Indigenous women and science knowledge: The first voice and climate change

[Judi Lynn]

12 JUN 2017


When we talk about science knowledge, we often neglect the contribution of indigenous peoples, particularly indigenous women. With nearly 200m indigenous women at the front line of climate change, their science knowledge is complementary, instructive and vital to scientific research in the ‘global North’. The ‘first voice’ of indigenous women is central to building ecological resilience and steering international action on climate change mitigation.

70 degrees 30 minutes north: Nunavut, Canada

An adventurous traveller journeying through the Arctic wilderness of Nunavut may find the most pragmatic means of transport to be dog sled or snowmobile. Most of Nunavut has no formal roads – this most northern territory of Canada is among the most sparsely inhabited regions of the world, its populace of 35,000 dotted over an area the size of western Europe. Voyagers to the pristine Arctic terrain will spot ghostly, playful beluga whales in the crystal waters, caribou crossing the tundra valleys and polar bears roaming on the ice pack.

Nunavut caught the attention of international media in September 2016, when news broke that the wreck of HMS Terror had been discovered resting in 80 feet of icy water south of King William Island. Missing for 168 years, the Terror was used by polar explorer Sir John Franklin on his doomed expedition to traverse an unchartered route through the Northwest Passage. Dozens of news media websites beamed spectral images of the long-lost Terror across the world, its bowsprit, bell and double-wheeled helm remarkably well preserved. Ironically, thanks to the region’s slow, unreliable and ruinously expensive internet, poignant pictures of the Terror’s fate likely proved elusive for many a local Nunavummiuq.

Inuktitut, the language of the 25,000-strong indigenous Inuit population, contains a rich and descriptive lexicon for sea ice and snow. In a region where temperatures range from minus 40 degrees Celsius in winter to 30 degrees in summer, daily life and safe passage is navigated through nuanced articulation of sea ice and snow variations. Siku refers to ice in general, while qinu refers to slushy ice by the sea. Maujaq is snow that one sinks into, while qautsaulittuq describes ice that has been broken after its strength is tested with a harpoon.

More:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/indigenous-women-climate-change-first-voice

Environment & Energy:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127111154