This PhD project is an interdisciplinary study. The researcher used interviews with herders and hunters, local observations, and genetic analysis to understand how historical processes influence genetic identity and population structure of caribou and reindeer.

Caribou and wild reindeer (Rangifer) are integral to ecology and Aboriginal lives and culture in circumArctic regions. Since reaching peak size in the 1990s, most herds have been declining, while their ranges are changing as the footprint of people’s activities expands and the climate warms. More than ever, then, people need to share information and experience on Rangifer management and conservation. In recognition of this need for a circumArctic approach to monitoring, the CircumArctic Rangifer Monitoring and Assessment (CARMA) network, a relatively informal group of scientists, community representatives, and management agencies, was established in 2004. CARMA emphasizes collaborating and sharing information on migratory tundra Rangifer and developing tools to deal with the impacts of global changes on these herds.

Grounded in an Indigenous methodological framework and using dendroecology as a scientific assessment tool in combination with oral history analysis, this thesis project assessed changes to caribou movement patterns in the traditional territory of Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation (LKDFN), Northwest Territories, Canada.