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Module 4 • Flora and Fauna: Me and My Habitat!
Background
The term Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is used to describe this understanding that many Native
cultures have of their natural environments. TEK is accumulated during time spent on the land. It is the
intimate knowledge of plants, animals, and other natural phenomenon. It also implies the development
and use of appropriate technologies for hunting, fishing, and trapping. It encompasses all aspects of the
environment—biophysical, economic, social, cultural, and spiritual. TEK sees humans as an intimate part
of the environment. Acquired over many generations through daily contact with the environment, TEK is
passed on orally through songs and stories, as well as through actions and observations.
In recent years, the voices of Arctic communities have been getting stronger. Arctic indigenous peoples
have been speaking out about their observations and concerns, often through collaborative work with
northern researchers. Scientists have realized the importance of TEK collected from Elders in Arctic com-
munities as a vital source of environmental information. Today TEK contributes greatly to the scientific
understanding of the processes and patterns of climate change and its effects on various ecological and
social issues. Furthermore, it supports scientists in recognizing and evaluating species and spaces at risk
by providing information on broad trends in species distribution, abundance, and seasonal behavior pat-
terns. TEK was often dismissed in the past, because the traditional information was considered less reliable
than hard data, but today it is recognized as an important component of understanding climate change
and other variations in the natural world.
More than anywhere else, the Arctic regions are experiencing significant environmental changes due
to climate change, including later freeze ups, early thaws, more frequent and severe storms, changes in
wildlife migration patterns, and the appearance of new species and parasites. Native hunters have been
forced by decreasing sea ice to change the methods and timing of the hunt—and to face increasing dan-
ger. As ice freezes later and thaws earlier, hunters must navigate unstable, rotten ice through increasingly
unpredictable weather and odd currents. At the same time, the hunters are observing significant changes
in migration patterns. Key natural resources are growing scarce and more difficult to reach.
The interior of Alaska, where Team GoNorth! traveled last year, has already seen the annual temperature
averages increase by more than 9 degrees in just two decades. Moderated by the dynamics of the Pacific
Ocean to the east and the Arctic Ocean to the north, the interior of Chukotka is just now seeing a simi-
lar change, but at an accelerated pace. Today’s climate models predict temperatures in the entire Arctic
region to rise more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit (between four to six degrees Celsius) during the next 100
years. The result is that the fragile Arctic ecosystem is in danger of being destroyed, and along with it, the
Arctic people and their way of life.
In March 1994, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered the following
statement into force, “The Convention on Climate Change sets an overall framework for intergovern-
mental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. It recognizes that the climate system is a
shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases.”
Under the convention, governments are required take three basic measures:
1. Gather and share information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies, and best practices.
2. Launch national strategies for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to expected
impacts, including the provision of financial and technological support to developing countries.
3. Cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
While the convention has a widespread membership and 189 countries have ratified it, change has been
slow at best. In the meantime, the culture and life of Arctic peoples such as the Yu’pik and Chukchi of
Chukotka, are in danger of extinction. Today Native cultures increasingly find the need to address the fact
that the rest of the world’s governments are ignoring their plight in the face of climate change.
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© NOMADS Online Classroom Expeditions GoNorth! Chukotka 2007 Curriculum 13
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