Nalaquq (“it is found”): a knowledge co-production framework for environmental sensing and communication in Indigenous arctic communities

Abstract

In 2007, the Yup’ik village of Quinhagak contacted archaeologists after locals found precontact artifacts on a nearby beach. This collaboration led to the subsequent excavation of Nunalleq, an important ancestral site threatened by climate change. Since then, an international research team has partnered with Yup’ik leadership in Quinhagak to address the larger impact of climate change. In turn, this article introduces Nalaquq—our framework for combining custom sensor networks with traditional knowledge to study ellavut (trans. “Our land and weather”). Doing so provides a guide for communication scholars interested in working alongside Indigenous circumpolar communities to visualize and communicate climate science.