Project Description:

This thesis project investigates the contributions and limits of a long-term community-based monitoring program of the human-Rangifer social-ecological system associated with the Porcupine caribou herd. More precisely, it investigates the case of the Arctic Borderlands Ecological Knowledge Society, a  cooperative institution established in 1994 and involving 10 indigenous communities within its community-based environmental monitoring program. Three specific objectives structured the chapters of the thesis project:

1. to investigate how community-based monitoring allows a better understanding of the environmental factors influencing caribou body condition;
2. to investigate how community-based monitoring allows a better understanding of the mechanisms linking environmental  variables, caribou distribution and the capacity for northern indigenous hunters to satisfy their needs in caribou;
3. to investigate how a community-based monitoring program contributes to build social capital among its participants, and favours the use of local indigenous knowledge within environmental management processes.

Project Outcomes or Intended Outcomes:

Both spring and fall caribou body condition improved from 2000 to 2008, despite a continuous increase of the Porcupine caribou population. Spring and fall caribou body conditions were mostly influenced by weather on the winter and spring ranges, in particular by  snow conditions and spring temperatures. Amelioration of snow and temperature conditions from 2000 to 2010 likely contributed to the caribou population increase during the same period.

There is a strong influence of snow conditions and temperature on hunting activities and the capacity of hunters to satisfy their needs in caribou. From 2000 to 2008, hunters increasingly met their needs in caribou despite a decrease in hunting activities, which may have been caused by the caribou population increase.

In spite of a high level of social capital within the Arctic Borderlands Ecological Knowledge Society, indigenous knowledge collected through the program barely contributed to management decisions. Several barriers limit the contribution of this knowledge but the Arctic Borderlands demonstrated  learning and adaptive capacities to overcome these barriers. Indigenous community-based monitoring  can improve our understanding of arctic social-ecosystems. A community-based approach can produce social outcomes that go beyond the primary benefits of data collection. Environmental community-based monitoring bridges indigenous and scientific knowledge and fosters communication between people who need to meet and innovate to manage sustainably the resources on which they depend.

This project demonstrates how visual art can be used in combination with scientific and social science methods to examine the biocultural landscape of the Sahtú region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Specifically, it focuses on the intersection of Dene cultural diversity and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) intraspecific variation. 

Socioenvironmental changes in Canada’s northern regions are likely to have wide-ranging implications for the health of its residents. Aboriginal communities are among the first to face the direct impacts of changes, as their lifestyles tend to be more closely tied to and reliant upon the natural environment. Based on field research, this paper documents observations of socio-environmental changes made by members of the Cree Trappers Association (CTA) of the Cree of Eeyou Istchee (the traditional homeland of the Cree located in the eastern James Bay area). It also analyses their impact on hunting behaviour and consumption levels associated with two traditional food species – the Canada Goose and the woodland caribou. CTA members are witnessing changes in animal behaviour and the migration patterns of species. These in turn are affecting the consumption of traditional food, causing dietary changes at the society level, and, ultimately, impacting on human health and overall well-being.