Changing times, changing stories: generational differences in climate change perspectives from four remote indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska
Indigenous Arctic and Subarctic communities currently are facing a myriad of social and environmental changes. In response to these changes, studies concerning indigenous knowledge (IK) and climate change vulnerability, resiliency, and adaptation have increased dramatically in recent years. Risks to...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:888ad705bf9840f6957fc5394cc566c2 2023-05-15T14:55:43+02:00 Changing times, changing stories: generational differences in climate change perspectives from four remote indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska Nicole M. Herman-Mercer Elli Matkin Melinda J. Laituri Ryan C. Toohey Maggie Massey Kelly Elder Paul F. Schuster Edda A. Mutter 2016-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08463-210328 https://doaj.org/article/888ad705bf9840f6957fc5394cc566c2 EN eng Resilience Alliance http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss3/art28/ https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087 1708-3087 doi:10.5751/ES-08463-210328 https://doaj.org/article/888ad705bf9840f6957fc5394cc566c2 Ecology and Society, Vol 21, Iss 3, p 28 (2016) Alaska climate change indigenous knowledge observation perception Yukon River Basin Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08463-210328 2022-12-31T05:05:25Z Indigenous Arctic and Subarctic communities currently are facing a myriad of social and environmental changes. In response to these changes, studies concerning indigenous knowledge (IK) and climate change vulnerability, resiliency, and adaptation have increased dramatically in recent years. Risks to lives and livelihoods are often the focus of adaptation research; however, the cultural dimensions of climate change are equally important because cultural dimensions inform perceptions of risk. Furthermore, many Arctic and Subarctic IK climate change studies document observations of change and knowledge of the elders and older generations in a community, but few include the perspectives of the younger population. These observations by elders and older generations form a historical baseline record of weather and climate observations in these regions. However, many indigenous Arctic and Subarctic communities are composed of primarily younger residents. We focused on the differences in the cultural dimensions of climate change found between young adults and elders. We outlined the findings from interviews conducted in four indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska. The findings revealed that (1) intergenerational observations of change were common among interview participants in all four communities, (2) older generations observed more overall change than younger generations interviewed by us, and (3) how change was perceived varied between generations. We defined "observations" as the specific examples of environmental and weather change that were described, whereas "perceptions" referred to the manner in which these observations of change were understood and contextualized by the interview participants. Understanding the differences in generational observations and perceptions of change are key issues in the development of climate change adaptation strategies. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Subarctic Yukon river Alaska Yukon Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Yukon Ecology and Society 21 3 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Alaska climate change indigenous knowledge observation perception Yukon River Basin Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Alaska climate change indigenous knowledge observation perception Yukon River Basin Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 Nicole M. Herman-Mercer Elli Matkin Melinda J. Laituri Ryan C. Toohey Maggie Massey Kelly Elder Paul F. Schuster Edda A. Mutter Changing times, changing stories: generational differences in climate change perspectives from four remote indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska |
topic_facet |
Alaska climate change indigenous knowledge observation perception Yukon River Basin Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Indigenous Arctic and Subarctic communities currently are facing a myriad of social and environmental changes. In response to these changes, studies concerning indigenous knowledge (IK) and climate change vulnerability, resiliency, and adaptation have increased dramatically in recent years. Risks to lives and livelihoods are often the focus of adaptation research; however, the cultural dimensions of climate change are equally important because cultural dimensions inform perceptions of risk. Furthermore, many Arctic and Subarctic IK climate change studies document observations of change and knowledge of the elders and older generations in a community, but few include the perspectives of the younger population. These observations by elders and older generations form a historical baseline record of weather and climate observations in these regions. However, many indigenous Arctic and Subarctic communities are composed of primarily younger residents. We focused on the differences in the cultural dimensions of climate change found between young adults and elders. We outlined the findings from interviews conducted in four indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska. The findings revealed that (1) intergenerational observations of change were common among interview participants in all four communities, (2) older generations observed more overall change than younger generations interviewed by us, and (3) how change was perceived varied between generations. We defined "observations" as the specific examples of environmental and weather change that were described, whereas "perceptions" referred to the manner in which these observations of change were understood and contextualized by the interview participants. Understanding the differences in generational observations and perceptions of change are key issues in the development of climate change adaptation strategies. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nicole M. Herman-Mercer Elli Matkin Melinda J. Laituri Ryan C. Toohey Maggie Massey Kelly Elder Paul F. Schuster Edda A. Mutter |
author_facet |
Nicole M. Herman-Mercer Elli Matkin Melinda J. Laituri Ryan C. Toohey Maggie Massey Kelly Elder Paul F. Schuster Edda A. Mutter |
author_sort |
Nicole M. Herman-Mercer |
title |
Changing times, changing stories: generational differences in climate change perspectives from four remote indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska |
title_short |
Changing times, changing stories: generational differences in climate change perspectives from four remote indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska |
title_full |
Changing times, changing stories: generational differences in climate change perspectives from four remote indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Changing times, changing stories: generational differences in climate change perspectives from four remote indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Changing times, changing stories: generational differences in climate change perspectives from four remote indigenous communities in Subarctic Alaska |
title_sort |
changing times, changing stories: generational differences in climate change perspectives from four remote indigenous communities in subarctic alaska |
publisher |
Resilience Alliance |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08463-210328 https://doaj.org/article/888ad705bf9840f6957fc5394cc566c2 |
geographic |
Arctic Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Yukon |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Subarctic Yukon river Alaska Yukon |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Subarctic Yukon river Alaska Yukon |
op_source |
Ecology and Society, Vol 21, Iss 3, p 28 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss3/art28/ https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087 1708-3087 doi:10.5751/ES-08463-210328 https://doaj.org/article/888ad705bf9840f6957fc5394cc566c2 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08463-210328 |
container_title |
Ecology and Society |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
3 |
_version_ |
1766327736034394112 |