Tuktu and Nogak Project
(Revised December 2000)
Organization / Researcher: Simon Fraser University and the Tuktu and Nogak Board, Natasha Thorpe, Margo Kadlun (1999-2000), Sandra Eyegetok (1997-1999, 2001)
Length of Project: 3.7 years (1997-2000)
Personnel Involved: At least 60 including 35 Inuit elders and members of the Qitirmiut Elders and Hunters, researchers and academics, interviewers, translators and transcribers, and local students.
Total Project Expenditures: $365,616
This project recorded traditional knowledge of Inuit elders in Umingmaktuk and Kingauk, Hanigayak (Brown Sound), Cambridge Bay (Ikaluktuuttiak) and Kugluktuk. It is an impressive example of many people working towards a common goal: to assist northern agencies, communities and interest groups in making informed decisions by collecting and providing key baseline information about mainland caribou and calving areas in the Bathurst Inlet area. The information gathered builds on the Naonayaotit Study sponsored by the Kitikmeot Hunters' and Trappers' Association, which used questionnaires to collect information from community members.
The research was directed by an elders advisory committee to ensure the project was community driven. Senior research partners and youth assistants from the communities were trained to review other studies done in the area, develop guiding questions and coordinate the project within the communities. Elders and researchers visited places on the land familiar to elders to promote discussion and sharing of information; an elder/youth camp, held in 1998 at the Hiuktak River, was an important vehicle for collecting the elders' knowledge. Community researchers recorded the information on audio and video tape, then translated and documented the knowledge and entered it into a Geographic Information System (GIS). A two week elders writing workshop took place from late October to early November 1999 to determine direction for the final report, and a writing committee was formed to oversee the writing of it. The draft report was reviewed by English speaking hunters before translation, then translated into Inuinnaqtun for review by the elders.
The elders agreed that it is important to respect caribou, and to learn to "think like a caribou" as part of showing respect.
The elders conveyed information about traditional harvesting and uses of caribou, historical and current distribution and movements of caribou, caribou behaviour and predators, important habitats, and features of calving grounds. For example, on the food preferences of caribou, they stated:
- migration routes change when the caribou have eaten most of the lush vegetation in an area.
According to the elders, migrating caribou follow a leader which is generally a cow without a calf. During migration, caribou avoid areas of deep, soft snow. They select calving grounds that are rich in food, free of most ice and snow and far from predators.
The thorough and comprehensive array of detail can be found in the project's final report to WKSS.
Elders also expressed their views on the effects of climate change. They have noticed a warmer climate in the 1990's with an earlier spring and later fall. In particular shore leads have been opening earlier, the ice is thinner, water levels have dropped and vegetation is larger and more lush. The caribou have shifted their migration to these areas of larger, lush vegetation and this has been a positive effect for the caribou. The earlier melting of ice in rivers, lakes and the coast has also resulted in changes to migration routes, and caribou now seem to be avoiding rivers as the rushing water filled with large chunks of ice is dangerous for them. Elders also believe that earlier melting is resulting in caribou falling through thin ice where it used to be thick, and that the incidence of drowning is increasing. They also noted that there seem to be more freeze-thaw cycles which leave vegetation coated in ice, and much less accessible to caribou for food.
This study has exchanged information with scientific studies on caribou. The information may also be used in studies on Grizzly Bears, wolves and Wolverine.
Tuktu and Nogak Project Final Report March 2001
Project Maps