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As thirteen leaders in research with Alaska Native communities, we came together in a workshop to self-define the role of boundary spanners within our cross-cultural contexts. We utilized convergence methods and participatory decision-making facilitation. Reflecting on chronic challenges and current issues of trying to do co-production of knowledge, our group discussed the boundary spanner role and how to create systemic change. We represented different career stages, gender identities, Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, ages, backgrounds, and job positions. We wrote this paper to illustrate positive and negative aspects of this role as framed in a typical career journey. The role is often not sustainable, includes a degree of conflict and lacks support. We recognize that boundary spanners can act as enablers of boundaries. Healing is often interwoven with Indigenous and individual self-determination. Our workshop ended with the development of strategies to create systemic change through mentoring the next generation and addressing funding inequity and the cultural divide between communities and science/policy. A key concept from the workshop is the rejection of the term “boundary spanner,” because ideally, there should not be one individual doing the spanning duties, but everyone within the science/policy sphere working to dismantle boundaries. 

Indigenous Peoples across the Arctic have adapted to environmental change since time immemorial, yet recent climate change has imposed unprecedented and abrupt changes that affect the land and sea upon which communities rely. Co-created community-based observing programs offer an opportunity to harness the holistic breadth of knowledge in communities with the goal of tracking Arctic change while simultaneously supporting community priorities and local-scale needs. The Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub (AAOKH) is a network of Iñupiaq observers from northern Alaska coastal communities working in partnership with academic researchers. Here, we describe five core functions that have emerged through AAOKH, which include tracking long-term environmental changes; communicating Indigenous-led observations of the environment and their meaning; place-based and culturally relevant education; enabling scientific and Indigenous Knowledge exchange; and supporting community-led responses to environmental change. We outline and discuss specific actions and opportunities that have been used to increase knowledge exchange of AAOKH observations, make space for the next generation of Indigenous scholars, and create locally relevant data products and syntheses that can inform resource management and community planning. We also discuss our ongoing efforts to increasingly shift toward a knowledge coproduction framework as we plan to sustain AAOKH into the future. 

Abstract The well-being of Indigenous communities in Alaska is inextricably linked to traditional harvest practices (THPs) such as hunting, fishing, and gathering local wild foods. Regional trends in the health of THPs have not been quantitatively evaluated in Alaska. Therefore, we surveyed Indigenous residents in the Western Coastal (n = 623) and Interior (n = 437) Regions of Alaska to estimate perceptions of the extent and cause of change in the health of THPs over the last ten years. We found that THPs improved in Western Coastal and declined in Interior Alaska. The best predictors of improvement or decline in the health of THPs were 1) change in the ability to share the harvest, 2) change in participation in hunting and fishing activities, and 3) extent of challenges caused by climate change. The odds of a decline in the health of THPs were 8 to 13 times higher for households that reported a decrease in sharing of traditional foods.