Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T19:59:54.888Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The incorporation of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Arctic Council: Lip service?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 September 2020

Evgeniia (Jen) Sidorova*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaT2N 1N4
*
Author for correspondence: Evgeniia (Jen) Sidorova, Email: [email protected]

Abstract

The utilization of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in wildlife management has been a prominent topic for several decades. Since its establishment, Arctic Council (AC) has emphasized the importance of TEK and its utilization in its work. Yet, the process of knowledge coproduction in the AC has never been assessed. To what extent has TEK been meaningfully incorporated into the AC? The research uses qualitative content analysis to analyze the AC working groups’ meeting minutes, reports, scientific reports and assessments as well as reports released by Permanent Participants in order to investigate how the TEK has been incorporated into the AC. The study investigates that the process of knowledge coproduction in the AC turned into lip service, and suggests the set of recommendations that could potentially guide the TEK projects in the process of knowledge co-production. These recommendations, including the use of participatory methodology, the use of Indigenous methods, a recognition that TEK is local, application to policy, and better cross-cultural communication, could result in the more meaningful integration of TEK into scientific projects as well as wildlife management policies.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AHDR. (2004) Arctic Human Development Report. Akureyri: Stefansson Arctic Institute. Retrieved from http://www.svs.is/en/projects/ahdr-and-asi-secretariat/ahdr-chaptersGoogle Scholar
AHDR. (2014) Arctic Human Development Report. Akureyri: Stefansson Arctic Institute. Retrieved from http://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:788965/FULLTEXT03.pdfGoogle Scholar
AMAP. (2015). Minutes of the 29th AMAP WG Meeting Tromsø, Norway 13-15 September 2015. Retrieved from www.amap.no/documents/download/2573Google Scholar
AMAP. (2016). Minutes of the 30th Meeting of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Working Group, Helsinki, Finland, 28 November - 1 December 2016. Retrieved from https://www.amap.no/documents/doc/minutes-of-the-30th-meeting-of-the-amap-working-group/1522Google Scholar
AMAP. (2017). Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic. Retrieved from http://www.amap.no/documents/doc/Snow-Water-Ice-and-Permafrost-in-the-Arctic-SWIPA-2017/1610Google Scholar
Archibald, L. (2006). Decolonization and Healing: Indigenous Experiences in the United States, New Zealand, Australia And Greenland. Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation.Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (1996). Ottawa Declaration. Declaration on the establishment of the Arctic Council. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/94Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (1999). Minutes of the Arctic Council Senior Arctic Officials Meeting. Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A., May 5-6 1999. Retrieved from https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/263Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (2002). The Inari Declaration. The Third Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council. October 10, 2002. Inari, Finland. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/94Google Scholar
Arctic Council (2004). Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (2004). The Reykjavik Declaration. The Fourth Ministerial Meeting of The Arctic Council. November 24, 2004. Reykjavik, Iceland. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/94Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (2006). The Salekhard Declaration. The Fifth Ministerial Meeting of The Arctic Council. October 26, 2006. Salekhard, Russia. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/94Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (2009). Tromsø Declaration. The Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council. April 29, 2009. Tromsø, Norway. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/94Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (2011). Nuuk Declaration. The Seventh Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council. May 12, 2011. Nuuk, Greenland. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/94Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (2013). Kiruna Declaration. The Eight Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council. May 15, 2013. Kiruna, Sweden. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/94Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (2015). Iqaluit Declaration. The Ninth Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council. April 24, 2015. Iqaluit, Yukon, Canada. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/94Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (2017). Fairbanks Declaration. Declaration of the Foreign Ministers of the Arctic States at the 10th Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council, held in Fairbanks, Alaska, 10–11 May, 2017. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/94Google Scholar
