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2	STAFFING EDAW, Inc.: John Russell and Mike Downs Circumpolar Research Associates: Carl Shepro and David Maas Applied Sociocultural Research: Michael Galginaitis
3	PRESENTATION CONTENT Project Purpose and Goals Background to Bowhead Whaling and OCS Activity in the Beaufort Sea Research Methods and Procedures Project Activities and Status
4	PROJECT PURPOSE Assess the interactions of participation in bowhead whaling and other traditional activities with modernization and off-shore oil and gas development
5	PROJECT GOALS To describe participation in bowhead whaling and other subsistence activities in three Iñupiat villages on Alaska’s North Slope and one control village in the western part of the state. To describe and analyze patterns and variations in community assessments of the potential effects of OCS activity and modernization on participation in bowhead whaling and other subsistence activities. To describe and analyze variation in assessments of desired future conditions for whale hunting and related traditional activities as influenced by off-shore oil development and other forces of modernization.
6	WHALING: A WAY OF LIFE Whaling as the center of life Whaling as a symbol Whaling as the ultimate subsistence Intersection of human and natural environment Spring and Fall whaling processes
7	WHALING: A WAY OF LIFE Whaling as context for cultural transmission Whaling as thread of continuity Whaling as sharing Levels of analysis Social Cultural Psychological
8	WHALING: A WAY OF LIFE There are about 150 whaling captains in communities of north and northwestern Alaska. Barrow has about 44 whaling crews and there are 10-15 crews each in Kaktovik and Nuiqsut. Barrow practices Spring and Fall whaling while Kaktovik and Nuiqsut whale primarily in the Fall.
9	WHALING: A WAY OF LIFE Whaling involves a variety of community members who prepare skins, offer financial support, hunt, butcher, and distribute whale harvests. Whaling is symbolized in community mascots, ceremonies, and festivals, and in activities that organize crews for hunting. Whaling is perceived as integral to the identity and the lifestyles of community members.
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11	WHALING LINKS ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL LIFE, AND CULTURE Whaling is an ancient activity that dates to at least 600 AD. Its importance is expressed in material culture, social organization, religious beliefs, cultural symbols, and diet preferences. Hunting whales and other marine mammals links environment, society, and culture into a tightly integrated pattern of arctic adaptation.
12	CONTACT WITH NON-NATIVES: EXPLORERS, WHALERS, & MISSIONARIES By the 16^th century explorers had contact with Native Alaskan peoples. By the mid-1800’s commercial whalers were taking whales in Arctic waters, initially for their oil and subsequently for baleen. Whalers introduced new technology, trade opportunities, new religious beliefs, as well as new diseases and threats to marine mammal populations. The consequences strained traditional linkages of environment, society, and culture; populations decreased, kinship linkages were altered, and whale populations declined from commercial whaling. Commercial whaling declined in the early 1900’s, but North Slope residents continued subsistence hunting despite strains on traditional ways of life.
13	DEVELOPMENT AND WHALING Between the turn of the century and 1960 whaling crews in northwestern Alaska ranged from 36-51 with an average somewhere in the mid-forties. Crew numbers varied with the availability of cash to buy the supplies and otherwise fund crew activities. Pressure on traditional activities, including whaling, continued from forces such as: oil development in the 1960’s and early 70’s, ANCSA, new wage employment opportunities, and the IWC regulatory environment.
14	DEVELOPMENT AND WHALING As wage employment and a cash economy took hold, whaling appeared to thrive as individuals had access to cash resources to fund whaling crews: Year Crews 1960-69 62 1970-79 85 1980-89 95 1990-92 >100 Despite changes brought about through contact, there remains a strong link between environment, social life, and cultural and whaling in Inupiat communities.
15	OCS ACTIVITIES AND WHALING Since the early 1980’s exploratory drilling has occurred in the Beaufort Sea. The Inupiat’s intimate knowledge of arctic ice and weather conditions and marine mammal behavior led to concern about potentially catastrophic consequences of OCS activities. These concerns were amplified by perceptions that government and private entities have ignored local knowledge in their decision making about the potential effects of OCS activity.
16	OCS ACTIVITY AND LOCAL KNOWLEDGE Twenty-two years ago, the Federal Government refused to listen to our people on issues related to the size and health of the bowhead whale population. Yet today, after the millions of dollars the North Slope Borough has had to spend on this, they must acknowledge that our Whaling Captains were right all along. Again, seven years ago, we were ignored [when we told the National Marine Fisheries Service and ARCO Alaska that seismic noise caused the bowhead whale migration to deflect off shore] and again millions of dollars were spent to find that, again, our Whaling Captains were right. Despite this history, when we speak today on issues related to bowhead whale behavior, we continue to be scoffed at or ignored. I ask you, how successful would a bowhead whale subsistence hunter be if he did not have an intimate knowledge of the whale's behavior?... It appears to us that the MMS has begun to pay a little bit more attention to this information and to the “traditional knowledge” of our people. However, overall Federal agencies have a very long way to go in understanding the true depth of our people’s knowledge of the Arctic, based on countless generations of direct experience (North Slope Resident)
17	ONGOING INUPIAT CONCERNS ABOUT OCS ACTIVITIES Inupiat concerns include the potential for an oil spill and the absence of technology to respond to such an event. Concerns focus on potential effects on bowhead whale migration patterns, skittishness due to increase noise, and other factors that affect the time, distance, and effort involved in whale hunting. Inupiat also perceive a link between their increased concern and anxiety about the consequences of OCS activities and community social disruptions.
18	RESEARCH METHODS Ethnographic and survey methods are used to develop data about community assessments of OCS activities, modernization, and the current status of community life. Data are being collected in Barrow, Kaktovik, Nuiqsut, and a “control” community in western Alaska.
19	SURVEY METHODS Surveys will be conducted with three different population segments: Whaling Captains; Randomly selected households; and High school juniors and seniors
20	SURVEY METHODS The categories of survey data collection include: Demography Participation in whaling, subsistence, and other traditional activities. Economics Health status Community Perceptions about Development And Quality of Life
21	ACTIVITIES AND STATUS Completed: project research design, literature review, interview protocols, and draft surveys: Whaling Captains; Households, and High School Juniors and Seniors. Surveys were reviewed with individuals and organizations in project communities. Research followed the “Principals for the Conduct of Research in the Arctic”
22	ACTIVITIES AND STATUS Based on community input, surveys were revised and reviewed again with community members. The surveys was pre-tested with North Slope residents.
23	ACTIVITIES AND STATUS After completion of the OMB review, often a six month or more process, the surveys will be implemented. We expect the surveys to start probably late fall of this year or early winter of next year. Ethnographic field work will occur this spring and fall.
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