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As climate change intensifies, Inuvialuit in Canada's Western Arctic are facing a rapidly changing environment and associated impacts on human health, safety, and food security. Learning to cope with these changes requires context-based and current information that can inform subsistence activities and environmental management, and no one is better positioned to acquire this information than Inuvialuit themselves. This paper presents findings from in-depth interviews conducted in 2012 with six knowledge holders and seasonal residents of Kendall Island (Ukiivik in Uummarmiutun), a traditional whaling camp situated along the Beaufort Sea coast bordering the Okeevik Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area. A transdisciplinary and Inuvialuit-led effort, this research documents observations of change at this culturally important site and explores how residents are adapting to changing conditions. Interview transcripts were analyzed using iterative rounds of qualitative coding in NVivo software. Findings reveal pervasive social and environmental change on Kendall Island and in adjacent harvesting areas and highlight how changing conditions are affecting residents’ lives. This study identifies benchmarks upon which to compare and evaluate subsequent changes at this site and documents Inuvialuit knowledge and perspectives that can inform local-scale environmental monitoring, management, and climate change adaptation planning.

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Social Anthropology / Anthropologie Sociale is the property of Berghahn Books and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

For Moving with joy across the ice while my face turns brown from the sun (2019), Maureen Gruben borrowed fourteen hand-built sleds from families in her Western Arctic hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk and brought them together on the spring sea ice outside her home to form a short-duration installation in which elements of multiple genres—land art, portraiture, performance, monument, photography—converge. Sleds have always been integral to Inuvialuit life, particularly in the spring when community members expertly pack them with everything they need to live on the land. Hitching them to skidoos, they cross miles of frozen tundra and ice to Husky Lakes, where they prepare their canvas tents and off-grid cabins for the ice fishing season.

The article discusses the concept of trauma-informed arts entrepreneurship and its importance in creating culturally sensitive and beneficial experiences. It highlights a specific event, the Molson Ice Polar Beach Party in Tuktoyaktuk, Canada, which showcased the complexities of corporate support and cultural insensitivity. The author emphasizes the need for arts entrepreneurs to consider the cultural context, ethical boundaries, and potential harm of their products and experiences. They propose critical questions for future scholarly work in arts entrepreneurship, including the consideration of trauma and trauma-informed care. The article also touches on the discourse surrounding the business model for the arts and the need for organizations to explore new revenue streams without compromising their mission and values. [Extracted from the article]

On 10 August 2023, representatives of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and the governments of the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Canada signed the Western Arctic-Tariuq (Offshore) Accord.1 The Accord establishes a system for the shared management and regulation of offshore petroleum resources north of the Arctic Circle, west of Nunavut to the limit of Canada's jurisdiction in the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean and the equitable sharing of benefits. Upon the consent of all Parties, implementing legislation will be introduced to establish the Accord and will, among other things, amend or replace relevant federal legislation. The Accord is a step towards Canada's implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.2 It is also part of a quest for meaningful participation dating back to the initial activities concerning oil and gas in the region that fuelled negotiations leading to the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. This contribution situates the Accord in the context of these developments to illuminate its potential significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, there is a documented lack of support for women leaving their communities to give birth. Due to an over-emphasis on risk discourse (no distinction between low- or high-risk pregnancies with options to birth at home, the large geographical distances to regional centres within circumpolar regions, remoteness of communities, lack of qualified staff, and limited resources), women are forced to travel great distances to give birth. In Canada until 2017, women travelled alone or bore the burden of paying out of pocket for someone to travel with them for support with the births of their babies. A recent policy change has allowed for one paid escort to accompany a pregnant woman. The purpose of this paper is to provide an outcome assessment of the perinatal transport and non-medical escort policy implemented by the federal government in Canada. The paper utilises a narrative