Traditional Knowledge of Caribou and Caribou People
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Bathurst Caribou Range Plan Supporting Report: Traditional Knowledge of Caribou and Caribou People January 2018 Acknowledgements The Bathurst Caribou Range Plan (BCRP) Project Team is grateful to community members and members of the Working Group who provided generous contributions of time, knowledge, insight, guidance, and encouragement. The Project Team is led by Karin Clark (Government of the Northwest Territories) and includes Dan Ohlson (Compass Resource Management), Shawn Francis (FSR Consulting), John Nishi (EcoBorealis Consulting) and Natasha Thorpe (Trailmark Systems/Thorpe Consulting Services). The Government of Northwest Territories Department of Environment and Natural Resources is serving as overall sponsor of the BCRP. Polar Knowledge Canada is also providing generous funding support to the planning process. A special thanks Dr. Brenda Parlee for contributing her thoughtful review and contributions to this report. Disclaimer Specifically, this report describes both Traditional Knowledge related to the Bathurst caribou and its habitat and the ways in which Traditional Knowledge was considered in the BCRP. This report does not represent a comprehensive summary of the Traditional Knowledge of Indigenous communities related to the Bathurst herd and its range. Further, it does not reflect the results of community consultation and engagement nor Government policy direction. Traditional Knowledge is a system or oral tradition and much knowledge has not been documented in writing. This report summarizes only Traditional Knowledge from documented and publicly available reports or other sources provided exclusively for use in the BCRP process. Knowledge of Indigenous peoples is intellectual property; recognition and respect for such knowledge is framed by the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Citing of quotes or material from Traditional Knowledge found in this report should be done so using standard academic citing practices. Communities and elders quoted should be contacted to ensure their consent if the materials in this report (including quotes) are used for other reports, processes or uses. Communities and elders may reserve the right to limit the use of this material. Use of this Traditional Knowledge by any other party does not infer comprehensive understanding of the knowledge, nor does it infer implicit support for activities or projects in which this knowledge is used in print, visual, electronic, or other media. This document should be cited as follows: Bathurst Caribou Range Plan, Supporting Report: Traditional Knowledge of Caribou and Caribou People. Yellowknife, NT. January 2018. i | P a g e TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................... I DISCLAIMER ............................................................................................................................................................ I 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 6 1.1 BACKGROUND ON THE BCRP .................................................................................................................................. 6 1.2 BACKGROUND ABOUT THE INCLUSION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE ............................................................................. 7 1.3 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ..................................................................................................................................... 10 1.4 CARIBOU PEOPLE IN THE BATHURST RANGE ............................................................................................................. 10 2 GENERAL APPROACH TO DEVELOPING THE BCRP ........................................................................................ 11 2.1 PLANNING STEPS ................................................................................................................................................ 11 2.1.1 Defining a Planning Boundary for the Bathurst Herd ............................................................................ 12 2.2 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................ 15 3 METHODS: TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE BCRP .................................................................................. 17 3.1 GATHERING INFORMATION................................................................................................................................... 17 3.1.1 BCRP Working Group ............................................................................................................................. 18 3.1.2 Literature Review ................................................................................................................................... 18 3.1.3 Community Reports ............................................................................................................................... 19 3.1.4 Traditional Knowledge Databases and Traditional Land Use Mapping ................................................. 20 3.1.5 Traditional Knowledge Workshops ........................................................................................................ 20 3.2 CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING RELEVANT SOURCES OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE .............................................................. 20 3.3 REVIEWING, SORTING AND WEAVING TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE ................................................................................ 21 3.4 CHALLENGES IN WEAVING TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE INTO THE RANGE PLAN ............................................................... 21 3.5 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................ 23 4 GATHERING TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE: CARIBOU PEOPLE AND CARIBOU ................................................ 24 4.1 KNOWING CARIBOU ............................................................................................................................................ 25 4.2 FOOD SECURITY AND HEALTH OF COMMUNITIES ...................................................................................................... 28 4.3 PRINCIPLES OF STEWARDSHIP ............................................................................................................................... 28 4.4 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................ 29 5 GATHERING TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE: CARIBOU ..................................................................................... 31 5.1 CARIBOU POPULATIONS AND LIFECYCLES ................................................................................................................. 32 5.2 CARIBOU HEALTH ............................................................................................................................................... 34 5.3 CARIBOU MOVEMENTS ....................................................................................................................................... 36 5.4 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................ 40 6 GATHERING KNOWLEDGE: THE RANGE ....................................................................................................... 42 6.1 CRITICAL HABITATS IN THE CARIBOU RANGE ............................................................................................................ 42 6.2 SENSITIVE AREAS WITH HIGH CARIBOU USE ............................................................................................................ 43 6.2.1 Calving, Post-Calving and Core Areas within the Summer Range .......................................................... 44 6.2.2 Fall/Winter Range .................................................................................................................................. 46 ii | P a g e 6.3 KEY HABITAT FEATURES ....................................................................................................................................... 49 6.3.1 Water Crossings ..................................................................................................................................... 49 6.3.2 Land Bridges........................................................................................................................................... 52 6.4 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................ 53 7 MAJOR FACTORS AFFECTING CARIBOU AND KEY ISSUES AND MANAGEMENT CONCERNS .......................... 54 7.1 NATURAL VARIABILITY AND DISTURBANCE FACTORS .................................................................................................. 55 7.1.1 Climate Change ...................................................................................................................................... 57 7.1.2 Wildfire .................................................................................................................................................. 58 7.1.3 Predation ..............................................................................................................................................