Kawerak Region Research

Community Based Documentation of Ice Seals and Walrus in Kawerak Region

Project Summary:

Kawerak’s Ice Seal and Walrus Project, completed in 2013, was a participatory applied research project that involved nine Bering Strait region communities: Diomede, King Island, Savoonga, Nome, Elim, Koyuk, Shaktoolik, Stebbins, and St. Michael. The project incorporated ice seal and walrus hunter knowledge and use patterns into management and policy-making. Meetings with community members and Tribal IRA councils were held in the nine participating communities, in order to develop the following community-driven research goals.

1. Map ice seal and walrus subsistence use areas (including hunting areas, travel routes, camps, and other locations used to support subsistence) in a manner that captures seasonality, change and variability.
2. Document traditional knowledge of habitat needs for ice seals and walruses, including descriptions of areas used for calving, pupping, or hauling out; observations of environmental changes affecting ice seals and walruses; reactions of ice seals and walruses to disturbance; the food chain for ice seals and walruses; local explanations for observed changes in animal distribution or timing; and general TEK of ice seal/walrus habitat.
3. Develop a knowledge base for community-based management of ice seals and walrus by documenting TEK of ice seals and walrus, observed population or health changes, ways of knowing if populations are in trouble, strategies for avoiding loss while hunting, respectful hunting methods, traditional forms of respect, and community management ideas.
4. Document traditional knowledge of safety that can be used by young hunters.

These research goals were used to design interview protocols for mapping focus groups and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) semi-structured interviews. The protocols were also modified according to community and co-management body input, and tested on elders and active hunters.

Interviews and focus groups were completed, maps were digitized in ArcGIS, and results were analyzed by communities. Kawerak produced documentation of the traditional knowledge of the region, so that it will be available to decision-makers. Those documents can be found at their website.

Publications:

• Gadamus, L. 2013. Linkages between human health and ocean health: a participatory climate change vulnerability assessment for marine mammal harvesters. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 72:20715 – http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.20715.

Map of Villages in Kawerak Region:

Links

• For updated information from the Kawerak region about their ice seal-related research, please visit their website.