Arctic Council. (1998). The Iqaluit Declaration. The First Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic Council. Iqaluit, Canada, September 17–18, 1998.Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/94Google Scholar
Beach, H. (1981). Reindeer-Herd Management in Transition: The Case of Tuorpon Saameby in Northern Sweden (Doctoral dissertation, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis).Google Scholar
Berkes, F. (1993). Traditional ecological knowledge in perspective. In J. Inglis (Ed.), Traditional ecological knowledge: Concepts and cases (pp. 1–9). IDRC.Google Scholar
Berkes, F. (1999). Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Resource Management. Philadelphia and London: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Binder, L. N., & Hanbidge, B. (1993). Aboriginal people and resource co-management. The Inuvialuit of the western Arctic and resource co-management under a land claims settlement. In Traditional ecological knowledge. Concepts and cases. Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Bjørklund, I. (1990). Sami reindeer pastoralism as an indigenous resource management system in northern Norway: a contribution to the common property debate. Development and Change, 21(1), 7586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bocking, S. (2004). Nature’s Experts: Science, Politics, and the Environment. Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Brooke, L. F. (1993). The participation of indigenous peoples and the application of their environmental and ecological knowledge in the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy. In Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Butler, C. (2006). Historicizing indigenous knowledge: practical and political issues. In Traditional ecological knowledge and natural resource management (pp. 107126). University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.Google Scholar
CAFF. (1994). CAFF International Working Group Proceedings: 3rd Annual Meeting, Reykjavik, Iceland, September 26–28, 1994. Retrieved from https://www.caff.is/administrative-series/summaries-from-caff-board-meetings/180-caff-international-working-group-proceedings-3rd-annual-meeting-reykjavik-icelanGoogle Scholar
CAFF. (1995). CAFF International Working Group Proceedings: 4th Annual Meeting, Moscow, Russia, September 18–22, 1995. Retrieved from https://www.caff.is/administrative-series/summaries-from-caff-board-meetings/181-caff-international-working-group-proceedings-4th-annual-meeting-moscow-russia-seGoogle Scholar
CAFF. (1996). CAFF International Working Group Proceedings: 5th Annual Meeting, Rovaniemi, Finland, September 9-11, 1996. Retrieved from https://www.caff.is/administrative-series/summaries-from-caff-board-meetings/182-caff-international-working-group-proceedings-5th-annual-meeting-rovaniemi-finlanGoogle Scholar
CAFF. (2017). Arctic Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom: Changes in the North American Arctic. Retrieved from https://www.caff.is/monitoring-series/412-arctic-traditional-knowledge-and-wisdom-changes-in-the-north-american-arctic/downloadGoogle Scholar
Chapman, J. M., & Schott, S. (2020). Knowledge coevolution: generating new understanding through bridging and strengthening distinct knowledge systems and empowering local knowledge holders. Sustainability Science, 113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cruikshank, J. (2004). Knowledge’: Perspectives from the Yukon Territory. In Cultivating Arctic landscapes: Knowing and managing animals in the circumpolar north, 17Google Scholar
EPPR. (1998). Field Guide for Oil Spill Response in Arctic Waters. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/109Google Scholar
Houde, N. (2007). The six faces of traditional ecological knowledge: challenges and opportunities for Canadian co-management arrangements. Ecology and Society, 12(2).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klokov, K. B. (1997). Tradicionnoe prirodopol’zovanie narodov Severa: koncepcija sohranenija i razvitija. [Traditional use of nature of people of the North: conception of preservation and development]. Jetnogeograficheskie i jetnojekologicheskie issledovanija, 5, 23.Google Scholar
Leech, S., Bates, P., & Blueberry River First Nation. (2016). BRFN Indigenous Knowledge Study of Chinchaga Muskeg Caribou and Pink Mountain Caribou. Report. Retrieved from http://www.bcogris.ca/sites/default/files/brfn-indigenous-knowledge-study-boreal-and-northern-caribou-28nov16-final-ver-3.pdfGoogle Scholar
Magga, O., Mathiesen, S., Corell, R., & Oskal, A. (2011). EALAT/reindeer herding, traditional knowledge and adaptation to climate change and loss of grazing land. Arctic Council SDWG EALAT Report. Alta, Norway. Accessed online: www.arctic-council.orgGoogle Scholar
