An official website of the United States government
The availability of natural resources drives the exploration and transformation of remote regions in the Arctic and beyond. Extractive infrastructure is one of the major sources of industrial development and environmental impact on landscapes. For Indigenous people, these landscapes are homely environments full of sentient beings, and for other local communities, they provide a wide variety of subsistence and hunting resources. While extractive infrastructure violence is the evident issue for many Indigenous communities, there are more complicated situations where extractive infrastructure is adopted and utilized for the subsistence and support of other human and more-than-human relations in local and Indigenous communities. Based on materials from interviews and observations with Evenki communities in Eastern Siberia in 2013–2021, the authors discuss the complex relations and sustainability issues entangled around infrastructure objects’ creation, use, maintenance, and transformations. The results demonstrate a wide variety of relations between obshchinas (non-governmental organizations of Indigenous peoples) and extractive companies constructed with infrastructure development of the latter. The paper discusses the shortcomings of the top-down approach in infrastructure planning and the need for contextualization and meaningful engagement with affected communities, some examples of which have already taken place in specific locales. The study concludes by calling for the support of environmentally and socially just infrastructure defined by Indigenous people and local communities as a way to increase sustainability.
more »
« less
Sea Ice, Weather, and Subsistence Observations from Sivuqaq, Gambell, Alaska: 2023-2025
Arctic Indigenous coastal communities sustain rich environmental knowledge for subsistence activities, yet their knowledge and observations of changing conditions remain underrepresented in scientific datasets. This dataset documents local Sivuqaq Yupik Indigenous hunters’ observations of environmental conditions and associated subsistence activity based out of Sivuqaq (Gambell), St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Two community research leads and experienced Sivuqaq Yupik Hunters (Ungott and Kaningok) compiled a series of regular observations over the course of three sea ice seasons from 2023 to 2025. These included quantitative measurements made with a handheld weather meter and visual assessments of specific categories of weather, ice and ocean conditions, and subsistence activities. Specifically, the quantitative observations include wind speed, direction and air temperature, while visually assessed weather conditions include cloud cover, precipitation, and visibility. Reported categories of ice and ocean conditions include current direction, state of waves, Akuzipik ice type terminology, the presence and state of shorefast ice, and the distribution of ice and open water both near the beach and further offshore. Categories related to subsistence activities noted whether any community members were participating in hunting, fishing, or crabbing, and the number of boats in the water. These observations were accompanied by narrative commentary and often photographs to add context to each record. Observations were focused between the months of December and June, in relation to local ice presence, and ice-associated subsistence hunting. The range of data for each observed day enables comparison with other large-scale datasets while remaining grounded in the applied local context of subsistence hunting. This dataset was developed as part of the NSF Arctic Robust Communities – Navigating Adaptation to Variability (ARC-NAV) project. For further information see arcnav.org
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1928259
- PAR ID:
- 10660099
- Publisher / Repository:
- NSF Arctic Data Center
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- sea ice weather human dimensions local community observations Indigenous Knowledge co-production of knowledge St. Lawrence Island
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Other: text/xml
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Understanding how to design climate services across a range of contexts remains a key priority. This research evaluates the Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO), a resource designed to provide information about sea ice, weather, and walruses in Alaska, a region experiencing rapid social and environmental change. The evaluation was based on a set of 22 indicators developed from literature on evaluation, weather and climate services, science communication, and decision support. Two datasets were assessed to evaluate the SIWO: semi-structured interviews (n = 13) and a web-based questionnaire (n = 35). Interpretation of the outcome indicators suggests that the SIWO supported several community needs, including providing information to support travel, documenting historical impacts for disaster relief, and sharing Indigenous Knowledge among villages. The evaluation revealed insights into the kinds of information useful for rural and Indigenous communities, such as the importance of local observations from within and from nearby villages. Recommendations for other emergent organizations providing climate services in rural communities include attention to specific budget considerations to support equitable engagement and compensation, including both local and scientific observations, using multiple channels to disseminate information, and including evaluations in the design of climate services that are aligned with funding cycles.more » « less
-
Food cellars, otherwise referred to as ice or meat cellars, (lednik in Russian, k’aetyran in Chukchi, siġļuaq in Iñupiaq, and siqlugaq in Yupik) are a natural form of refrigeration in permafrost or seasonally frozen ground used to preserve, age, and ferment foods harvested for subsistence, including marine mammals, birds, fish, and plants. Indigenous peoples throughout the Arctic have constructed cellars in frozen ground for millennia. This paper focuses on cellars in Russian and American coastal and island communities of the Bering Strait, the region otherwise known as Beringia. This area has a unique, culturally rich, and politically dynamic history. Many traditions associated with cellars are threatened in Chukchi communities in Russia because of the impacts of climate change, relocation, dietary changes, and industrial development. However, even with warmer temperatures, cellars still provide a means to age and ferment food stuffs following traditional methods. In cooperation with local stakeholders, we measured internal temperatures of 18 cellars in 13 communities throughout the Bering Strait region and northern Alaska. Though cellars are widely used in permafrost regions, their structure, usage, and maintenance methods differ and exhibit influences of local climates, traditions, and economic activities. Monitoring internal temperatures and recording structural descriptions of cellars is important in the face of climate change to better understand the variety and resilience of living adaptations in different cold regions.more » « less
-
Over thousands of years, Indigenous hunters in the Bering and Chukchi seas have adapted to changes in weather, sea ice, and sea state that influence their access to walruses. In recent decades, 10 however, those conditions have been changing at unprecedented rates. Safely adapting to changing conditions will be essential to the well-being of communities.more » « less
-
Pacific walruses ( Odobenus rosmarus divergens, Illiger 1815) have long been vital to Indigenous communities along Alaska’s west coast. Although current harvest rates are sustainable, climate change and increased industrial activity in the range of this species pose threats to the population and to hunting safety and success. To gather information relevant to addressing these concerns, the Eskimo Walrus Commission and the US Fish and Wildlife Service held a workshop in August 2023 in Nome, Alaska, with experienced Yupik walrus hunters from the communities of Gambell and Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, and Federal walrus biologists. The 3-day event documented extensive information about walrus biology and behavior, which was used to improve a walrus population model. Workshop discussions also addressed concepts of sustainability and the future of walrus hunting. The workshop benefitted from prior collaboration between the biologists and some of the hunters on a walrus research cruise in the Chukchi Sea earlier the same summer, creating a foundation of common experience and interpersonal relationships. In the longer term, the workshop helped demonstrate the value of equitable collaboration towards shared goals, in part by allowing for open conversations rather than, for example, an extended question-and-answer session regarding model parameters.more » « less