literature review along with preliminary Indigenous photovoice results to illuminate the perspectives of Indigenous families. There are numerous challenges women face when travelling for birth including feelings of loneliness and fear, stress and separation from their children, lack of community connection, financial concerns, and a loss of self-determination. Women are given an opportunity in decision-making about who will travel with them as an escort. This does little to address the disparity of delivering their babies away from their families and communities, the burden of figuring out who cares for the children at home, and the impact their absences have on health of their families. Although, additional support has been provided for birthing women in northern Canada, there continues to be little effort to return to community birthing creating safety for Indigenous families through traditional practices, Indigenous midwifery, and community ceremonies and changing the disproportionate burden of poor outcomes experienced by Indigenous women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there is a lack of Indigenous physicians in the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. The goal of this qualitative study was to explore the underlying factors that influence the journey to becoming a medical doctor and returning home to practice for Indigenous students from the NWT. Eight qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted by phone or in-person. Participants represented Dene, Inuvialuit and Métis from the NWT and were at varying points in their journey into careers in medicine, from undergraduate university students through to practicing physicians. The main themes identified included access to high-school courses, the role of guidance counsellors, access to mentors and role models, a need to prioritise clinical experience in the NWT, influences of family and friends, diversity and inclusion, and finances. Interpretations: Significant barriers, some insurmountable, remain at every stage of the journey into medicine for aspiring Indigenous medical doctors from the NWT. These findings can inform policy development for pathway programs that assist aspiring Indigenous physicians at each stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coastline of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) in the Mackenzie–Beaufort region of the western Canadian Arctic is characterised by rapid erosion of ice-bonded sediments with abundant excess ground ice, resulting in widespread thermal and mechanical process interactions in the shore zone. Coastal communities within the ISR are acutely aware of the rapidly eroding coastline and its impacts on infrastructure, subsistence activities, cultural or ancestral sites, and natural habitats. Tuktoyaktuk Island is a large natural barrier protecting the harbour and surrounding community from exposure to waves. It is threatened by coastal erosion, a better understanding of which will inform adaptation strategies. Using historical and recent aerial imagery, high-resolution digital elevation models, cliff geomorphology, stratigraphy, and sedimentology, including ground-ice content, this study documents erosional processes, recession rates, volume losses, and sediment delivery since 1947 and projected into the future. Erosion along the northwest-facing (exposed) cliff, primarily by thermo-abrasional undercutting and block failure, has accelerated since 2000 to a mean of 1.80 ± 0.02 m/year, a 22% increase over the previous 15 years and 14% faster than 1947–2000. Lower recession rates on the harbour side of the island increased more than two-fold. Projection of future shoreline vectors by extrapolation, using the post-2000 accelerated coastal recession rates at 284 transects, points to breaching of this vital natural harbour barrier by 2044, after which rapid realignment is expected to occur as the new inlet evolves. Further acceleration of rates, as seems highly likely, brings the breaching date closer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper quantifies rates of shoreline change and investigates the influence of surficial geology on shoreline dynamics between 1950 and 2018 on Pelly Island, located 10 km off the Mackenzie Delta. Long-term changes in shoreline position were calculated using imagery analysis and Analysing Moving Boundaries Using R (AMBUR). The influence of shoreline exposure to predominant storm direction and influence of surficial geology were examined for northwestern and southeastern zones. The average annual linear regression rate (LRR) rate during the 1950–2018 observation period was −3.8 m·a−1. The end point rate (EPR) was calculated for seven observation periods: 1950–1972, 1972–1985, 1985–2000, 2000–2018, 2000–2013, 2013–2018, and 1950–2018. A mean EPR of −5.5 ± 0.7 m·a−1 was calculated for the 2000–2018 period, and a maximum retreat rate of 46.7 ± 2.1 m·a−1 was recorded during the 2013–2018 observation period. By comparing the rate of change for sections of historical shorelines with differing surficial geology and exposure to storms, it was possible to draw conclusions on why Pelly Island continues to have the highest retreat rates in the Mackenzie–Beaufort region. Greater retreat rates were observed in lacustrine deposits (5.3 m·a−1) compared with moraine deposits (2.7 m·a−1). In addition, shoreline exposure to the predominant storm direction from the northwest was found to be a major influence on rates of shoreline change in all observation periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reneltta Arluk is an Inuvialuit, Cree, Dene theatre-maker hailing from the Northwest Territories whose work for the stage is gaining increasing prominence. The first Indigenous woman to direct at the Stratford festival, for example, as well as a published poet and performer, Arluk has been involved with the creation of new work across Turtle Island and beyond for decades. Yet little has been written about her directing practice and its interventions into (as well as strategic engagement with) more widely used directing methodologies. After a brief introduction contextualizing Arluk's work, the under-representation of Indigenous women's approaches in discussions of theatre directing, and the author's relationship to Reneltta and her work, an edited transcript of an open-ended interview between Arluk and non-Indigenous theatre artist and scholar Charlie Peters follows. What emerges is a picture not so much of a singular and rigid set of practices but rather a series of beliefs, insights, and questions that characterize Arluk's directing practice at this particular moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mercury in marine biota has been extensively studied across Inuit Nunaat because it bioaccumulates and biomagnifies in high trophic level species, such as the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas), or qilalugaq in Inuktut. Qilalugaait (pl) are a staple in many coastal Inuit communities, including Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories and Arviat, Nunavut. We examine how total mercury (THg) concentrations in two beluga populations are influenced by biased sampling resulting from local harvester preferences. We examined historical THg in skin, muscle, and liver (1980's to 2022) together with local qualitative interviews from two beluga-harvesting communities. Age and length bins were used to compare similar sized and aged whales between locations, where males (350 - 400 cm, and 20-30 years) and females (330-400 cm, and 15-30 years) were segregated. The interviews revealed distinct preferences whereby harvesters in Tuktoyaktuk actively sought larger (length) male whales, whereas harvesters in Arviat, selected wide and even range across size and sex. These local preferences were also evident in the historical dataset, with the median age and lengths were 31 years and 389.0 cm in Tuktoyaktuk (n = 461) and 23 and 336.0 cm in Arviat (n = 146). For males, mean and median THg concentrations were higher in beluga harvested from Tuktoyaktuk than Arviat in all three tissues with age and lengths combined, yet in the selected age and length bins, there was no difference in mean and median THg in the muscle tissue, and in median liver THg. There were significant differences in mean and median skin THg and in mean liver THg concentrations between males. In female whales, THg concentrations did not differ between Tuktoyaktuk and Arviat (in ages and lengths combined and in selected age bins across all tissues), excluding median muscle THg concentration. This study indicated that differences in THg concentrations that were previously observed resulted from hunter preferences in these two communities., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Enooyaq Sudlovenick reports financial support was provided by Nunavut Wildlife Management Board. Enooyaq Sudlovenick reports financial support was provided by Northern Contaminants Program. Lisa Loseto reports financial support was provided by ArcticNet Inc. Enooyaq Sudlovenick reports financial support was provided by Garfield Weston Foundation. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Crown Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Rapid climate change is altering Arctic ecosystems and significantly affecting the livelihoods and cultural traditions of Arctic Indigenous peoples. In the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR), growing evidence suggests that climate change is altering marine environments. In this project we recorded and synthesized Inuvialuit knowledge of Pacific salmon. We used methods that are emergent in fisheries science to combine interview information with voluntary harvest data and better understand changes to salmon in the Arctic. We conducted 53 interviews with Inuvialuit fishers about the history of Pacific salmon harvest, how it has changed in recent decades, and concurrent changes to local environments and fish species. Our interviews show that historical, incidental salmon harvest in the ISR ranged from infrequent to common among western communities, but was rare or unprecedented among eastern communities. Participants in all six communities reported a recent increase in salmon harvest and attributed this shift to regional environmental change. Fishers were concerned that salmon would negatively affect their cultural traditions and preferred fish species. Given uncertainty about the effects of salmon on local fisheries, research on salmon in the Arctic, the likelihood of their establishment, and their potential to provide subsidies to Arctic freshwater ecosystems is vital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'We wear one another' is