SIKU
Proposal URL: http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=166 Sea ice is a fundamental feature of the polar environment; it is also one of its most tangible indicators of change. During the last two decades, and in the past several years in particular, both polar scientists and local indigenous residents have detected dramatic shifts in the extent, timing, and other key parameters of Arctic sea ice. Whereas earlier IPY ventures contributed greatly to the progress in the scientific knowledge and understanding of polar sea ice, IPY 2007-2008 will become a milestone in the documentation of indigenous knowledge of sea ice environment. It will also set new standards for efforts and methods to bridge scientific and local observations of change in the ice-dominated northern ecosystems. To achieve this we propose a coordinated international study of local knowledge and use of sea ice in several indigenous communities across the Arctic region. The acronym for our project's title, Sea Ice Knowledge and Use is also the most general word for sea ice in all Inuit (Eskimo) languages from Bering Strait to Greenland. For many Arctic indigenous peoples, despite rapid and pronounced changes in lifestyles and local cultures the ice-covered sea continues to be an integral component of daily life. It remains the most productive and widely used habitat for six to nine months every year. It is also the main platform for traveling; for observing weather systems, tidal and current cycles, marine mammals and other biota; as well as for training and education in navigational and subsistence skills passed from elders to younger hunters. Further, the status of local use and knowledge of sea ice is also an indicator of social change, a function of new technologies, economic and dietary trends, and of shifts in educational practices and cultural values. For many polar communities the use and knowledge of the ice-covered sea remains the key pillar of identity and resilience. It is their most prized intellectual treasure, the best of their scholarship based upon generations of experience and achievements. For scientists it offers an invaluable vision on how changes in polar ecosystems can be thoroughly documented and internalized through another form of knowledge and observations. Our effort will include seasonal (long-term) monitoring and extensive documentation of the current status of local sea ice expertise and daily use; knowledge of ice features, hunting and traveling methods; safety rules; patterns of knowledge transmission and hunters' training in several (15 to 20) northern communities. Special focus will be placed upon the documentation of indigenous interpretations of current sea ice characteristics and environmental variability, cultural and ecological responses to increase resilience and community sustainability in times of change. Data will be collected via participant observations, interviews, and recording by local experts to illustrate: i) a seasonal sea ice topology; ii) the extent and areas of use by local people; iii) sea ice hazards; iv) key harvesting areas; v) traditional and current ice routes; vi) place names associated with ice features; vii) shifts in patterns of ice use due to social and/or environmental change; viii) recent and historical changes in subsistence and other societal strategies, due to environmental and socio-economic dynamics. This body of data, supplied by maps, video, photographs, diaries of local observers, dictionaries of sea ice terms and place-names in local languages, along with other forms of records, such as narratives, memoirs, and oral histories, will create the first-ever broad dataset on indigenous knowledge and use of Arctic sea ice as of 2007-2008. Based upon cumulative observations by scientists and indigenous experts, this dataset will offer insight into both the past as well as the current conditions. The 2007-2008 dataset will thus be an invaluable baseline to any prospective comparison to detect future evidence of change, both environmental and social, for years to come and up to IPY-5 in 2057-2058. Another crucial task is to track sea ice changes over the last fifty years, and possibly longer, so that the scope and direction of change can be analyzed over a broader period of time. To achieve this the SIKU project teams will incorporate several senior researchers (science elders') and/or their field data of some 35-50 years ago, including those who had conducted their research in the years of IGY in 1957-1958, and after. This is aimed at matching past observations with the data of today's scholars working in the same communities. In a similar way, indigenous elders and experts are to work closely with hunters and community researchers of younger generations. Historical photographs, researchers' field notes, archival documents, and oral histories will be used extensively, to test the scope of change in ice, knowledge, and subsistence against observations of indigenous and scholarly experts from several generations. The study will be undertaken as a network of regional projects led by teams from seven nations and focused on selected sites (communities) or areas (see 2.3). Each team will be multi-generational and will include a senior researcher ("elder") and younger scholars or students as well as local collaborators from various age groups. The project will be organized as a multidisciplinary study, in order to test ice records against the data on terrestrial and marine environments, hunting statistics, and weather patterns. Project personnel will include geographers, anthropologists, ice scholars, marine and terrestrial biologists, hunters, village elders, and subsistence specialists from local agencies. The project will be conducted in partnership with indigenous institutions and communities. Participation and data sharing agreements will be sought with local village councils and hunters' associations as well as regional umbrella organizations (like Inuit Circumpolar Conference-Greenland, Alaskan Eskimo Walrus Commission, and others). Data will be collected, processed, and copied for prospective storage at regional archives, data-centers, and educational institutions. Photographs and records will be shared with local communities and families. The project's scientific products will be presented in team reports, co-authored papers, datasets deposited to the IPY data-management centers (see 3.6), individual/team monographs, and a final project volume of several chapters, organized by major geographic regions.
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