Environmental Change, Indigenous Knowledge, and Subsistence on Alaska's North Slope
The Scholar and Feminist Online, No. 7.1, Fall 2008
24 Pages Posted: 18 Sep 2009
Date Written: September 16, 2008
Abstract
In this article we discuss an ongoing research project that links the knowledge and experience of Iñupiat Eskimo elders, hunters, and berry harvesters with scientific observations and methods, to better understand environmental change on the Arctic Coastal Plain.[2] Quantitative scientific questions about climate-related changes to the Alaskan tundra are at the heart of our study, but this is also an interview-intensive interdisciplinary project that utilizes mixed methods and generates a range of "secondary" findings. Our primary goal here is to provide a preliminary presentation of some of the important qualitative data that has emerged from our interviews with Iñupiat participants concerning climate change, subsistence, community values, and women's roles. We also provide detail on the background, methods, and objectives of our research, to help readers better understand the situation in northern Alaska, and to present our methodology for assessment by a multidisciplinary and multicultural audience.
Keywords: climate change, tundra, Inupiaq, women
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