a performance for violin and dance by Tanya Lukin Linklater created in response to an Inuvialuit rain gut parka in 2019. The Inuvialuit rain gut parka, a cultural belonging, is conceptualized by the artist as a score for the performance, 'We wear one another'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal and historical transformations of ice and permafrost suggest that the Mackenzie Delta in Arctic Canada can be understood as a solid fluid. The concerns and practices of delta inhabitants show that fluidity and solidity remain important attributes in a solid fluid delta. They are significant not as exclusive properties, but as relational qualities, in the context of particular human projects and activities. Indigenous philosophies of 'the land' and Henri Lefebvre's notion of 'tempo' in Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life (2004) may help to illustrate the predicament of living in a world that is solid and fluid rhythmically, and in relation to particular practices. Economic, political, sociocultural and physical transformations can all be experienced as both solid and fluid, depending on the degree to which they resonate with people's purposes. In a world where everything seems to be changed and changing, solidity and fluidity may best be seen as indications of relative differences in tempo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Études Inuit Studies is the property of Centre interuniversitaire d'etudes et de recherches autochtones (CIERA) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Boating-related fatalities in the Northwest Territories (NWT) are well above the national average. These fatalities are exacerbated by very cold water, and water and boating safety resources that lack relevance to residents of northern communities. We utilised an iterative, participatory approach to create a plain language, culturally and geographically adapted version of a cold water survival course, "Beyond Cold Water Bootcamp". The purpose of this research was to determine what adaptations are necessary to create appealing and pertinent boating safety interventions for Inuvialuit communities in the NWT and to demonstrate the value of generating such interventions. First, we conducted a focus group with boating safety experts to gain feedback on the first draft of the adapted course. We then subsequently completed a pilot of the course with community members in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, and we obtained their feedback and suggestions. We then trained a local community member to deliver the course and conducted another focus group with residents. Using reflexive thematic analysis, our results demonstrated the value of culturally and geographically adapted boating safety interventions for Inuvialuit communities and the importance of relinquishing colonial power structures and enabling community members to independently adapt and disseminate knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subsistence is the basis for food access for Inuvialuit in the western Canadian Arctic and has strong economic, dietary, and cultural importance. Inuvialuit harvest beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) from the eastern Beaufort beluga population during summer months within parameters established through co-management. Over the past thirty years there has been a dramatic decline in the number of beluga harvested by Inuvialuit from the community of Aklavik, Northwest Territories. This paper investigates the potential drivers of change, both social and ecological, affecting the beluga harvest. Data were collected using 32 semi-directed interviews and experiential learning. Results revealed that ecological changes, notably coastal erosion at preferred whaling camps and unpredictable and severe weather have made harvesting more difficult, expensive, and often impractical. These changes are being experienced together with social changes including the loss of elders and their knowledge, and changing values and motivations for harvesting beluga. We conclude that no one driver is responsible for the decline in the beluga harvest, but rather it is the result of multiple social-ecological changes operating across scales that affect the feasibility of the harvest and motivation to participate. Isumatuyut ikayuqtuat avvakuyaa niqimun pimagaa Inuvialuit uataani Canadian Arcticmi nakuuyuq manik, niqilu, inuusiq nakuruallaktuaq. Inuvialuit katitait qilalugaq (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) kivanmun Beaufort qilalugaq suli auyaqmi savaktiit. Sivulliqmi inuinnaq-qulit ukiuqmi mikliyuat tapqua qilalugaq katitait Inuvialuit Aklavik, Northwest Territoriesmi. Una makpiraaq ilisaqtuat anguniaqtuat, iluqatik inuuniarvikmi imaqmilu, tutqaanaittuq qilalugaq katitait. Kisitchiun katitait atugaa inuinnaq-qulit-malruknik apiqsiyuat asulu ilisaqtuat. Taimaagaa takupkagaa imaqmilu allauyuaq, taamna sallirq maqaigaa nuna taamna qilalugaqmun tanmaaq asulu allauyuaq silakluk asiin katitait tutqaanaittuq, akituyuqlu tutqaanaittuq. Taamna allauyuat illisaktuat atautchikun inuuniarvik ila tuquyuat innait asulu ilisimaruat, allauyuat pitqusiqlu ikayuqtuaq katitait qilalugaq. Uvagut taimagaa anguniaqti mikliyuat qilalugaq katitait taimagaa inugiaktut inuuniarvikmi imaqmilu allauyuaq savaktuat tutqaanaittuq asulu katitait ikayuqtuat ila taputiyaa.

