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This paper examines the role of Inuit traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in adaptation to climate change in the Canadian Arctic. It focuses on Inuit relationships with the Arctic environment, including hunting knowledge and land skills, and examines their roles in adaptation to biophysical changes that affect subsistence hunting. In several instances, TEK underpins competency in subsistence and adaptations to changing conditions, which inculdes flexibility with regard to seasonal cycles of hunting and resource use, hazard avoidance through detailed knowledge of the environment and understanding of ecosystem processes, and emergency preparedness, e.g., knowing what supplies to take when traveling and how to respond in emergency situations. Despite the documented importance of TEK in adaptation and in maintaining a level of competency in subsistence, the relationships between TEK and adaptation to climate change are not well defined in the scholarly literature. This paper aims to conceptualize the relationships between TEK and adaptation to climate change by drawing on case study research with Inuit in the Canadian Arctic. TEK is considered an element of adaptive capacity (or resilience) that is expressed as adaptation if TEK is drawn upon to adapt to changing conditions. This capacity depends on the development, accumulation, and transmission of TEK within and among generations. Cet article se penche sur le rôle des connaissances écologiques traditionnelles (CET) inuites en matière d'adaptation au changement climatique dans l'Arctique canadien. Il porte plus précisément sur les relations des Inuits avec l'environnement de l'Arctique, notamment en ce qui a trait à leurs connaissances de la chasse et à leurs pratiques ancestrales, puis il examine leur rôle en matière d'adaptation aux changements biophysiques qui exercent une influence sur la chasse de subsistance. Dans plusieurs cas, les CET servent de fondement aux aptitudes de survie et à l'adaptation aux conditions changeantes, ce qui implique de la souplesse vis-à-vis des cycles saisonniers de chasse et d'utilisation des ressources, l'évitement des dangers grâce à une connaissance approfondie de l'environnement et à la compréhension de la dynamique des écosystèmes et l'état de préparation en cas d'urgence, à savoir les vivres et le matériel dont ils doivent se doter lorsqu'ils sont en déplacement et la façon de réagir en situation d'urgence. Malgré l'importance documentée des CET sur l'adaptation et le maintien d'un niveau de compétence en vue de la subsistance, les liens entre les CET et l'adaptation au changement climatique ne sont pas bien définis dans les écrits érudits. Cet article cherche à conceptualiser les liens entre les CET et l'adaptation au changement climatique en s'appuyant sur une recherche d'étude de cas avec les Inuits de l'Arctique canadien. Les CET sont considérées comme un élément de la capacité adaptative (ou de la résilience) exprimée sous forme d'adaptation pourvu qu'elles soient employées pour favoriser l'adaptation aux conditions changeantes. Cette capacité dépend du développement, de l'accumulation et de la transmission des CET au sein des générations et entre elles.
The journal Arctic is North America’s premier journal of northern research. Now in its seventh decade of continuous publication, Arctic is a peer-reviewed, primary research journal that publishes the results of scientific research from all areas of scholarship dealing with the Arctic and subarctic regions. Multidisciplinary in scope, Arctic comprises original scholarly papers in the physical, social, and biological sciences, humanities, and engineering. Also included are book reviews, commentaries, letters to the editor, and profiles of significant people, places, or events of northern interest. The journal is published quarterly and is available through membership in the Arctic Institute of North America.
The Arctic Institute of North America is a nonprofit, tax-exempt research and educational organization, founded jointly in Canada and the United States in 1945. It remains binational today, with offices at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, and at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. The Institute’s core comprises Arctic, North America’s premier journal of northern research; the Kluane Lake Research Station in the southwest Yukon; the Arctic Science and Technology Information System (ASTIS) database of over 70,000 searchable records of publications and research projects about the North; scholarship and grant programs for young researchers; an international slate of research associates; and an extensive library located at the University of Calgary.
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