The Native people of Arctic Alaska have many years of experience in living in Arctic environments and have much knowledge on the biological and physical environment of both the marine and terrestrial ecosystems.  Much of this knowledge has been passed on from one generation to the next by word of mouth.  Little of it is in published form and even less is indexed.  Much traditional knowledge has, however, been written, audio-recorded, archived and, in some cases, published.  But because there is no index of this traditional knowledge, it is often not available to the scientific community.

4.   Prepare an epistemology for the traditional knowledge documented in this project.

Identified traditional-knowledge sources will be judged appropriate for inclusion in the traditional-knowledge database based on a review by community elders, subsistence coordinators on staff with the NSB, Inupiaq Language and Cultural Center personnel, Inuit Circumpolar Conference, and members of the North Slope Scientific Committee.  The identified information will be indexed and, with an annotated bibliography and abstracts, placed on a CD-ROM.  The CD-ROM will be disseminated to Native communities and State of Alaska, Federal, and local governments involved in environmental research and assessment.  At a minimum, the proposed database will encompass subsistence areas; harvest methods; relationships between physical environment and animal populations and behavior; bowhead whale behavior, movement, and distribution; ice conditions and movement; wind patterns; current patterns; and place-name information.  Quality assurance will be accomplished for all significant steps of the project.

Public input has very strongly recommended that MMS and other government agencies incorporate traditional Native knowledge in our documents.  MMS will use the products of this study to address OCSLA requirements, assist NEPA-document preparation, prepare mitigating measures, review oil-spill-contingency plans, facilitate outreach with North Slope communities regarding the MMS program, and review and formulate offshore policy for Alaska.  While this study focuses on the North Slope, the process used could serve as a prototype for a similar study in all areas of Alaska.

Revised schedule sent to Contractor April 2004.