Climate change is occurring at accelerated rates in the Arctic, and its impacts are being experienced by human communities in the context of other environmental and societal stressors. This paper argues that an assessment of human vulnerability to climate change requires knowledge of these stressors, including the interactions among them that influence people's sensitivity to climate risks and adaptability. This paper examines the role of multiple stressors in adaptation to climate change through a case study of Paulatuk, Northwest Territories, Canada. It is based on collaborative research involving semi-structured interviews with 28 participants, participant observation, and analysis of secondary sources of information. In the context of subsistence harvesting, climatic stressors have affected access to, and the availability of, some fish and wildlife and are making travel conditions more unpredictable and dangerous. These stressors are being experienced at the same time as societal stressors such as financial and social barriers to participating in subsistence, challenges with local schooling, lifestyle changes, housing shortage and overcrowding, and addiction. Many of the coping strategies used by people in Paulatuk to deal with stressors involve trade-offs, such as leaving the community for school or leaving school to participate in subsistence and switching species harvested in response to a decline in one species, which has undermined resilience to other stressors. This research demonstrates the need to consider the role of pre-existing environmental and societal stressors and diversity within communities in climate change adaptation planning in the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boating-related fatalities in the Northwest Territories (NWT) are well above the national average. These fatalities are exacerbated by very cold water, and water and boating safety resources that lack relevance to residents of northern communities. We utilised an iterative, participatory approach to create a plain language, culturally and geographically adapted version of a cold water survival course, “Beyond Cold Water Bootcamp”. The purpose of this research was to determine what adaptations are necessary to create appealing and pertinent boating safety interventions for Inuvialuit communities in the NWT and to demonstrate the value of generating such interventions. First, we conducted a focus group with boating safety experts to gain feedback on the first draft of the adapted course. We then subsequently completed a pilot of the course with community members in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, and we obtained their feedback and suggestions. We then trained a local community member to deliver the course and conducted another focus group with residents. Using reflexive thematic analysis, our results demonstrated the value of culturally and geographically adapted boating safety interventions for Inuvialuit communities and the importance of relinquishing colonial power structures and enabling community members to independently adapt and disseminate knowledge.

Dolly Varden are an important cultural and subsistence food source for residents of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR; primarily Aklavik, NT), and the Gwich'in Settlement Area (GSA; Aklavik and Fort McPherson, NT). Subsistence fishing for Dolly Varden generally occurs along the Canadian Beaufort Sea Coast, in the Mackenzie River Delta and its tributaries, and upriver at spawning and overwintering areas. Dolly Varden are co-managed under the Inuvialuit Final Agreement and Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement through communitybased working groups and an overarching Steering Committee established under the Dolly Varden Integrated Fisheries Management Plan. The working groups include representatives from community resource management and co-management boards along with territorial and federal governments. The West Side Working Group (WSWG) and Rat River Working Group (RRWG) have made recommendations on the management, monitoring, and research of Dolly Varden populations, including decisions on harvest levels. The process associated with these harvest decisions and methods for the collection of harvest data between 2009 and 2014 are described and harvest data are summarized by area and/or stock, where possible. From 2009 to 2014, the total Dolly Varden harvest from all coastal and inland locations within the ISR and GSA ranged between 654 and 1,086 fish. Estimated harvest rates for the Big Fish, Babbage, and Rat River populations were less than 7% of population abundance estimates. Regular review of harvest data and results from research and monitoring programs, along with traditional and local knowledge by the WSWG and RRWG will continue to support the successful adaptive co-management of Dolly Varden populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data collected from a fishery-dependent monitoring program between 1992 and 2015 and supplemental information collected in 1978 and 1987 were used to inform a population assessment of anadromous Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus) from the Kuujjua River, Northwest Territories. The stock is important for the subsistence and economy of residents from the hamlet of Ulukhaktok in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. Arctic