Yuuyaraq today, Yuuyaraq tomorrow: modeling erosion threats to Yup’ik traditional land use areas

• Main Authors: Sean Gleason (4377175), Jonathan Lim (15746), Daniel Marsden (14314060), Joe Pleasant (14314063), Warren Jones (577683), Willard Church (14314066)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Ecology; Sociology; Science Policy; Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified; Yup’ik; Alaskan Native; subsistence; community-based research; climate change; coastal erosion; Yukon; Kuskokwim; Yupik
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21801052.v1

The following article illustrates the impact of contemporary coastline change on Yup’ik subsistence practices known collectively as Yuuyaraq. We draw from an extensive archive (n = 490) of historic maps, aerial photographs, and surveying reports collected and digitized over the course of on-site visits to Quinhagak, AK from 2018-2021. In addition, our research team conducted numerous recorded (n = 7) and unrecorded (n = 42) interviews with community members about recent environmental changes near Quinhagak to study the impact of coastal erosion. Our aim is to demonstrate how archival maps can provide high quality, mobile-friendly visualizations so that Yupik researchers and community members can study the impact of climate change in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta.