Ice over troubled waters: Navigating the Northwest Passage using Inuit Knowledge and scientific information

Sea ice throughout the Arctic is undergoing profound and rapid change. While ice conditions in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago have historically been more stable than conditions in the open ocean, a growing body of evidence indicates that the major thoroughfares in much of the western and central Canadian Arctic, including the Northwest Passage, are increasingly vulnerable to climatic forcing events. This is confirmed by the observations of Inuit elders and experienced hunters in the communities of Cambridge Bay, a hamlet along Dease Strait, and Kugluktuk, a hamlet situated at the mouth of the Coppermine River where it meets Coronation Gulf. People in these hamlets now face new navigational challenges due to sea-ice change. Navigation practices described by elders and hunters reflect an intimate knowledge of the land and ice topography, currents, and weather conditions for hundreds of kilometers around their communities, although people reported increasing unpredictable weather and ice conditions, making travel more treacherous. Many emphasized the importance of traditional knowledge and survival skills as necessary to adapt to ongoing and impending changes. They expressed particular concern that younger generations are untrained in traditional navigation practices, landscape- and weather-reading abilities, and survival practices. However, elders and hunters also stressed the need for more localized weather information derived from weather stations to help with navigation, as current weather and ice conditions are unprecedented in their lifetimes.

John Richardson's ‘missing’ Arctic journal, 6–29 October 1821

ABSTRACTThe 1819–1822 overland Arctic expedition led by John Franklin was one of the most disastrous in polar history. In 1821, 20 men travelled to the Arctic Ocean by way of the Coppermine River; only nine of them survived. John Richardson's expedition journal, as published by C. Stuart Houston in 1984, is incomplete. There are no entries between 7 and 29 October 1821, even though five of the 11 deaths (some or possibly all of them by murder) occurred during this critical period. The omission of these events from the journal on which Houston's edition was based has raised suspicions that the account published in Franklin's 1823 narrative may be inaccurate. This article prints the ‘missing’ journal entries, which were located in the files of the Colonial Office, and analyses the differences between these previously unknown entries and the 1823 account.

Vascular plant biodiversity of the lower Coppermine River valley and vicinity (Nunavut, Canada): an annotated checklist of an Arctic flora

The Coppermine River in western Nunavut is one of Canada’s great Arctic rivers, yet its vascular plant flora is poorly known. Here, we report the results of a floristic inventory of the lower Coppermine River valley and vicinity, including Kugluk (Bloody Falls) Territorial Park and the hamlet of Kugluktuk. The study area is approximately 1,200 km2, extending from the forest-tundra south of the treeline to the Arctic coast. Vascular plant floristic data are based on a review of all previous collections from the area and more than 1,200 new collections made in 2014. Results are presented in an annotated checklist, including citation of all specimens examined, comments on taxonomy and distribution, and photographs for a subset of taxa. The vascular plant flora comprises 300 species (311 taxa), a 36.6% increase from the 190 species documented by previous collections made in the area over the last century, and is considerably more diverse than other local floras on mainland Nunavut. We document 207 taxa for Kugluk (Bloody Falls) Territorial Park, an important protected area for plants on mainland Nunavut. A total of 190 taxa are newly recorded for the study area. Of these, 14 taxa (13 species and one additional variety) are newly recorded for Nunavut (Allium schoenoprasum,Carex capitata,Draba lonchocarpa,Eremogone capillarissubsp.capillaris,Sabulina elegans,Eleocharis quinqueflora,Epilobiumcf.anagallidifolium,Botrychium neolunaria,Botrychium tunux,Festuca altaica,Polygonum aviculare,Salix ovalifoliavar.arctolitoralis,Salix ovalifoliavar.ovalifoliaandStuckenia pectinata), seven species are newly recorded for mainland Nunavut (Carex gynocrates,Carex livida,Cryptogramma stelleri,Draba simmonsii,Festuca viviparoideasubsp.viviparoidea,Juncus alpinoarticulatussubsp.americanusandSalix pseudomyrsinites) and 56 range extensions are reported. ThepsbA-trnHandrbcLDNA sequence data were used to help identify the threeBotrychiumtaxa recorded in the study area. Three new combinations are proposed:Petasites frigidussubsp.sagittatus(Banks ex Pursh) Saarela,Carex petricosasubsp.misandroides(Fernald) Saarela andCarex simpliciusculasubsp.subholarctica(T. V. Egorova) Saarela.

New Northern Records for Townsend’s Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi) in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories

On 10 May 2015, a Townsend’s Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi) was observed near the hamlet of Kugluktuk in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut. This represents the first record for the territory and the first observation above the canadian tree line. We discuss new data from the Northwest Territories of singing males recorded by autonomous recording units, which may represent breeding evidence at the northeastern limit of the species’ range. We summarize other observations of this species across northwestern canada and describe the ecology of the lower coppermine River.