Animistic pragmatism and native ways of knowing: adaptive strategies for responding to environmental change and overcoming the struggle for food in the Arctic

ABSTRACTClimate change is already being experienced in the Arctic with implications for ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. This paper argues that an assessment of community vulnerability to climate change requires knowledge of past experience with climate conditions, responses to climatic variations, future climate change projections, and non-climate factors that influence people's susceptibility and adaptive capacity. The paper documents and describes exposure sensitivities to climate change experienced in the community of Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories and the adaptive strategies employed. It is based on collaborative research involving semi-structured interviews, secondary sources of information, and participant observations. In the context of subsistence hunting, changes in temperature, seasonal patterns (for example timing and nature of the spring melt), sea ice and wind dynamics, and weather variability have affected the health and availability of some species of wildlife important for subsistence and have exacerbated risks associated with hunting and travel. Inuit in Ulukhaktok are coping with these changes by taking extra precautions when travelling, shifting modes of transportation, travel routes and hunting areas to deal with changing trail conditions, switching species harvested, and supplementing their diet with store bought foods. Limited access to capital resources, changing levels of traditional knowledge and land skills, and substance abuse were identified as key constraints to adaptation. The research demonstrates the need to consider the perspectives and experiences of local people for climate change research to have practical relevance to Arctic communities such as for the development and promotion of adaptive strategies.

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Environmental Change in the Arctic and Antarctic

The SAGE Handbook of Environmental Change: Volume 2 ◽

10.4135/9781446253052.n35 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 245-261

Author(s):

Marianne S.V. Douglas

Keyword(s):

Environmental Change ◽

The Arctic

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Well-being and environmental change in the arctic: a synthesis of selected research from Canada’s International Polar Year program

Climatic Change ◽

10.1007/s10584-012-0588-0 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 115 (1) ◽

pp. 13-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Brenda Parlee ◽

Chris Furgal

Keyword(s):

Environmental Change ◽

Well Being ◽

The Arctic ◽

International Polar Year ◽

International Polar

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Environmental change in the Arctic region

Polar Oceans Governance in an Era of Environmental Change ◽

10.4337/9781781955451.00011 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 42-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lorne Kriwoken

Keyword(s):

Environmental Change ◽

Arctic Region ◽

The Arctic ◽

The Arctic Region

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Late Holocene glacier and climate reconstruction from proglacial records in Vatnsdalur, northern Iceland.

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-809 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Konstantin Nebel ◽

Timothy Lane ◽

Kathryn Adamson ◽

Iestyn Barr ◽

Willem van der Bilt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Environmental Change ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Late Holocene ◽

Sediment Cores ◽

Arctic Region ◽

Arctic Climate ◽

The Arctic ◽

Air Masses ◽

Proglacial Lake

The Arctic region is experiencing surface air temperature increase of twice the global average. To better understand Holocene Arctic climate variability, there is the need for continuous, high-resolution palaeoclimate archives. Sediment cores from proglacial lakes can provide such climate archives, and have the potential to record past environmental change in detail.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Vatnsdalur, a valley in northern Iceland, hosts small, climatically sensitive cirque glaciers that became independent from the Iceland Ice Sheet after its retreat following the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 15 ka BP). Importantly, this region is located at the confluence of warm water and air masses from the south and cold polar water and air masses from the north, making it highly sensitive to North Atlantic and Arctic climate change. However, at present the region is highly understudied, lacking any high-resolution climate reconstructions.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;To address this, we combine geomorphological mapping with the first high-resolution analysis of proglacial lake sediments, to thoroughly examine northern Iceland Late Holocene environmental change.Field mapping supplemented by high-resolution drone data was used to characterise catchment geomorphology, including seven Holocene moraines. A sediment core (SKD-P1-18) from proglacial lake Skei&#240;svatn, Vatnsdalur, was analysed for sedimentological (dry bulk density, loss-on-ignition, grain size), geophysical (magnetic susceptibility) and geochemical (X-ray fluorescence core scan, 2 mm resolution) parameters. &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; We identify three main sedimentary facies from these analyses, indicating variations in glacial input and catchment environmental conditions. Radiocarbon dating of lake macrofossils, supplemented by tephrochronology, provides a chronological framework. Catchment point samples, also analysed using the above analytical techniques, were used for sediment fingerprinting to disentangle non-glacial from glacial end-members.Our results indicate the disappearance and reformation of small, climatically sensitive cirque glaciers in Vatnsdalur during the Holocene. We interpret the data to show an abrupt return to a glaciated catchment. Our results fill a geographical gap of high-resolution proglacial sediment studies in the Arctic-North Atlantic region.

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Arctic (in)security and Indigenous peoples: Comparing Inuit in Canada and Sámi in Norway

Security Dialogue ◽

10.1177/0967010616665957 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 47 (6) ◽

pp. 461-480 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Wilfrid Greaves

Keyword(s):

International Relations ◽

Environmental Change ◽

Indigenous Peoples ◽

Social Inclusion ◽

Social Issues ◽

Arctic Region ◽

Security Studies ◽

The Arctic ◽

Related Field ◽

Security Issues

While international relations has increasingly begun to recognize the political salience of Indigenous peoples, the related field of security studies has not significantly incorporated Indigenous peoples either theoretically or empirically. This article helps to address this gap by comparing two Arctic Indigenous peoples – Inuit in Canada and Sámi in Norway – as ‘securitizing actors’ within their respective states. It examines how organizations representing Inuit and Sámi each articulate the meaning of security in the circumpolar Arctic region. It finds that Inuit representatives have framed environmental and social challenges as security issues, identifying a conception of Arctic security that emphasizes environmental protection, preservation of cultural identity, and maintenance of Indigenous political autonomy. While there are some similarities between the two, Sámi generally do not employ securitizing language to discuss environmental and social issues, rarely characterizing them as existential issues threatening their survival or wellbeing. Drawing on securitization theory, this article proposes three factors to explain why Inuit have sought to construct serious challenges in the Arctic as security issues while Sámi have not: ecological differences between the Canadian and Norwegian Arctic regions, and resulting differences in experience of environmental change; the relative degree of social inclusion of Inuit and Sámi within their non-Indigenous majority societies; and geography, particularly the proximity of Norway to Russia, which results in a more robust conception of national security that restricts space for alternative, non-state security discourses. This article thus links recent developments in security studies and international relations with key trends in Indigenous politics, environmental change, and the geopolitics of the Arctic region.

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