Pacific walruses, indigenous hunters, and climate change: Bridging scientific and indigenous knowledge

Evaluating the Effects of Climate Change on Indigenous Marine Mammal Hunting in Northern and Western Alaska Using Traditional Knowledge

“…These patterns are consistent with what has been found in other studies of traditional knowledge (e.g., Krupnik and Ray, 2007;Fall et al, 2013;Huntington et al, 2013a) and are well-documented in the scientific literature, including measured decreases in multiyear ice (e.g., Maslanik et al, 2007;Kwok et al, 2009;Perovich et al, 2016) and snow levels (e.g., ACIA, 2005), and projected trends of less, thinner, and a shorter duration of ice in the future (e.g., Overland and Wang, 2007;Overland et al, 2014). The level of local detail available through traditional knowledge and the ways in which physical changes affect ecology and human activity are important contributions to the available literature, though further exploration of this topic would require dedicated studies (e.g., Gearheard et al, 2006Gearheard et al, , 2013Johnson et al, 2015).…”

"The Way We See It Coming": Building the Legacy of Indigenous Observations in IPY 2007–2008

“…Under such vision, the former is usually labeled "intuitive, holistic, consensual, and qualitative," whereas the latter is perceived as analytical, quantitative, and compartmentalized (Bielawski, 1992;Krupnik, 2002:184). While these labels contain some truth, Native experts have demonstrated repeatedly that they can effectively operate with both types of records and that they often match them more skillfully than scientists do (Aporta and Higgs, 2005;Bogoslovskaya, 2003;Krupnik and Ray, 2007;Noongwook et al, 2007).…”

“…It also became clear that local people have documented rapid change in the Arctic environment in a profound and unequivocal way. The next step in scientists' approach to indigenous records is to look for cases and areas where indigenous and scientifi c data disagree and offer differing, often confl icting interpretations Krupnik and Ray, 2007;Norton, 2002). This approach reveals certain features of indigenous versus scientifi c observation processes, such as differences in scaling, in the use of prime indicators, and in causes and linkages cited as explanations in two knowledge systems.…”

Detection and Attribution of Observed Impacts

“…Evidence is available in particular from Nordic and Mountain peoples, for example, from Peru's Cordillera Blanca mountains (Bury et al, 2010;Carey, 2010;Baraer et al, 2012;Carey et al, 2012b), Tibet (Byg and Salick, 2009), and Canada (Nichols et al, 2004;Laidler, 2006;Krupnik and Ray, 2007;Ford et al, 2009;Aporta et al, 2011). TEK can also inspire scientists to study new issues in the detection of climate change impacts.…”

“…Cases in which TEK and scientific studies both detect the same phenomenon offer a higher level of confidence about climate change impacts and environmental change (Huntington et al, 2004;Laidler, 2006;Krupnik and Ray, 2007;Salick and Ross, 2009;Gamble et al, 2010;Green and Raygorodetsky, 2010;Alexander et al, 2011;Cullen-Unsworth et al, 2012). Evidence is available in particular from Nordic and Mountain peoples, for example, from Peru's Cordillera Blanca mountains (Bury et al, 2010;Carey, 2010;Baraer et al, 2012;Carey et al, 2012b), Tibet (Byg and Salick, 2009), and Canada (Nichols et al, 2004;Laidler, 2006;Krupnik and Ray, 2007;Ford et al, 2009;Aporta et al, 2011).…”