Char from the Kuujjua River stock are harvested during summer when feeding along the coast in a mixed-stock fishery, and during winter (under-ice) while overwintering in Tatik Lake. The monitoring program conducted during the winter fishery employed subsistence fishers from Ulukhaktok to collect harvest, catch-effort, and biological data for the majority of the duration of the fishery. Catch-effort in Tatik Lake varied without trend although the frequency of relatively high values (> 125 Arctic Char/100 m/24 hours) increased from 2006 to 2015. The biological data reveal the winter fishery harvests Arctic Char mainly between 500 and 700 mm, 1,000 and 3,500 g, and 8 and 12 years of age. Mean length and weight increased from 533 to 633 mm and 1,893 to 3,354 g, respectively, between 2008 and 2012, and have been relatively stable through 2015. Mean age increased from 8.3 to 10.3 years between 2010 and 2012 and was then stable through 2015 with the consistent presence of fish = 15 years of age. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters of Arctic Char from Tatik Lake were L∞= 703, K= 0.42, and t0= 2.61, with no statistically significant difference between sexes. The mean length of fish 9 to 12 years of age increased beginning in 2008 and continued through 2015. Over the time-series, mean length and weight, and length-atage followed a quasi-cyclic pattern. Condition factor remained relatively high (K = 1.2) and stable from 2008 to 2015, which suggests feeding opportunities were favorable for growth during this period. The annual mortality rate between 2011 and 2015 was stable (~ 30%). Where comparisons were possible, some similarities were observed between the biological data collected from the 1992-2015 monitoring, and data collected from this same fishery in 1978 and 1987. Collectively, the catch and monitoring data through 2015 indicate that the Kuujjua River population is not experiencing overfishing and the current stock status is healthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) are an integral part of many Arctic Indigenous cultures and contribute to food security for communities from Greenland, across northern Canada and Alaska to Chukotka, Russia. Although the harvesting and stewardship practices of Indigenous peoples vary among regions and have shifted and adapted over time, central principles of respect for beluga and sharing of the harvest have remained steadfast. In addition to intra-community cooperation to harvest, process and use beluga whales, rapid environmental change in the Arctic has underscored the need for inter-regional communication as well as collaboration with scientists and managers to sustain beluga populations and their cultural and nutritional roles in Arctic communities. Our paper, written by the overlapping categories of researchers, hunters, and managers, first provides an overview of beluga hunting and collaborative research in seven regions of the Arctic (Greenland; Nunatsiavut, Nunavik, Nunavut, and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Canada; Alaska; and Chukotka). Then we present a more detailed case study of collaboration, examining a recent research and management project that utilizes co-production of knowledge to address the conservation of a depleted population of beluga in Nunavik, Canada. We conclude that sustaining traditional values, establishing collaborative management efforts, the equitable inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge, and respectful and meaningful collaborations among hunters, researchers and managers are essential to sustaining healthy beluga populations and the peoples who live with and depend upon them in a time of rapid social and environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across the North American Arctic, Inuit societies constructed a broad array of sophisticated dwellings. One particularly large and complex type known from the Mackenzie Delta region is the cruciform house, a form of semi-subterranean sod house (igluryuaq in the Sallirmiutun Inuvialuktun dialect) with three alcoves extending from its main floor area. Due to a variety of factors, including the scale of excavation required, one has not been fully excavated with modern methods until now. Here, we present a description of a completely excavated cruciform house from Kuukpak on the East Channel of the Mackenzie River. Not only does this allow the definition of many aspects of the house's form, dimensions, and construction techniques, it also indicates several episodes of alteration and rebuilding over the course of the house's occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around the circumpolar North, archaeologists and heritage managers are growing increasingly concerned about the destruction of archaeological sites due to modern climate change. This paper describes the Arctic CHAR project, designed to address this issue in the Mackenzie Delta region of northwestern Canada. The Mackenzie Delta is home to the Inuvialuit, whose rich history is recorded in many coastal sites. Due to permafrost melt and increasing relative sea level, these sites are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Arctic CHAR consists of two main components: survey to assess the condition of heritage resources across the region, and excavation of the most important threatened sites.

