The Igliniit Project: Combining Inuit Knowledge and Geomatics Engineering to Develop a New Observation Tool for Hunters

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the Igliniit project, an International Polar Year (IPY) project that took place in Clyde River, Nunavut, from 2006 to 2010. As part of the larger IPY projects, SIKU and ISIUOP, the Igliniit project brought Inuit hunters and geomatics engineering students together to design, build, and test a tool to assist hunters in documenting their observations of the environment. By combining a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, a mobile weather station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a digital camera, the hunters and engineering students in Igliniit co-developed and piloted a system that allows hunters to contribute to environmental research in an active way, through the regular use of their environment, documenting observations and experiences in context, as they happen. Despite hardware problems and the challenges of using such technology in Arctic winter, the data collected by hunters provide detailed, dynamic, geo-referenced information about the environment that could otherwise not be collected. With continued development, this technology could be useful in many different regions and applications for understanding the environment and human–environment relationships over time and space. The approach, of supporting local people in their own activities year-round and outfitting them with a simple but powerful tool to document their environmental observations, proves a promising method in future community-based environmental research and monitoring, with applications as well in land use planning, resource management, hazards mapping, wildlife and harvest studies, and search and rescue operations.

Contributing Authors: Apiusie Apak, Jayko Enuaraq, David Iqaqrialu, Laimikie Palluq, Jacopie Panipak, Amosie Sivugat, Desmond Chiu, Brandon Culling, Sheldon Lam, Josiah Lau, Andrew Levson, Tina Mosstajiri, Jeremy Park, Trevor Phillips, Michael Brand, Ryan Enns, Edward Wingate, Peter Pulsifer, and Christine Homuth.