ABOUT TRACES
PROJECTS
TRACES is organized into six work packages (projects)--each designed around a unique theme relating to Inuit subsistence harvesting, and all utilizing methods, techniques and analytical approaches from diverse disciplines, such as anthropology, archaeology, law, international relations and media studies. Explore the TRACES work packages below!
PI Desjardins and colleagues examining baleen from a recent bowhead whale hunt, Igloolik, 2022. (Photo by M. Siebrecht)
Work Package 1 (Tumiit / ᑐᒦᑦ / 'Tracks')
The modern cultural and dietary importance of country foods for Amitturmiut is undeniable. Despite this, we lack robust primary data on harvest locales, informed estimates of animal abundance, and associated observations of local ice/open-water dynamics at critical times of the year, such as the spring thaw, when travel across the thinning ice can become treacherous for locals. The objective of WP1 is to co-collect and co-analyze data on representative harvests across all seasons for period of at least two years. This information will be recorded by TRACES staff and Iglulingmiut hunters using a purpose-designed smartphone app. The resulting models can serve as a valuable, locally-produced tool for (1) continued, successful management of local resources by the Igloolik Hunters and Trappers Association, and (2) more effectively positioning Inuit knowledge in government decision-making about resources across Amittuq.
L. Anneloes, 2023.
Work Package 2 (Nirjutiqarviulauqtut / ᓂᕐᔪᑎᕐᑲᕐᕕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ / 'Places where animals were found')
Qallunaat (ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ / ‘non-Inuit’) fascination with the past cultural belongings (artifacts) and archaeological features in Amittuq date back to the first documented colonial encounter in the region in the early 19th century. Since that time, a relatively small number of archaeologists have carried out significant research into the region’s Pre-Inuit cultures (from around 2500 BC to AD 1300). The objective of WP2 is to examine Inuit-animal/Inuit-environmental relationships from the 13th century AD to present. The project will involve modeling existing archaeological data on Inuit archaeological animal-processing/harvesting locales, as well as new surveys of uninvestigated areas chosen in consultation with local knowledge-holders. The priority will be to identify and examine change over time in the choice and use of harvest locales across land, sea and ice.
L. Anneloes, 2023.
Work Package 3 (Ittarnisalirinirmut / ᐃᑦᑕᕐᓂᓴᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ / Cultural heritage)
Crucial to integrating and contextualizing the data generated in WP1 and WP2 is gaining first-hand knowledge from Inuit hunters, Elders, and other local experts in Inuit-animal/Inuit-environment relationships. The objective of WP3 is to compile and promote (e.g., through educational programming) oral-historical and first-hand knowledge from interviews with Elders on local hunting/harvesting, ecological resource management and Inuit cultural understandings of environmental health. The WP3 team will engage closely with hunters, seamstresses (animal-skin clothing is still regularly produced in Igloolik), traditional artists, and others who interact regularly with animals and work with animal products (e.g., skins, ivory, antler, and bone).
L. Anneloes, 2023.
Work Package 4 (Nutaat pilirijjutit / ᓄᑖᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᑦ / 'New tools')
The distinction between ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ is often (and unjustly) tied to the nature of the material culture (artifacts/tools) used. Today, Inuit engaging in cultural activities have a wide range of new tools and media to employ, such as social media, 3D printers, drones and GPS/GIS technologies, among many more. Staff in WP4 ask how intergenerational knowledge-transfer--and cultural knowledge itself--is affected by such new tools. The project will facilitate workshops with Inuit young people on the digitization of cultural belongings, as well as artistic expression through documentary film.
Work Package 5 (Maligaq / ᒪᓕᒐᖅ / 'A rule to be followed')
In Nunavut, subsistence harvesting regulations and quotas are determined through a co-managed process involving government and Inuit organizations. The objective of WP4 is to explore the legal/regulatory structures of harvest management and conservation through (1) a nuanced textual analysis of subsistence-hunting regulations affecting Indigenous people across Nunavut, and (2) firsthand interviews with Inuit knowledge- and rights-holders, biologists and policymakers. The primary output of the project will be a series of practical recommendations—informed by the ongoing research in the first three WPs—for better integrating Inuit traditional knowledge into hunting-related government policy and regulations.
L. Anneloes, 2023.
Work Package 6 (Aaqqigutiliqtut / ᐋᖅᑭᒍᑎᓕᖅᑐᑦ / 'Things coming together')
Many Indigenous communities lack important resources for contributing local knowledge about past and present resource use to policymakers. The objective of WP5 is to use data generated in all TRACES projects to create a holistic, culturally-tailored, and accessible multimedia (print and digital) Toolkit for informing and influencing both policymakers and the broader public on the long, rich history of harvesting by Inuit across Amittuq.
