Traditional Ecological Knowledge Research in the
Kache Tue Study Region
Organization / Researcher: Lutselk'e Dene First Nation / Brenda Parlee
Length of Project: 2.5 years (1998-2001)
Personnel involved: At least 14 including members of the Lutselk'e Dene First Nation Elders' Committee, members of the Band council, the Wildlife, Lands and Environment Committee, other community members and the researchers. The project employed three researchers and two full time local trainees.
Total Project Expenditures: $395,536
This project recorded traditional knowledge of Chipewyan elders from Lutselk'e on the ecology of the Kache Tue study region, an area north from the shores of the East Arm of Great Slave Lake to just south of MacKay and Clinton Colden lakes. Kache Tue is a sub-region of a larger area called Katthinyne, an area of great diversity and abundance, the traditional territory of the Lutselk'e Dene. The information collected includes traditional land use, significant cultural/spiritual sites and Chipewyan terminology. Key species, their habitat and the effects of resource development on them were the main focus. One important objective was to use traditional knowledge to establish indicators of ecosystem health as a tool for future cumulative effects monitoring.
An Elders Committee and Steering Committee directed the course of the research, with the elders being the main source of information. Researchers worked with elders to understand the meaning of their stories, and document them in written form and with maps. Workshops were audio/video recorded, and a Geographic Information System (GIS) developed so the information would be easy to find and understand. Community researchers were trained in research methods and associated skills. Training included: the use of audio/video equipment, Chipewyan literacy and terminology, translating and transcribing, data management, and GIS mapping.
The project made use of trips on the land as a way to stimulate participants' memory recall. Terminology for place names, wildlife and vegetation was collected and verified, along with knowledge about wildlife behaviour and habitat of the various species of migratory birds, fish, caribou, and fur-bearers. Results of this phase of the project provided preliminary indicators for the health of these species, including:
-
caribou: abundance, changes in migration routes, body fat, changes in behaviour, respect shown by people to the animals; and
- fur-bearers: abundance, fur quality (poor quality indicating changing climate).
The indicators were refined and then analyzed in the context of indicators of community health collected during a previous study, Traditional Knowledge of Community Health 1997. This analysis found that ecological health is inextricably linked with community health, reflecting the close ties between the people and the land.
A system of ecosystem classification was also developed with elders, landscapes being divided into four main types:
flat land (subdivided into several types including treeline sheltered with dry wood, high ground,
barrenlands sheltered with small trees, and barrenlands with boulders);
wet land (including hummocky land, barrenland marsh and treeline marsh);
rocky areas (barrenlands with rounded rocky areas, barrenlands with pointed rocky areas); and
eskers (divided into esker sides and esker tops).
These habitats were described in detail in terms of their features and uses.
Elders also reviewed ecological changes; they catalogued the natural changes normally expected through the seasons, and also "unnatural" changes due to development, climatic change, declining water levels and increasing fires.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Kaché Tué Study Region Final Report June 2001
Traditional Knowledge in the Kaché Tué Study Region Final Report May 2002