Abstract Two Arctic Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) (Tarium Niryutait and Anguniaqvia niqiqyuam) have been established in the Western Canadian Arctic, including the first in the Arctic, with conservation objectives directed to protect and maintain healthy beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) populations. The MPAs support the continued access of Inuvialuit (Western Arctic Inuit) to harvest beluga whales for food security and cultural purposes. The land claim and co-management framework for the Inuvialuit Settlement Region support the long term monitoring and management plans for this beluga population. We draw upon over 40 years of monitoring of the Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS) beluga whale population and consider the utility of biological indicators for MPA management. In particular we focus on the conservation of a beluga population whose home range extends far beyond MPA boundaries (transboundary population with summer core area in excess of 36, 000 Km2). We conclude that the EBS beluga whales are effective indicators of environmental change, but that we have limited understanding of the temporal and spatial relationships between beluga responses to processes that drive environmental change. Management bodies are challenged with implementing indicators that measure the impacts of 'non-manageable' stressors such as climate change, and by uncertainty in the mechanistic relationships that drive biological indicators. Given that Inuvialuit continue to be astute observers of the environment and changing conditions, our assessment suggests that Indigenous knowledge will continue to enhance the development and interpretation of beluga whale indicators for use in MPA monitoring and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 2010 and 2050, the world's combined road and rail network will grow an estimated 60%. National governments are building many of these roads, which are often perceived as disenfranchising Indigenous communities. Yet in the Canadian Arctic’s Mackenzie Delta, a joint venture between two Indigenous-owned construction and transportation companies built the first public highway in North America to the Arctic Ocean, which opened in November 2017. This research, based on qualitative fieldwork in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region where the highway was constructed, challenges ideas that roads are invariably top-down initiatives which negatively impact Indigenous peoples and their lands. Inuvialuit community leaders lobbied for this road project and succeeded in winning CAD $299 million in government funding to construct the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway. They leveraged opportunities afforded by land claims treaties and shifting geopolitics in the warming Arctic, which turned their region into a frontier of renewed national and global interest, to accumulate funding. Strategically, they discursively rescaled a road they sought to promote economic development and improve local mobility between two communities into a highway of national importance. This study thus extends work on tribal capitalism to explore the place-based dynamics of Indigenous political economies. It unpacks the scale-oriented strategies Indigenous peoples use to advocate for new roads and increased connectivity, finding that these discourses and practices can complement the state’s promotion of nation-building and market capitalism in frontier spaces. This research also suggests that more attention is required to the circumstances in which Indigenous peoples initiate or become partners in infrastructure development rather than examining only instances of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global socioeconomic and ecological changes strongly impact Indigenous communities by affecting food security, physical health, and overall wellbeing. Throughout the 1900s, residents of the Mackenzie Delta in Canada’s western Arctic relied heavily on the muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) for food, fur, and culture, but recent changes to ecological and economic conditions have altered the nature of this relationship. We investigated the role of muskrats in the cultural traditions and land-based livelihoods of the Gwich’in and Inuvialuit residents of the Mackenzie Delta through interviews and meetings with over 70 community members. Although the role of muskrats has changed over the last 100 years, muskrat harvesting continues to offer Delta residents a meaningful way to remain engaged in, perpetuate, and strengthen their cultural identity and land-based traditions among generations, and ultimately, to foster individual and community wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) socio-economic wellbeing used the established indicators framework, which was developed by the Arctic Social Indicators (ASI) project under the auspices of the Arctic Council. The assessment was conducted for the following six domains: health and population, material well-being, cultural vitality, closeness to nature, education, and fate control. The analysis revealed considerable internal diff erences within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in Canada's western Arctic, especially between Inuvik and other communities in the Northwest Territories (NWT). With respect to most indicators, the ISR was better off than other NWT regions--with the exception of the capital city Yellowknife (unemployment, engagement in traditional activities, land claims status, and fate control)--or close to average (incomes, dependency on government transfers, consumption of country food, and education). The ISR fared worse than other NWT regions with respect to language retention and outmigra tion rates. In comparison with Inuit communities in Nunavut, the ISR had a generally higher level of material well-being, but demonstrated low language retention, lower consumption of traditional food, and inferior fate control status. The analysis shows that although the Inuvialuit Settlement Region appears to have variable levels of socio-economic well-being across most of the six domains, with some positive trends, it still faces considerable social challenges and has to deal with interregional inequalities. The most important problems revealed in this study are a continuing gap between the ISR and Yellowknife with respect to material well-being; disparities among the ISR communities (Inuvik vs. all other); potential shortage and leakage of human capital in outlying communities; and low language retention compared to other Inuit regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of the 65,030 Inuit in Canada live in 53 communities in Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland encompassing the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik in northern Quebec, and Nunatsiavut in northern Labrador. Inuit land claims agreements shape the political contours of each of the four Inuit regions and form the basis of the Inuit-to-Crown