Monitoring Environmental Change Using a Participatory Modified Photovoice Approach with Indigenous Knowledge Holders in Kakisa, Northwest Territories

• Main Author: Kok, Kaitlin
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Scholars Commons @ Laurier 2020
• Subjects: Climate Change; Food Security; Indigenous Research; Northwest Territories; Geographic Information Systems; Environmental Sciences; Environmental Studies; Kakisa
• Online Access: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2233; https://scholars.wlu.ca/context/etd/article/3356/viewcontent/KaitlinKok_Master_Thesis.pdf

In response to growing pressures from climate change and the lack of a monitoring strategy for food security at a local and regional level in the Northwest Territories, there is an urgency for residents to record their own images of change in relation to harvester safety. This thesis explores the connection between geographic information systems, sustainable food systems, indigenous knowledge and the importance of place. The objective of this study is two-fold: (a) to develop a monitoring system in conjunction with the community of Kakisa and (b) to increase the resilience of the local food system. The methods used derive from a participatory action research approach to guide the development of a community-based monitoring map supported with interviews and photographs. In the summer of 2017, eight participants were interviewed and a thematic data analysis was carried out following an inductive, descriptive-coding approach. The findings suggest a continued trend that environmental change not only threatens food security and food access to harvesters, but also affects the entire system of a community through relationships and traditional knowledge. The results from this thesis will provide information on the implementation of a monitoring system within Kakisa using a modified photovoice approach.