NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Dehcho Region

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

Objective(s): To increase tools and capacity to incorporate Traditional Knowledge (TK) in environmental monitoring efforts.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5798. Over the next three years, research conducted with Sombaa K’e First Nation will support increased tools and capacity to incorporate Traditional Knowledge (TK) in environmental monitoring efforts. This includes developing 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. Broadly speaking, participatory action research will be conducted, which means collaborating with the community to advance towards its goals. Data collection will include engagement with staff, leadership, knowledge holders and youth in the community. 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. 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. Location data and TK observations of environmental change will be recorded 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´. Honorariums will be provided, with amounts varying across the research activities and being determined on a case-by-case basis in conversation with Sombaa K’e First Nation staff and leadership. Researchers will take notes in a private setting to record their recollections of conversations and observations made during activities and conversations within the community. Please see the attached Participant Observation Ethics Protocol for more details. Regular communication with Sombaa K’e First Nation 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, Jessica Jumbo, with additional communication also with the Band Manager, Ruby Jumbo. 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 researchers will take further direction from our Sombaa K’e First Nation 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 Sombaa K’e First Nation staff and leadership. Pending approval of Sombaa K’e First Nation leadership, the researchers 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: January 15 - February 16, 2024 May 13 - May 30, 2024