Mann, M. (2003). Capitalism and the dis-empowerment of Canadian Aboriginal peoples. In R. Anderson & R. Bone (Eds.), Natural resources and aboriginal people in Canada: readings, cases and commentary (pp. 18–29). Concord: Captus Press.Google Scholar
Mayring, P. (2014). Qualitative content analysis: theoretical foundation, basic procedures and software solution. Retrieved from https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/39517/ssoar-2014-mayring-Qualitative_content_analysis_theoretical_foundation.pdf.Google Scholar
McGoodwin, J. R. (2006). Integrating fishers’ knowledge into fisheries science and management. In C. R. Menzies (Ed.). Traditional ecological knowledge and natural resource management (pp. 175–192). University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
McNabb, D. E. (2004). Research Methods for Political Science: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods. Routledge.Google Scholar
Murashko, O. A., & Dallmann, V. K. (2011). Transformacii tradicionnogo obraza zhizni i pitanija korennogo naselenija neneckogo avtonomnogo okruga. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Serija 23. Antropologija, 4.Google Scholar
Mymrin, N. I., Communities of Novoe Chaplino, Sireniki, Uelen, and Yanrakinnot, & Huntington, H. P. (1999). Traditional knowledge of the ecology of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in the Northern Bering Sea, Chukotka, Russia. Arctic, 52, 6270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nadasdy, P. (2003). Hunters and Bureaucrats: Power, Knowledge, and Aboriginal-State Relations in the Southwest Yukon. UBC Press.Google Scholar
Nadasdy, P. (2005). The anti-politics of TEK: the institutionalization of co-management discourse and practice. Anthropologica, 215232.Google Scholar
NOAA website (2020). Co-management (2019). Retrieved from https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/tags/co-management.Google Scholar
North Slope website. (2001). ABWC-NFMS Agreement for Co-management of the Western Alaska Beluga Whale Population. North Slope. Retrieved from http://www.north-slope.org/assets/images/uploads/ABWC_NMFS%20Coop%20Agreement%201999.pdf.Google Scholar
North Slope Science Initiative website. (2020). Fostering Science Collaboration on Alaska’s North Slope. North Slope Science Initiative website. Retrieved from https://northslopescience.org/.Google Scholar
Osherenko, G. (1988). Can comanagement save Arctic wildlife? Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 30(6), 634.Google Scholar
PAME. (2009). Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment 2009 Report. Retrieved from https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/54.Google Scholar
SDWG. (2009a). EALÁT. Reindeer Herders’ Voice: Reindeer Herding, Traditional Knowledge and Adaptation to Climate Change and Loss of Grazing Land. Retrieved from https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/47.Google Scholar
SDWG. (2009b). Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Arctic. Retrieved from https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/44.Google Scholar
SDWG. (2017). The Sea Ice Never Stops. Circumpolar Inuit Reflections on Sea Ice Use and Shipping in Inuit Nunaat. Retrieved from https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/410Google Scholar
Sejersen, F. (2004). Local knowledge in Greenland: Arctic perspectives and contextual differences. Cultivating Arctic landscapes: Knowing and Managing Animals in the Circumpolar North, 3356.Google Scholar
Severinsson, E. (2003). Moral stress and burnout: Qualitative content analysis. Nursing & Health Sciences, 5(1), 5966.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sillitoe, P., Dixon, P., & Barr, J. (2005). Indigenous knowledge inquiries: a methodologies manual for development. Indigenous Knowledge and Development Series.Google Scholar
Tecun (Daniel Hernandez), A., Hafoka, ‘I., ‘Ulu‘ave, L., & ‘Ulu‘ave-Hafoka, M. (2018). Talanoa: Tongan epistemology and Indigenous research method. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 14(2), 156163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1177180118767436CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tennberg, M. (2000). Arctic environmental cooperation: A study in governmentality Routledge.Google Scholar
Thomas, D. C., & Schaefer, J. (1991). Wildlife co-management defined: the Beverly and Kaminuriak caribou management board. Rangifer, 11(4), 7389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S State Department (1999). Arctic Climate Impact Assessment Draft. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11374/1891Google Scholar
UNFCCC website (2018). Talanoa Dialogue Platform. United Nations Climate Change website. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement/2018-talanoa-dialogue-platformGoogle Scholar
Wiener, J. (1995). Common property resource management and northern protected areas. In D. L. Peterson & D. R. Johnson (Eds.), Human Ecology and Climate Change. People and Resources in the Far North (pp. 207–217). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar