Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-p566r Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T06:42:10.328Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Scale, context, and application of traditional knowledge of the Canadian north

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Frank Duerden
Affiliation:
School of Applied Geography, Ryerson Polytechnic University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
Richard G. Kuhn
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada

Abstract

There is strong contemporary interest in the application of traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) of physical environments and land-use patterns in northern Canada. This interest relates to land claims, land-use planning, cultural preservation, resource management, and environmental monitoring. The application of TEK to land and resource management is critically examined and a typology relating scale, user group, and the transformation of knowledge is developed. Of the many challenges facing the incorporation of TEK in resource-management initiatives, perhaps the greatest is the recognition of the appropriateness of scale. The conclusions reached in this paper reaffirm the notion that scale and context are key components in maintaining the validity and integrity of TEK. The primary role of TEK appears to be with providing the most valid and intelligible interpretations of local geographies and prescribing locally appropriate resource-management strategies.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akhtar, S. 1992. Traditional ecological knowledge: a resource to manage and share. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre.Google Scholar
Arima, E.Y. 1976. An assessment of the reliability of informant recall. In: Freeman, M.M.R. (editor). Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project. 2 volumes. Ottawa: Department of Indian and Northern Affairs: II: 3136.Google Scholar
Asch, M. 1976. Past and present land use by the Slavey Indians of the Mackenzie District. Yellowknife: Indian Brotherhood of the Northwest Territories.Google Scholar
Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies. 1993. Submission to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Unpublished document. Ottawa: Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies.Google Scholar
Berger, T.R. 1977. Northern frontier, northern homeland: he report on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services.Google Scholar
Berkes, F. 1987. Common property resource management and Cree Indian fisheries in sub-Arctic Canada. In: McCay, B.J., and Acheson, J.M. (editors). The question of the commons. Tucson: University of Arizona Press: 121141.Google Scholar
Bielawski, E. 1992. Inuit indigenous knowledge and science in the Arctic. Northern Perspectives 20 (1): 58.Google Scholar
Bone, R.M. 1992. The geography of the Canadian north: issues and challenges. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Booth, A., and Jacobs, H.M.. 1990. Ties that bind: native American beliefs as a foundation for environmental consciousness. Environmental Ethics 12: 2743.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brody, H. 1981. Maps and dreams. Toronto: Douglas and Mcintyre.Google Scholar
Canada. Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. 1985. The western Arctic claim: the Inuvialuit final agreement. Ottawa: Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.Google Scholar
Canada. Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. 1993. Umbrella final agreement between the government of Canada, the Council for Yukon Indians, and the government of the Yukon. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services.Google Scholar
Colorado, P. 1988. Bridging native and western science. Convergence 21 (2/3): 4968.Google Scholar
Cruikshank, J.M. 1981. Legend and landscape: convergence of oral and scientific traditions in the southern Yukon. Arctic Anthropology 18 (2): 6793.Google Scholar
Cruikshank, J.M. 1984. Oral tradition and scientific research: approaches to knowledge in the north. In: Social science in the north: communicating northern values. Ottawa: Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (Occasional Studies 9).Google Scholar
Cruikshank, J.M. 1997. Negotiating with narrative. American Anthropologist 99 (1): 5669.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, S.H. 1993. Indigenous views of land and the environment. Washington, DC: World Bank (World Bank Discussion Paper 188).Google Scholar
Denevan, W.M. 1992. The pristine myth: the landscape of the Americas in 1492. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 82 (3): 369385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diand. 1981. Northern land use planning: discussion paper. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services.Google Scholar
Dimitrov, P., and Weinstein, M.. 1984. So that the future will be ours. Unpublished report prepared for Ross River Indian Band. Whitehorse: Economic Development Department, Council for Yukon Indians.Google Scholar
Duerden, F. 1986. Teslin community and village economy. Unpublished report prepared for Teslin Indian Band. Whitehorse: Economic Development Department, Council for Yukon Indians.Google Scholar
Duerden, F., Kuhn, R.G., and Black, S.. 1996. An evaluation of the effectiveness of First Nations participation in the development of land use plans in the Yukon. Canadian Journal of Native Studies 16 (1): 105124.Google Scholar
Duerden, F., and Kuhn, R.G., 1996. The application of GIS by First Nations and government in northern Canada. Cartographica 16 (4): 4962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ernek, P. 1992. Traditional and contemporary Caribou Inuit knowledge on the impact of climate variation on wildlife. Unpublished paper presented at Canadian Arctic Global Change Workshop, University of Alberta, 23 10 1992.Google Scholar
Feit, H. 1988. Self-management and state management: forms of knowing and managing northern wildlife. In: Freeman, M.M.R., and Carbyn, L.N. (editors). Traditional knowledge and renewable resource management in northern regions. Edmonton: Boreal Institute for Northern Studies (Occasional Publication 23): 7291.Google Scholar
Fenge, T. 1987. Hinterland or homeland? Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Resources Committee.Google Scholar
Freeman, M.M.R. 1992. The nature and utility of traditional ecological knowledge. Northern Perspectives 20 (2): 912.Google Scholar
Freeman, M.M.R., Bhargava, A., Masterson, J., and Allen, K.. 1977. Land use database: an appendix to the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project report. 5 volumes. Ottawa: Inuit Tapirisat of Canada.Google Scholar
Freeman, M.M.R., and Cartyn, L.N. (editors). 1988. Traditional knowledge and renewable resource management in northern regions. Edmonton: Boreal Institute for Northern Studies (Occasional Publication 23).Google Scholar
Gamble, D.J. 1986. Crushing of cultures: western applied science in northern societies. Arctic 39 (1): 2023.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, S.D. 1989. Myths of the north in the Canadian ethos. Northern Review 3/4: 1541.Google Scholar
Harvey, D. 1984. On the history and present condition of geography: an historical materialistic manifesto. Professional Geographer 36 (1): 111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heydt, T. 1995. Indigenous knowledge, emancipation and alienation. Knowledge and Policy 8 (1): 6373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobsor, G. 1992. Traditional knowledge is science. Northern Perspectives 20 (1): 2.Google Scholar
Howard, A., and Widdowson, F.. 1996. Traditional knowledge threatens environmental assessment. Policy Options 17 (9): 3436.Google Scholar
Inglis, J.T. (editor). 1993. Traditional ecological knowledge: concepts and case studies. Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Nature.Google Scholar
Johannes, R.E. 1993. Integrating traditional ecological knowledge and management with environmental impact assessment. In: Inglis, J.T. (editor). Traditional ecological knowledge: concepts and case studies. Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Nature: 3339.Google Scholar
Kassi, N. 1991. This land has sustained us. Alternatives 18 (2): 2021.Google Scholar
Knudtson, P., and Suzuki, D.. 1992. Wisdom of the elders. Toronto: Stoddart.Google Scholar
Kuhn, R.G., and Duerden, F.. 1996. A review of traditional environmental knowledge: an interdisciplinary Canadian perspective. Culture 16 (1): 7184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhn, R.G., Duerden, F., and Clyde, K.. 1994. Government agencies and the utilization of indigenous land use information in the Yukon. Environments 22 (3): 7684.Google Scholar
Lovelock, J. 1979. Gaia: a newlookatlife on Earth. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Marcus, A.R. 1995. Relocating Eden: the image and politics of Inuit exile in the Canadian Arctic. Dartmouth, NH: University Press of New England.Google Scholar
Martin, C. 1979. Keepers of the game: Indian animal relationships and the fur trade. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Miller, A. 1993. The role of analytical science in natural resource decision-making. Environmental Management 17 (5): 663674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mowat, F. 1976. Canada north now: the great betrayal. Toronto: McClelland.Google Scholar
Murphy, S. 1986. Valuing traditional activities in the northern native economy: the case of Old Crow. Unpublished MA thesis. Vancouver: Department of Geography, University of British Columbia.Google Scholar
Nakashima, D.J. 1990. Application of native knowledge in EIA: Inuit, elders and Hudson Bay oil. Ottawa: Canadian Environmental Assessment Research Council.Google Scholar
Notzke, C. 1994. Aboriginalpeoples and natural resources in Canada. North York, Ontario: Captus Press.Google Scholar
O'Riordan, T. 1989. The challenge for environmentalism. In: Peet, R., and Thrift, N. (editors). New models in geography: the political economy perspective. Volume 1. London: Unwin Hyman: 77102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osherenko, G. 1988. Can comanagement save Arctic wildlife? Environment 30 (6): 733.Google Scholar
Reed, M.G. 1990. Environmental assessment and aboriginal claims: implementation of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. Ottawa: Canadian Environmental Assessment Research Council.Google Scholar
Reiwe, R. 1988. Land use mapping and regional variations within Nunavut. In: Polar science technology and information. Ottawa: Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies.Google Scholar
Rushforth, S. 1975. Recent land use by the Great Bear Lake Indians. Evidence presented on behalf of the Indian Brotherhood of the NWT and the Metis Association of the NWT to the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, Yellowknife.Google Scholar
Spink, J. 1969. Historic Eskimo awareness of past changes in sea level. Musk Ox 5: 3740.Google Scholar
Spink, J., and Moodie, D.W., 1972. Inuit maps from the Canadian eastern Arctic. North York, Ontario: York University (Cartographica Monograph 5).Google Scholar
Stabler, J.C. 1977. The report of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, volume 1: a socio-economic critique. Musk Ox 20: 5664.Google Scholar
Stager, J.K. 1974. Old Crow, Yukon Territory and the proposed Northern Gas Pipeline. Vancouver: Government of Canada.Google Scholar
Stevenson, M.G. 1996. Indigenous knowledge in environmental assessment. Arctic 49 (3): 278291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Usher, P.J. 1987. Indigenous management systems and the conservation of wildlife in the Canadian north. Alternatives 14 (1): 39.Google Scholar
Usher, P.J. 1993. The Beverly–Kaminuriak caribou management board: an experience in co-management. In: Inglis, J.T. (editor). Traditional ecological knowledge: concepts and case studies. Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Nature: 111120.Google Scholar
Warren, D.M. 1991. Using indigenous knowledge in agricultural development. Washington, DC: World Bank (World Bank Discussion Paper 17).Google Scholar
Wolfe, J., Bechard, C., Cizek, P., and Cole, D.. 1992. Indigenous and western knowledge and resource management systems. Guelph, Ontario: University School of Rural Planning and Development, University of Guelph.Google Scholar