Indigenous Observations of Climate Change in the Lower Yukon River Basin, Alaska

Natural science climate change studies have led to an overwhelming amount of evidence that the Arctic and Subarctic are among the world's first locations to begin experiencing climate change. Indigenous knowledge of northern regions is a valuable resource to assess the effects of climate change...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHuman organization Vol. 80; no. 3; pp. 237 - 245
Main Authors Herman-Mercer, Nicole, Schuster, Paul F, Maracle, Karonhiakt'tie Bryan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oklahoma City Taylor & Francis Ltd 01.10.2021
Subjects
Animals
Anthropology
Climate change
Community
Councils
Cultural anthropology
Field study
Fossil fuels
Indigenous peoples
Interviews
Knowledge
Local knowledge
Older people
Scientific knowledge
Towns
Villages
Weather
Alaska
United States > US
Arctic region
Yukon River
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Summary:Natural science climate change studies have led to an overwhelming amount of evidence that the Arctic and Subarctic are among the world's first locations to begin experiencing climate change. Indigenous knowledge of northern regions is a valuable resource to assess the effects of climate change on the people and the landscape. Most studies, however, have focused on coastal Arctic and Subarctic communities with relatively little focus on inland communities. This paper relates the findings from fieldwork conducted in the Lower Yukon River Basin of Alaska in the spring of 2009. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with hunters and elders in the villages of St. Mary 's and Pitka's Point, Alaska to document observations of climate change. This study assumes that scientific findings and indigenous knowledge are complementary and seeks to overcome the false dichotomy that these two ways of knowing are in opposition. The observed changes in the climate communicated by the hunters and elders of St. Mary's and Pitka's Point, Alaska are impacting the community in ways ranging from subsistence (shifting flora and fauna patterns), concerns about safety (unpredictable weather patterns and dangerous ice conditions), and a changing resource base (increased reliance on fossil fuels). Here we attempt to address the challenges of integrating these two ways of knowing while relating indigenous observations as described by elders and hunters of the study area to those described by scientific literature.
ISSN:0018-7259
1938-3525