relationship. Through these constitutionally protected agreements, Inuit representational organizations co-manage, with the federal government, approximately 35 percent of Canada's landmass and 50 percent of its coastline. Inuit are represented at the national level by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) and at the international level by the Inuit Circumpolar Council-Canada. ITK's board of directors is made up of the leaders of the four regional Inuit representational organizations: Inuvialuit Regional Corp., Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Makivik Corp., and the Nunatsiavut Government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the genre of residential school narratives for children, Not My Girl (2014) stands out for the determination, courage, and resilience of its narrator, a young girl who chooses to go to a Catholic boarding school, and then draws on both her culture and a British novel, Alice in Wonderland, about a brave girl for strength and resilience. This article traces Olemaun's journey as she follows Alice into literacy but finds her own methods of resisting colonial oppression and asserting Indigenous agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is a rich literature on the negotiation and contents of comprehensive land claims agreements, very little has been written on the dynamics of their implementation. This article contributes by sketching out a framework for analyzing the interactions between Indigenous, federal, and provincial/territorial governments in the implementation of modern treaties in Canada. It finds that a useful way for conceptualizing these situations is to focus on two characteristics relating to the treaty provisions and the signatories while remaining sensitive to the effects of time and other contextual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the Digital Library North (DLN) project, a collaboration among researchers at the University of Alberta, staff at the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre, and communities within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) to develop a culturally appropriate metadata framework for a digital library of cultural resources. It will discuss gathering of data to inform the first iteration of the metadata framework and digital library prototype, as well as revisions made to both the framework and the digital library based on feedback obtained through community interaction with the prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Comanagement efforts are increasingly tasked with overseeing natural resource governance at a large scale. I examine comanagement of subsistence harvesting in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) of the western Canadian Arctic, using a socialecological systems framework. In doing so, this study joins a growing list of research that reviews design principles commonly found in successful small-scale commons management and applies them to a large resource area. This research uses the management of beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) and barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) as case studies in understanding the management framework of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, as each species is important in Inuvialuit culture and is actively managed and monitored. Comanagement bodies in the study area display many of the institutional design principles that are characteristic of successful social-ecological systems. Particularly mentionable are the presence of well-organized nested enterprises and a strong incorporation of local knowledge and monitoring. This supports the application of institutional design principles in large-scale analyses of resource management. However, due to the network of policy and management outside the ISR that influences each species, this research suggests that in cases of wide-ranging resource bases, these types of analyses may be better suited to evaluating broad management networks rather than discrete governing regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ringed seals (Pusa hispida) play a crucial role in Arctic food webs as important pelagic predators and represent an essential component of Inuvialuit culture and food security. Plastic pollution is recognized as a global threat of concern, and Arctic regions may act as sinks for anthropogenic debris. To date, mixed evidence exists concerning the propensity for Canadian Arctic marine mammals to ingest and retain plastic. Our study builds on existing literature by offering the first assessment of plastic ingestion in ringed seals harvested in the western Canadian Arctic. We detected no evidence of microplastic (particles ≥80 μm) retention in the stomachs of ten ringed seals from the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) in the Northwest Territories, Canada. These results are consistent with previous studies that have found that some marine mammals do not accumulate microplastics in evaluated regions. • No microplastics ≥80 μm found in ringed seals from the western Canadian Arctic. • Canadian Arctic mammals may be useful for tracking plastics and additives ≤80 μm. • Risk of microplastic retention in mammals may be greater through ingestion of prey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Northwest Territories of the Canadian Arctic, community-led research documented native Gwich'in and Inuvialuit people's traditional shelters made with a spruce (Picea spp), dwarf birch (Betula nana), and/ or willow (Salix spp) framework clad with moss harvested from nearby peatlands (including Sphagnum peat, moss peat, Carex peat, and others). With Gwich'in and Inuvialuit Elders and high school students, we reconstructed a full-sized nan kanh (tentshaped moss house) and scale models of a Neen kanh (moss house for four families). We compared the Northwest Territories shelters with moss-clad houses traditional to Iceland (torfhűs) and those of northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland (goahti). Despite variations in form and detail, similar materials and technologies were used for traditional moss-clad houses in Nordic and North American arctic regions. Indigenous knowledge-holders from both regions noted four ways that moss houses have renewed relevance for northern peoples' on-going adaptation to, and mitigation of, escalating climate change: 1) moss houses offer shelter when heavier snowfalls, unpredictable storms and exacerbated freeze/thaw cycles make harvesting country foods more dangerous 2) they provide places for education about technologies for living on the land and surviving past—and future—climate changes, 3) they resist wind and cold while reducing reliance on fossil fuels and 4) they are part of a harvesting system that sustains peatland ecosystems which store carbon and provide valued food and materials. Moss houses represent an adaptable concept that translates across cultural and temporal boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]