This project explored the challenges of representing Traditional Knowledge using western technologies, and the application of fuzzy methodologies for improving the representation. Inuit Elders and hunters in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, used maps to help represent their knowledge of caribou in the region, and these maps were processed in a GIS.

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. 

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.

This PhD project uses multiple disciplinary lenses to understand the dynamics of the social-ecological systems that are of critical importance to northern Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic. Barren ground caribou are part of these systems which contribute to nutritional, cultural, and spiritual well being that are today undergoing significant changes.

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. 

Used Aboriginal traditional knowledge and science to identify several seasonal range attributes that were examined for changes from 1996 through 2013 (decreasing population abundance of the Bathurst caribou herd). Seasonal range attributes were calculated from female collared caribou and climate data were also analyzed for temporal trends that may be correlated with changes in seasonal ranges.