NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Sahtu Settlement Area

Tags: petroleum industry, oil development, Indigenous knowledge, cumulative impacts, Indigenous guardians, Imperial Oil, Community Conservation Planning, Closure and Reclamation, oil extraction

Objective(s): To explore Dene and Me´tis knowledge about the cumulative impacts of a century of petroleum operations at Norman Wells and downstream, supporting meaningful Indigenous contributions to decisions about closure and reclamation, strengthening Indigenous stewardship roles, and providing education and training for youth.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5438. This project will explore Dene and Me´tis knowledge about the cumulative impacts (CI) of a century of petroleum operations at Norman Wells and downstream, supporting meaningful Indigenous contributions to decisions about closure and reclamation, strengthening Indigenous stewardship roles, and providing education and training for youth. Intended outcomes of this research are: 1. Compile an archive of documented sources about the history and CI of petroleum extraction at Norman Wells with a focus on sources including Indigenous experiences and perspectives, and interpret materials through a study circle including university and community collaborators. 2. Document oral histories with a focus on Indigenous knowledge about CI on fish, water and to?dzi. 3. "Ground truth" current evidence of CI through boots on the ground observation by Ne? K'?´di´ Ke - Keepers of the Land. 4. Interpret current CI observations in light of historical knowledge through dialogue between Ne? K'?´di´ Ke and elders. 5. Facilitate dialogue between Dene/Me´tis knowledge holders/Ne? K'?´di´ Ke/youth and scientists about CI of petroleum extraction at Norman Wells. 6. Contribute to community planning, proposal review and input to the Sahtu´ Land and Water Board on closure and reclamation of the Norman Wells Proven Area, including design of a Ne? K'?´di´ Ke program to monitor activities. 7. Contribute community presentations at the SRRB's 2022 Public Listening (Hearing) on the topic of Knowledge about Caribou and Landscapes, and the 2024 Public Listening (Hearing) on the topic of Caribou Conservation and the Sahtu´ Mixed Economy. 8. In partnership with the Gwich'in Tribal Council's River Journeys project, train youth in video production and produce short videos about Indigenous knowledge and science related to CI of the Norman Wells petroleum extraction history, to be compiled as a feature documentary film. This community driven project will be guided by the Working Group (Ne? K’? Dene Ts’i?li? Forum). The methodology will be developed by the Working Group. Mixed methods for each of the key objectives, focus group approach to interpreting archival materials. The research will be completed through six main activities – a slowed pacing provides flexibility in case of COVID-19 contingencies: 1. Archival research and collaborative interpretation of archival materials bringing together academic and community-based highly qualified personnel (HQP) (Years 1 and 2). 2. Oral histories with knowledge holders (Years 1 and 2). 3. Dialogue with scientists and other specialists through the Ne? K’? Dene Ts’i?li? Forum(Years 1-3). 4. Ne? K’?´di´ Ke training and ground-truthing cumulative impacts through field work to be designed in the upcoming year (Year 2). 5. Closure and reclamation planning through workshops (Year 3). 6. River Journeys: Development of short videos (Years 1 and 2) and compilation of a documentary video through workshops with youth and knowledge holders (Year 3). The Memorial University collaborators have already identified a body of relevant material stretching from the 1930s to the 1980s, including government documents, technical reports, sound recordings, and photographs at Library and Archives Canada (Ottawa), Glenbow Archives (Calgary), and at the NWT Archives (Yellowknife). Oral histories (Years 1 and 2) This method will include both compilation of existing recorded oral histories, as well as recording of new oral histories. The approach to new oral histories will first be developed through study circle sessions reviewing and interpreting questions arising from documented historical context as well as community knowledge. This includes: refining questions, identifying people to be interviewed, and developing an approach to training and mentoring youth to elicit oral histories. The second round of design will be through training sessions with youth participating in the River Journeys program. Interviews will be oriented to eliciting meaningful stories, as well as any remembered impacts that might be included in a plan for ground-truthing. Where possible interviews will include mapping, and will be audio or video recorded and transcribed with participant consent. Participants will be invited to workshop any products arising from these oral histories, and will have an opportunity to validate/verify in context any videos or texts in which their contributions appear. Dialogue with scientists and other specialists (Years 1-3) Regular exchanges with scientists conducting related research will take place during study circle sessions and topically focused meetings of the Ne? K’? Dene Ts’i?li? Forum. This will also be an opportunity for knowledge dissemination about Indigenous knowledge and science research considering CI of petroleum extraction. Scientific CI research and monitoring projects to be included in study circle sessions include but are not limited to: Contaminants (PAHs, mercury) in the Mackenzie River and fish health assessments: The development of new genetic screening tools to assess stressors (Marlene Evans, Environment and Climate Change Canada/ECCC); Sahtu´ Human Biomonitoring Project (Brian Laird, University of Waterloo); Hydrocarbon-derived compounds (anthropogenic and natural) in water bodies in the Sahtú (Kirsty Gurney, ECCC); Can boreal caribou coexist with human development in Northern Canada? Forecasting land use changes using resource development potential mapping to improve boreal caribou future forecasts; Arctic Salmon - Building capacity and assessing interactions among salmon and Arctic fishes in the Mackenzie River (Karen Dunmall, Fisheries and Oceans Canada). Ground truthing (Year 2) Knowledge holders will travel with young Ne? K’?´di´ Ke in areas of the Norman Wells Proven Area designated by knowledge holders in order to document (by video where possible) and discuss impacts of petroleum extraction. Training for this will include Indigenous knowledge methods, and NWT Lands Department and/or Environment and Natural Resources staff will be asked to assist with basic training in science-based monitoring skills. The ground truthing team will collaboratively develop an optimal “mixed method” of achieving their objectives in documenting presently evident impacts as part of the training. Focus groups with knowledge holders in the communities will provide opportunities for comparing historical and current observations. Closure and reclamation planning (Year 3) Participants will develop a vision, situation analysis (threats, causes of threats, objectives, indicators), and results chain (activities to achieve results, harms reduced) for water, fish, todzi and people in the Norman Wells Proven Area, and for water and fish, downstream, based on Indigenous knowledge and science gathered and collectively analysed through the study circles. This work is designed based on the Australian Indigenous Healthy Country Planning model and will be the basis for preparing community contributions to closure and reclamation planning, including plans for post-closure environmental monitoring. Participants will also review key features of plans submitted by industry, considering implications in terms of cumulative impacts through an Indigenous knowledge lens and in dialogue with collaborating scientists. Year 1 (2021-2022) Year 1 will focus on collection and review of archival and other literature with the help of a Memorial University graduate research assistant working in the archives and collaboratively interpreting materials in a study circle setting, and initiation of oral history work through the River Journeys project. The archival research team will undertake a targeted search and retrieval of archival documents and secondary (published) sources related to the Norman Wells development. The project will engage contract researchers in Ottawa, Calgary, and Yellowknife to retrieve material from Library and Archives Canada, Glenbow Archives, and the NWT Archives, respectively. A review of relevant secondary sources, including studies by anthropologists, historians, and geographers, will also be completed. Results will be communicated to partnering communities through a combination of various media (which may include posters, newsletters, public presentations, presentations at schools, Ne? K’? Dene Ts’i?li? Forum meetings and to partnering organisations, video and Facebook posts) as directed by the project team and partnering communities, and depending on team capacity. The project will be featured on the Sahtú Renewable Resources Board website, www.srrb.nt.ca. The research team will also take opportunities to present to the larger NWT public opportunistically through conferences. Regarding the interviews with community members, a draft report will be provided to them for review and comment prior to being made publicly available. A final report will be provided to the Sahtú Renewable Resource board, CIMP and all Sahtú communities for use in their community conservation planning. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from January 20, 2023 to December 31, 2023.