Inuvialuit and Nanuq A Polar Bear Traditional Knowledge Study INuvialuit Settlement regIoN 2015 Inuvialuit and Nanuq A Polar Bear Traditional Knowledge Study mArch 2015 copyright: 2015 Joint Secretariat, Inuvik, NWT citation: Joint Secretariat. 2015. Inuvialuit and Nanuq: A Polar Bear Traditional Knowledge Study. Joint Secretariat, Inuvialuit Settlement region. xx + 304 pp. cover photos: Front cover: Peter esau going home with polar bear, Sachs harbour, october 20, 1957. NWT Archives, robert c. Knights fonds, N-1993-002: 0096 Available from: Joint Secretariat P.o. Box 2120 Inuvik, NWT, canada X0e 0T0 and online at www.wmacns.ca Contents Dedication .................................................................................................................................vii Foreword ................................................................................................................................... ix report summary ........................................................................................................................xii Notes to readers .......................................................................................................................xiv Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................xvi Intellectual property ................................................................................................................ xviii english language glossary ....................................................................................................... xviii Abbreviations............................................................................................................................xix Section 1. Introduction 1 Box 1. The Inuvialuit ........................................................................................................2 1.1 Study objectives ................................................................................................................2 1.2 Methods overview .............................................................................................................5 Section 2. Inuvialuit traditional knowledge related to polar bears 8 2.1 Knowledge sources and ways of knowing ..........................................................................8 Box 2. other Arctic animals .............................................................................................18 2.2 Geographic extent of Inuvialuit PBTK ..............................................................................26 2.3 How Inuvialuit harvest polar bears ...................................................................................29 2.4 Polar bear hunting season ...............................................................................................43 2.5 Effects of changing ice conditions on Inuvialuit ice use and PBTK ...................................44 2.6 Effects of changes in Inuvialuit economics, culture and ice use on PBTK .........................47 Section 3. The world of the polar bear 50 3.1 The mind of the polar bear ..............................................................................................51 3.2 Sea ice conditions associated with polar bears .................................................................53 Box 3. english-language and Inuvialuktun terms .............................................................54 3.3 Distribution of polar bears and locations of abundance ....................................................71 3.4 Interactions with other animals ........................................................................................89 3.5 What polar bears eat .......................................................................................................94 3.6 Polar bears eating other polar bears ..............................................................................103 3.7 How polar bears hunt ....................................................................................................105 3.8 Polar bear condition ......................................................................................................120 Box 4. Polar Bear Score card ........................................................................................120 3.9 Reproduction ................................................................................................................131 3.10 Causes of death ............................................................................................................156 3.11 Male polar bear denning ...............................................................................................159 Section 4. Climate change observations 161 4.1 Changing sea ice and weather conditions ......................................................................162 4.2 Freeze-up and break-up ...............................................................................................168 4.3 Winds, currents and bad and unpredictable weather .....................................................170 Section 5. Are there changes in abundance, distribution or condition? 173 5.1 Interpretation ................................................................................................................173 5.2 Polar bear condition ......................................................................................................177 5.3 Polar bear abundance ...................................................................................................180 5.4 Polar bear distribution ...................................................................................................184 5.5 Seals as a food source ..................................................................................................191 5.6 Climate change effects on polar bears ...........................................................................193 5.7 Summary ......................................................................................................................197 Section 6. The importance of polar bears to the Inuvialuit 198 6.1 Economic importance ...................................................................................................198 Box 5. guided sport hunting .........................................................................................200 6.2 Cultural importance ......................................................................................................202 Section 7. Closing discussion 211 7.1 Inuvialuit knowledge of polar bears ................................................................................211 7.2 Potential management applications of Inuvialuit PBTK ...................................................212 7.3 Future documentation of PBTK ....................................................................................215 Endnotes 217 Appendices 233 Appendix 1. PBTK study methods statement ...........................................................................233 Appendix 2. PBTK study methods statement — spatial data ....................................................264 Appendix 3. change-related questions asked during the interviews .........................................268 Appendix 4. english and Inuvialuktun vocabulary ....................................................................271 Appendix 5. Polar bear “management” ...................................................................................275 Appendix 6. Brief chronology of polar bear management in the ISr .........................................290 endnotes to appendices..........................................................................................................293 References 298 List of tables 1. Pros and cons of dogs and dog teams versus snowmobiles 38 2. Months when polar bears were harvested 44 3. Months when polar bears were harvested, 1988–97 44 4. Inland locations where TKhs saw polar bears and/or their tracks 88 5. TKhs who participated in the 2013 Inuvik workshop 174 6. Bullet summaries of the oPTs, by community, extracted from the interview transcripts 175 A1. Community co-researchers and youth participants 234 A2. Inuvik TKhs interviewed for the PBTK study 236 A3. Ulukhaktok TKhs interviewed for the PBTK study 237 A4. Aklavik TKhs interviewed for the PBTK study 237 A5. Sachs harbour TKhs interviewed for the PBTK study 237 A6. Paulatuk TKhs interviewed for the PBTK study 238 A7. Tuktoyaktuk TKhs interviewed for the PBTK study 238 A8. Nodes, associated codes and their description 239 A9. PBTK study: division of labour regarding tasks and responsibilities. 243 A10. english and Inuvialuktun vocabulary related to polar bears 271 A11. english and Inuvialuktun vocabulary related to seals and other animals 272 A12. english and Inuvialuktun vocabulary related to ice and related sea states 274 INuvialuit and Nanuq: PolAr BeAr Traditional KNoWleDge v List of maps 1. PBTK study area 4 2. Location where PIN 26 saw a maternity den, mother and two cubs while working as a wildlife monitor 20 3. A tagged bear that travelled from churchill, manitoba, to Nelson head was harvested near Tuktoyaktuk 25 4. A tagged bear travelled from north of Banks Island to cape Parry in one day 26 5. Geographic extent of Inuvialuit PBTK as documented in TKh map biographies 27 6. A TKh tracked a polar bear for 16 hours along a pressure ridge 31 7. A former polar bear harvest area that is no longer used due to open water 46 8. A predictable