POSTDOC & BEYOND
Collaborating with Indigenous Communities in the Canadian Arctic to Understand Caribou Form and Function
By Ryan K. Brook, PhD
I GREW UP on a small farm in southern Canada. During this time, and through the early years of my undergraduate training, I had virtually no interaction with indigenous communities. My family is exclusively of European descent, as were virtually all of the people I knew. Finally, in my third year of undergrad, a professor named Rick Riewe began telling stories about Inuit, Dene, and other peoples of the Canadian arctic. It was Rick who taught me how to build igloo and quinzhee snow houses, and ultimately made me so excited about experiencing the North and interacting with the people. I learned through Rick that indigenous communities deserved respectful interactions and that traditional knowledge of the land and wildlife was valuable in its own right and was complementary to conventional Western science. Use of traditional knowledge was (and still is) opposed by the majority of natural scientists, who dismiss traditional knowledge and the value that it contributes to understanding the ecology and management of caribou. Thankfully, this perspective is slowly changing and there are an increasing number of natural scientists who recognize the contributions that traditional knowledge can make in understanding and managing wildlife and the environment. My master’s thesis research was based entirely on biological science, but when I began searching for a PhD project, I wanted to do something in collaboration with rural and remote communities. I chose a study that engaged local people and used local knowledge along with Western science, and that area continues to be the primary focus of my research. AN ATLAS OF KNOWLEDGE My postdoctoral study involves participating in the development of an atlas of the anatomy of caribou that integrates scientific data with traditional knowledge of caribou and reindeer structure and historical uses.
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It is being developed in collaboration with Drs. Susan Kutz, Christoph Mülling, and Jason Anderson in the Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine; Dr. Peter Flood, emeritus professor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan; and other scientists, aboriginal hunters, youth, and elders. Typically, atlases are aimed at university students, researchers, and professionals in the field. This atlas is being developed for those audiences, as well as Dene, Inuit, Cree, and Métis hunters, public school teachers, and residents in the North. Caribou and reindeer are both members of the same species, Rangifer tarandus, and it is our hope that the Rangifer Anatomy Project (RAP) will help facilitate communication among scientists and communities by sharing knowledge and creating products that illustrate the bones, muscles, and other tissues using scientific names, as well as indigenous terminology and stories. RAP will generate a variety of resources, including illustrated pamphlets, field guides, posters, web-based materials, and ultimately a physical anatomical atlas to train Northern youth, university students, and wildlife management personnel. Content will range from basic comparative anatomy to detailed visual and written descriptions that demonstrate the landmarks and underlying
above
Dr. Brook in Lutsel K’e during the caribou hunt.
right
After the hunt, a Lutsel K’e elder cuts up caribou meat.
anatomy for practical procedures such as obtaining blood samples in live caribou. To facilitate standardized post-mortem sampling by hunters and scientists, practical guides will be developed to describe the landmarks and techniques for collection of important tissue samples like lymph nodes and specific muscles. These resources will also help describe what is “normal” and “abnormal” so that hunters can detect changes and abnormalities in the health of the animals. A COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER In March 2009, I participated in a community caribou hunt with the people of Lutsel K’e in the Northwest Territories. We travelled by snowmobile across Great Slave Lake, the ninth largest lake in the world, to the edge of the tree line. Hunters, elders, and youth all camped in tents and spent a week living on the land. Each day, hunters travelled out to the barren tundra to hunt caribou and shared their knowledge of caribou with me. The hunters were mostly men, but, interestingly, the participating youth were all young women. At camp, the older women butchered the caribou that hunters brought back and also contributed their perspectives on caribou anatomy. Elders at camp discussed long-term changes they have observed and some of the traditional uses of the different caribou parts, emphasizing that historically every single part of the caribou would be used. They also dis-
cussed respect for caribou and how animals should be treated. ENGAGING YOUTH IN SCIENCE An important priority that has been identified by elders in the Northwest Territories is engaging youth in science and helping them learn traditional knowledge. We have involved youth in RAP by visiting schools throughout the Northwest Territories, sharing posters, making presentations, and leading caribou games. Students were able to handle caribou fur and bones and share their own knowledge. Youth were also engaged during the Lutsel K’e community hunt to help with dissecting and photographing a caribou for RAP. Their project work during the camp included documenting the traditional names for caribou parts. We hope that this work will encourage youth to consider careers in science, as well as help validate the importance of traditional knowledge. Caribou numbers have declined sharply in recent years, and scientists and Northern communities have shared concerns about the impacts of climate change on the long-term viability of caribou populations. RAP will help facilitate further communication, research, monitoring, and management of caribou. RAP is being funded by the Nasivvik Centre for Inuit Health and Changing Environments, the Department of Ecosystem and Public Health in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada PromoScience Program, and an International Polar Year grant to the CircumArctic Rangifer Monitoring and Assessment Network. n
Dr. Ryan K. Brook is a postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in the Department of Ecosystem and Public Health at the University of Calgary. He can be reached at rkbrook@ucalgary.ca.
Learn more about the Rangifer Anatomy Project online at www.sacnas.org/ sacnewsWelcome.cfm
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