NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area, Sahtu Settlement Area, Dehcho Region, North Slave Region, South Slave Region, Qikiqtaaluk Region

Tags: native plants, traditional food, traditional knowledge, biodiversity, berries

Objective(s): To complete a territory-wide Indigenous knowledge study to determine what we know about berries, describe any changes that are being seen in berries, identify potential causes of these changes, and outline what further information needs to be collected.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5495. The goal of this project is to complete a territory-wide Indigenous knowledge study to determine what we know about berries, describe any changes that are being seen in berries, identify potential causes of these changes, and outline what further information needs to be collected. The completion of this work will result in: 1) the development of regional and overall results reports describing the status, trends, and threats to berries in the NWT; 2) a gaps report that will drive the research agenda in the territory on these topics in the future (thus representing a community-driven research project and agenda); 3) guidelines or best practices for completing community-based research linked to biodiversity; and, 4) community-identified resources, such as an NWT berry calendar or cookbook. Given reports of declines in the condition, size, and yield of berry plants, this work may be used to inform processes associated with species at risk, habitat, food security, and cultural continuity programming at appropriate levels of governance (Indigenous, territorial, regional, community). The identification of gaps in knowledge will be used to encourage and direct research on this topic in the future, based in either scientific or Indigenous knowledge, or a combination. Further, given the community-driven and Indigenous knowledge focus of this work, coupled with interdisciplinary participants from various sectors, the research team hope this work will facilitate building or strengthening relationships between governments and communities, and people and the land, and recognize more fully the relationships between berries/plants, the health of the land, and the health of the people that depend upon it. To meet these goals, flexible community-based knowledge documentation methods are being proposed. Methods that involve being on the land and storytelling will be prioritized, based on direction from the knowledge holders on the team and communities. A guiding set of interview themes and questions will be used in all communities. From there, methods will be tailored to the needs and preferences of each community. Methods may include one-on-one interviews with Indigenous knowledge holders in their preferred language and location, group discussion sessions, mapping (without needing to disclose specific berry picking locations), presentations, and publications. This approach will produce results that can be comparable across communities while ensuring that processes are suited to the needs and preferences of each community. Interviewees and participants will be selected by regional representatives and interviews will be conducted with regional language experts. Ultimately, the research team want to ensure that all participants can share their experiences – and their reality – of berries, versus having the team make assumptions of how people relate to, know, and use these plants in their daily lives. Interview questions have been drafted and focus on themes associated with the health and productivity of berries (e.g., good conditions/habitat for berries, timing of berry picking), changes being seen in berries (including potential causes of those changes), and socio-cultural importance and uses (e.g., berry picking history, types of berries picked/used, parts used, ways used, stories/ practices/ ceremonies/ teachings, barriers to picking). Knowledge mobilization is an important component of this project and will include digitization of interview recordings and transcripts, map data, and results to ensure they are readily available to communities/regional authorities that own the data. Data sharing agreement will be pursued with appropriate authorities. As noted previously, regional results reports will be published, summarizing research results in each region. Further, an overall results report summarizing results for the NWT as a whole, a guidance/best practices report detailing recommendations for completing similar work in the territory, and a gaps report providing direction for future research will be published following project completion. Translation of these documents in their entirety will likely be prohibitively costly and potentially of limited utility. As such, the research team will pursue translation of summaries of these products only so that the results are accessible across the territory at least in abridged format. To ensure results are accessible to a broad audience, we will pursue alternatives for sharing results, including videos, animations, fact sheets, recipe books covering traditional uses of berries, calendars with flowering/harvesting times, social media, etc. The results may support future reporting and decision-making and will be reported to co-management authorities in the NWT. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from March 3, 2023 to December 31, 2023.