Climate Change Among the Inupiat of Artic Alaska:
The Inupiat people of northern Alaska live in the Artic
circle, the region that is seeing the most devastating affects of climate
change. With a constantly changing environment the Inupiat are struggling to
maintain their traditional way of life. The climate change has caused sea ice
to melt, literally flooding parts where Inupiat used to live. The ever-changing
landscape has also had major affects on migration patterns of the animals the
Inupiat hunt, making old hunting knowledge obsolete. Climate change is
affecting where and how the Inupiat live, forcing them to abandon traditional
practices and lose part of their culture.
There is no better example of the impact that climate change
has had on the Inupiat people than the way they hunt the bowhead whale.
Traditionally the Inupiat would make a journey far out on the sea ice and camp
there for several days on the whale hunt. Thinning sea ice is making this
journey more and more dangerous every year, even causing fatalities. The
changing environment is causing a change in migration patterns of the bowhead
whale, making this hunt even more difficult. The thinning ice is also affecting
what whales they can hunt. Due to fear of breaking the ice the Inupiat hunt for
smaller whales than they used to. This is not only affecting what the Inupiat
are able to capture but it also has its affects on the whale population. The
bowhead whale is such an important part Inupiat life and culture and due to
climate change and melting sea ice we are seeing a change in the way Inupiat
hunt this animal and a change in Inupiat way of life.
The Inupiat have a special relationship with the bowhead
whale. For them it is much more than just a source of food or materials. This relationship is being jeopardized by the
changing climate. Inupiat whalers are having to abandon the traditional method
of camping on sea ice to hunt the whales and are moving on to the more modern
method of using large outboard motor boats. Though this method may be more
practical and efficient it is not traditional to the Inupiat way of life. With
continued climate change the Inupiat people will have to constantly keep
changing to the melting environment until the sea ice that they live on is all
gone.
Sakakibara, Chie
2010 Kiavallakkikput Agviq (Into the Whaling Cycle): Cetaceousness and Climate Change Among Inupiat of Arctic Alaska. 1003-1012. Annals of the Association of Americans Geographers
Sakakibara, Chie
2010 Kiavallakkikput Agviq (Into the Whaling Cycle): Cetaceousness and Climate Change Among Inupiat of Arctic Alaska. 1003-1012. Annals of the Association of Americans Geographers
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ReplyDeleteClimate change is an issue that we all hear about very often. We hear about it during political campaigns, in the news, on campus, etc. but not often do we actually see the affects. For the Inupiat people they see and feel the effects of climate change every day. I think that if more people could see and experience the effects of climate change there would be more urgency surrounding the issue. It is not like climate change is just making the planet warmer but it is affecting and destroying Inupiat culture and way of life.
ReplyDeleteClimate change is a great example of globalization and how we are all connected on this planet regardless of where we are. Most scientists agree that humans are having an effect on global warming. The Inupiat people are not the one’s causing this warming; it is the industrial places that produce the chemicals that affect global warming. The only way that we will be able to solve this issue and make a difference in climate change is collectively. It is going to take the collective effort of everyone to be more conscious of our effects on the planet.
What we do across the globe can have extremely far reaching affects. After doing research on climate change and its effect on the Inupiat people I am going to be more aware of my actions and how they can affect our planet. I am not very energy efficient and I rarely ever recycle and I think that is something I need to start doing. The Inupiat people’s lives are being directly changed by the actions of the rest of the world. I believe that we all should make changes in our lives to be more eco-friendly so that the Inupiat people do not have to change their lives completely.