Living with snow and ice changes
An Indigenous Elder perspective
Caleb Pungowiyi,
Kotzebue, Alaska
“Since the late 1970s, communities along the coast of the north- Precipitation patterns have also changed, with a shift in snow-
ern Bering and Chukchi Seas have noticed substantial changes fall from fall to late winter or early spring. The lack of snow
in the ocean and the animals that live there. We are seeing clear makes it difficult for polar bears and ringed seals to make dens
trends in many environmental factors and, we can expect major, for giving birth, or in the case of male polar bears, to seek pro-
perhaps irreversible, impacts if those trends continue. tection from the weather. The lack of ringed seal dens may af-
fect the numbers and condition of polar bears, which prey on
The patterns of wind, temperature, ice and currents in the Ber- ringed seals and often seek out the dens. Hungry polar bears
ing and Chukchi Seas have changed. The winds are stronger and may be more likely to approach villages and encounter people.
there are fewer calm days. In spring, the winds change the distri-
bution of the sea ice and, combined with warm temperatures, Other marine mammals have been affected by the changes in
speed up the melting of ice and snow and force many marine sea ice, wind and temperature. The physical condition of walrus
mammals to move away, often too far to be hunted. Near some was generally poor in 1996-98 due to reduced sea ice which
villages, the wind may force the pack ice on the shore, making it forced the walrus to swim farther between feeding areas in rela-
impossible for hunters to move their boats from and back to the tively shallow water and resting areas on the distant ice, com-
shore. High winds also make it difficult to travel in boats, reducing pounded by a lower productivity of the sea bed. In the spring
the number of days that hunters can go out. These reasons have of 1999, however, the walrus recovered following a cold winter
reduced access to animals during the spring hunting period. with good ice formation in the Bering Sea.
From mid-July to September, there is more wind from the As we think about the future, we wonder what alternatives are
south, making the season wetter. With less sea ice, fall storms available to Native villages in the Arctic. If marine mammal
are eroding much more of the coastline, threatening houses populations are no longer accessible to our communities, what
and even entire communities. Wave action has changed some can replace them? Today, there are stores with food and other
sandy beaches into rocky ones as the sand washes away. resources that can be harvested. A gradual change might give
us time to adjust, but a sudden shift might catch us unprepared
The formation of sea ice in fall has been late in many recent and cause great hardship. We need to think about the overall
years. In such years, the ice is thinner than usual, which con- effects on marine mammals and other resources. Some may
tributes to early break-up in spring. Another aspect of late adjust, but others will not. Our ancestors taught us that the
freeze-up is the way in which sea ice forms. Under normal fall Arctic environment is not constant, and that some years are
conditions, the cold water and the permafrost under the water harder than others. But they taught us that hard years are fol-
help create ice crystals on the sea floor. When large enough, lowed by times of greater abundance and celebration. As we
these crystals float to the surface, carrying sediments. The sedi- have found with other aspects of our culture’s ancestral wis-
ments contain nutrients that will be released in spring stimulat- dom, modern changes, not of our doing, make us wonder when
ing algae growth and the entire food chain. the good years will return.
CHAPTER 9 POLICY AND PERSPECTIVES 225