26 March 2025 | 08:30 - 10:00 (MDT)
Open Session - HYBRID
Room: UMC Third Floor - 386
Organisers: Anita Lafferty (University of Alberta); Stacey Lucason (Kawerak, Inc.)
Zoom link to the Session (password-protected)
The password needed to connect to the session will be distributed the day prior to the start of the sessions to all registered conference participants. Further guidelines on how to participate virtually in the ASSW 2025 can be found on the ASSW 2025 website.
Session Description:
In recognition of the value to Arctic research of Indigenous-led and co-produced methodologies, significant progress has been made in amplifying Indigenous voices and perspectives within the ICARP IV process, alongside the formation of new committees such as the IASC Standing Committee on Indigenous Involvement (SCII). In this session, we aim to bring together perspectives from diverse knowledge systems, career stages, and disciplines, to discuss progress in supporting co-production and Indigenous-led methodologies in Arctic research.
In the first part of the session, we will discuss progress towards these goals over the past year. This will include presenting the first chapter of the online digital journal/eZine curated by RPT5. We plan to span this over the next decade leading up to IPY. This publication will document the evolution, case studies, advancements, and nuances of co-production and Indigenous-led methodologies, with feedback contributing to the finalization of the first chapter.
The second part of the session will focus on future planning, seeking collective input to identify pivotal areas for the Arctic research community to reconsider and acknowledge. We center Indigenous methodologies to inspire reflexivity and careful listening regarding processes such as decolonizing research practices and educational spaces, and the mechanisms required to support Indigenous leadership at various levels. This may include enhancing funding and resources for Indigenous-led initiatives, creating spaces for genuine dialogue and collaboration, incorporating mentorship and flexible research agendas, and promoting land-based education and community involvement in research.
Instructions for Speakers: Oral presentations in this session should be at most 10-minutes in length. See more detailed presenter instructions here.
Oral Presentations:
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unfold_moreTraditional Cultural Camp as an Effective Environmental Research Methodology — Kevin Lewis, Ranjan Datta, & Jodi Houle
Ranjan Datta 1; Kevin Lewis 2; Jodi Houle 3
1 Mount Royal University; 2 University of Saskatchewan; 3 Ministikwan Lake Cree NationFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
This case study explores the significance of traditional cultural camps as an effective environmental research methodology in the Northern Indigenous communities in Canada, emphasizing Indigenous knowledge systems, cultural practices, and intergenerational teachings. Using a land-based approach, traditional cultural camps foster a deep connection between Arctic communities and their environment, promoting sustainability through practices rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing. Northern Indigenous communities’ unique ecological and cultural context underscores the relevance of these camps in addressing environmental challenges specific to the region. This study focuses on key aspects of cultural camps, including cross-cultural gatherings, which facilitate the exchange of knowledge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, enhancing collaborative efforts toward Arctic environmental stewardship. A central theme of the study is the role of intergenerational learning in preserving and transmitting traditional Arctic knowledge, ensuring that younger generations understand their role as stewards of the fragile Arctic ecosystem. The cultural camp examined in this case is located in the Northern Indigenous communities in Canada, on Cree territory, and highlights how Indigenous-led initiatives in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions foster the transmission of land-based knowledge critical to environmental sustainability. The camp serves as a cultural, educational, and environmental hub where community members reconnect with the land, reinforcing the importance of traditional ways of living that emphasize respect for Arctic ecosystems and sustainable practices. The study also emphasizes the importance of Indigenous teachings in Arctic environmental governance, particularly through the integration of traditional stories that convey lessons on biodiversity, land-water management, and ecosystem stewardship.
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unfold_moreCommunication strategies and tactics for crafting and sharing compelling chronicles to mobilize diverse audiences to support Indigenous communities — Joshua W. Brown
Joshua Brown 1
1 The Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA) at the University of Colorado BoulderFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
This presentation explores utilizing traditional and evolving Indigenous knowledge, digital technologies, and storytelling to mobilize audiences. It primarily features Arctic Indigenous communities' communication approaches and considerations in navigating social and ecological flux while advocating for Indigenous rights and well-being. The presentation will highlight storytelling in multiple languages and novel contexts while utilizing new techniques and technologies. The Yup'ik Atlas Project, for example, has yielded several significant outcomes. It is a living online multimedia document encompassing a wealth of ecological knowledge, contributing to a better understanding of Yup'ik communities, environmental change, and stewardship. Furthermore, Yup'ik knowledge holders share and work with local schools, researchers, and policymakers to help evolve the atlas and increase awareness among all participants. Engaging community members in the atlas research process also strengthened local interest in researching their communities and environment while fostering intergenerational knowledge transfer within Indigenous communities and cross-culturally. Additionally, this presentation will surface Indigenous communities' current dynamics, such as living in faraway areas, often as majority minorities living in areas deemed the periphery with fraught legal and political power and other conditions that create complexities narrators need to consider when utilizing knowledge and tools in storytelling. Finally, it will focus on strategies and tactics to convey Indigenous peoples' histories, cultures, and contemporary lived realities to their communities, other Indigenous communities, often far-off public audiences, and local, regional, national, and international political actors.
