Literature Review: Local and Traditional Knowledge in the Lower Mackenzie Watershed
The Lower Mackenzie sits within the jurisdiction of the Government of the Northwest Territories. The watershed is recognized internationally as an important area of ecological biodiversity. It is one of the largest deltas in North America and has been a focus of exploration and development for many...
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Format: | Report |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2016
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Online Access: | https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/354256b2-2786-47ee-9f28-7457d989df0c https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-g8m1-c107 |
Summary: | The Lower Mackenzie sits within the jurisdiction of the Government of the Northwest Territories. The watershed is recognized internationally as an important area of ecological biodiversity. It is one of the largest deltas in North America and has been a focus of exploration and development for many decades. The Mackenzie Delta is home to many Inuvialuit and Gwich’in peoples who value the region and its resources according to a rich and diverse number of socio-economic, cultural, and ecological values. In addition to being an important area of subsistence, the channels of the lower Mackenzie Delta have always been important travel corridors for Indigenous peoples as well as explorers, whalers, trappers, missionaries, and those seeking to discover and extract natural gas resources. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and later the Gwich’in Renewable Resources Parlee, B.P. 2 Board, Inuvialuit Fisheries Joint Management Committee, Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute as well as anthropologists, such as Milton Freeman, have documented many details about the aquatic ecosystem and its value to Inuvialuit and Gwich’in peoples. There is a greater number of documented and available sources of traditional knowledge associated with Gwich’in communities in comparison to those detailing Inuvialuit knowledge. |
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