

Tags: social sciences, environmental monitoring, traditional knowledge, economic development, tourism, nature-based tourism, Dehcho, environmental stewardship, Indigenous guardians, Indigenous enironmental stewardship, traditional ecological knowledge

Objective(s): To incorporate Traditional Knowledge in environmental monitoring efforts and to articulate and implement a vision for conservation-related economic development, including work on ecological and cultural tourism, as well as efforts to establish a protected area.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5436. Over the next three years, research conducted with Sambaa K’e First Nations (SKFN) will support increased tools and capacity to incorporate Traditional Knowledge (TK) in environmental monitoring efforts. This includes developing Geographical Information System (GIS) capability to map TK observations of environmental conditions and incorporate those observations within monitoring frameworks. Another branch of the research will support community efforts to articulate and implement a vision for conservation-related economic development, including work on ecological and cultural tourism, as well as efforts to establish a protected area. The research team will be conducting participatory action research, which means collaborating with the community to advance towards the goals. Data collection will include engagement with staff, leadership, knowledge holders and youth in the community. This engagement will take various forms: 1) Interviews (n=15); 2) Focus groups (n=3-6); 3) Workshops (2Xn, n=15-25); and 4) Participant observation The research team will conduct interviews 30-120 minutes in length. Interviews will be recorded digitally. Recordings made during the research will be transcribed in part or in whole, with translation from Dene Zhatie´ into English as necessary. If they wish, participants will receive a transcript of their interviews for verification. Focus groups will be recorded digitally. Recordings made during the research will be transcribed in part or in whole, with translation from Dene Zhatie´ into English as necessary. If they wish, participants will receive a transcript of their interviews for verification. The research team will hold workshops. Parts of workshops will be recorded digitally. Recordings made during the research will be transcribed in part or in whole, with translation from Dene Zhatie´ into English as necessary. COMMUNITY-BASED MAPPING will be conducted to recorded location data and TK observations of environmental change on a GPS device. Audio recordings may be made of discussions about locations of importance. Field notes will also be taken regarding the environmental change observations. Recordings made during the research will be transcribed in part or in whole, with translation from Dene Zhatie´ into English as necessary. A translator will be present for interviews, focus groups, workshops, and community-based mapping where necessary, for those who wish to participate in the research in Dene Zhatie´. Researchers will take notes in a private setting to record their recollection of conversations and observations made during activities and conversations within the community. Regular communication with SKFN staff and leadership, including in-person meetings, has already taken place to ensure the research is aligned with community priorities and protocols. This will continue during the remainder of the research process. Further, extended time spent in the community (4-12 weeks) will ensure that strong and trusting relationships are built, based on in-person collaboration. Primary communication and planning has been and will continue to be conducted with the environment coordinator in Sambaa K'e, with additional communication also with the Band Manager. The researchers will also meet with Chief and Council while in Sambaa K’e to share progress on the research with them. The research findings will be shared in a report for community leadership, with a short summary, potentially in poster format, also made available for community members. The research team will take further direction from the SKFN counterparts to ensure that community-facing communication throughout the project is effective. Any scholarly outputs from the research will only be undertaken with the approval of our community counterparts, and plain-language summaries of such outputs will be made available to SKFN staff and leadership. Pending approval of SKFN leadership, the team will also communicate research outputs to Dehcho First Nations and other communities in the Dehcho region with whom we are currently also conducting research. This includes Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation and Jean Marie River First Nation. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from February 20, 2023 to June 30, 2023.