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unfold_moreTamamta (All of Us) : Transforming Western & Indigenous Sciences Together — Sonia Ibarra (Apache / Caxcan)
Sonia Ibarra 1; Courtney Carothers 2
1 Apache / Caxcan; 2 University of Alaska FairbanksFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
Motivated by deep inequities, Indigenous erasure, racism, and continued violence against Alaska Native peoples, Tribal sovereignty, Indigenous values, governance practices, and knowledge systems, the Tamamta program seeks to transform education, research, governance systems in Alaska and beyond. We envision a future where Indigenous Peoples and our/their knowledge and governance systems steward land, fish, and animal relations. Our program supports three cohorts of Alaska Native, Indigenous, and allied students to pursue their graduate degrees in western and Indigenous fisheries and marine sciences. We are working to decolonize and Indigenize our curriculum, programs, and institutions. We are hosting difficult dialogues, providing short courses, and cultural exchanges for state and federal partner agencies to join this collective transformation. In this work, we center deep relational work based on reciprocity, respect, and redistribution. We will share reflections on barriers and opportunities for transformation as we work toward greater equity in education, research, and governance systems.
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unfold_moreUplifting Indigenous Sovereignty, Stewardship, and Leadership through Collaborative Partnerships: A Model to Catalyze Transformational and Institutional Change — Leanna Heffner
Leanna Heffner 1; Aaron Poe 1; Nyssa Russell 1; Nadine Kochuten 1; Rachel Lekanoff 1; Gabe Canfield 2
1 Northern Latitudes Partnerships, Alaska Conservation Foundation; 2 Northern Latitudes Partnerships, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science CenterFormat: Oral virtual
Abstract:
In Alaska and Northwest Canada, regional partnerships of Indigenous organizations, government agencies, non-profits, and academic institutions have been collaborating to uplift Indigenous leadership to address climate change impacts and natural resource management issues. Collectively referred to as the Northern Latitudes Partnerships (NLP), these groups are creating transformational change in how institutions & communities approach the most critical issues in the region, such as co-stewardship, food security/sovereignty, climate-driven hazards, resource management, and conservation.
Recent initiatives and approaches - led by the NLP and key partners - to support Indigenous-led research & stewardship efforts include:
- Supporting the vision and leadership of Indigenous-led initiatives, such as Indigenous Guardians, Indigenous Sentinels Network, Tribal Conservation Districts, and youth leadership programs
- Building capacity, fostering networks, and bringing in resources/funding (i.e. millions of $USD) to Indigenous organizations/communities
- Providing educational/learning spaces for non-Indigenous professionals to learn about and respectfully engage with Indigenous ways, worldviews, knowledge systems, and land/water stewardship - plus ways they can directly decolonize their work & institutions
- Creating regular space for dialogue and relationship-building that centers Indigenous voices and Indigenous ways of gathering, and also welcomes in non-Indigenous participants to listen, learn, and share
Central to this work has been centering healing, trust-building, deep listening, humility, and an openness to mindset shifts and new ideas. The last 15 years of working together in these collaborative partnerships has effectively catalyzed institutional change, while providing on-the-ground impacts that benefit communities as well as the land and water we depend on.
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unfold_moreSustaining Indigenous Knowledge — Norma Shorty
Norma Shorty 1
1 Arctic Athabaskan CouncilFormat: Oral in-person
Abstract:
This presentation is to contribute to an understanding of Indigenous-led research processes which embrace Indigenous research agendas for the express purpose of sustaining Indigenous knowledge, research, philosophies, methods, and healing. The researcher is Tlingit. The researcher’s affiliation is to Tlingit people; this affiliation assists with international work which seeks to define Indigenous engagements and practices. Burdened with trauma from contact and colonisation, the researcher grew up believing that Tlingit stories were myth, that there was little or no value in understanding Tlingit history or language. These kinds of ideas are remnants of Canada’s Indian Act policies; these policies shaped the researcher’s educational pathway to the point of near amnesia on who are the Tlingit of Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon. Teaching Tlingit constructs in institutions of higher learning has led the researcher to realise that Tlingit people, like many other Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic and across the world, are healing and decolonising from contact and historical discrimination. For the Tlingit, the act of decolonisation is achieved through the Indigenization of their worldviews: speaking and thinking in Tlingit to each other; by hosting ceremonies and groups where there is clan balance so that speaking protocols are adhered to; by ensuring there are Tlingit-led enquiries and processes for Tlingit-led answers; by holding up Tlingit-led participation and assessments; and more. Tlingit Elders who are fluent in their Tlingit languages are the key to ensuring cultural ethics and protocols are adhered to. Looking back, it is extraordinary what the Tlingit have endured.