View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Oregon Scholars' Bank CLIMATE CHANGE AND CULTURE CHANGE IN SALLUIT, QUEBEC, CANADA by ALEXANDER DAVID GINSBURG A THESIS Presented to the Department of Geography and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts December 2011 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: Alexander David Ginsburg Title: Climate Change and Culture Change in Salluit, Quebec, Canada This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Department of Geography by: Susan W. Hardwick Chairperson Alexander B. Murphy Chairperson Michael Hibbard Member and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research & Innovation/Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded December 2011 ii © 2011 Alexander David Ginsburg iii THESIS ABSTRACT Alexander David Ginsburg Master of Arts Department of Geography December 2011 Title: Climate Change and Culture Change in Salluit, Quebec, Canada The amplified effects of climate change in the Arctic are well known and, according to many commentators, endanger Inuit cultural integrity. However, the specific connections between climate change and cultural change are understudied. This thesis explores the relationship between climatic shifts and culture in the Inuit community of Salluit, Quebec, Canada. Although residents of Salluit are acutely aware of climate change in their region and have developed causal explanations for the phenomenon, most Salluit residents do not characterize climate change as a threat to Inuit culture. Instead, they highlight the damaging impacts of globalization and internal colonialism as a more serious problem. This counter-narrative suggests that focusing narrowly on climate change can obscure the broader and more immediate challenges facing Inuit communities. Such a realization demonstrates the need for researchers to locate climate change within a matrix of non-climatic challenges in order to mitigate threats to indigenous cultures. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Alexander David Ginsburg GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Arizona State University, Tempe DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois DEGREES AWARDED: Master of Arts, Geography, 2011, University of Oregon Master of Community & Regional Planning, 2011, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts, Religious Studies, 2007, Arizona State University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Cultural Geography Cross-Cultural Planning Indigenous Studies PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Teaching Fellow, University of Oregon, 2008-2010 Research Assistant, Institute for Policy Research and Innovation, University of Oregon, 2009-2010 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Dean’s Graduate Fellowship, School of Architecture and Allied Arts, University of Oregon, 2011 Fulbright Student Award, Climate Change and Culture Change in Salluit, QC. Fulbright Canada, 2010-2011 OUS-SYLFF Graduate Fellowship for International Research, University of Oregon, 2010-2011 Professional Development Grant, Fulbright Canada, 2010 v Summer Research Award, Center on Diversity and Community (CoDaC), University of Oregon, 2010 Small Project Grant, Center for Intercultural Dialogue, University of Oregon, 2010 Gary E. Smith Summer Professional Development Award, University of Oregon, 2009 PPPM Research Grant, Department of Planning, Public Policy & Management, University of Oregon, 2009 PUBLICATIONS: Ginsburg, Alexander. 2011 (forthcoming). “Doing Fieldwork on Climate Change in Northern Quebec.” In The Geography of North America: Environment, Political Economy, and Culture. S. Hardwick, F. Shelley, and D. Holtgrieve. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Ginsburg, Alexander and Matthew Landers. 2011. “US Senatorial Election in Oregon.” In Atlas of the 2008 Elections, edited by Stanley D. Brunn, Gerald R. Webster, Richard L. Morrill, Fred M. Shelley, Steve Lavin, and J. Clark Archer, 48-49. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I wish to express my humble gratitude to the residents of Salluit, who welcomed me into their homes and lives with an incomparable generosity. I am especially grateful to Annie Alaku, Moses and Susie Ilisituk, Kakinik and Alacie Naluiyuk, Yuliusie Papigatuk, and Paulusie Saviadjuk for their friendship, guidance, and support. Qalingo Angotigirk and Susie P. Alaku deserve special mention for helping facilitate my time in Salluit and introducing me to the community. For their wonderful work during my interviews, I must thank Lizzie Alaku, Nulukie Kaitak, Sr., Uquuttaq Ningiurluut, and Kitty Okituk. In many ways, Vincent DeChamps made this thesis possible, by providing housing, reflection, and friendship. Along with residents of Salluit, I wish to thank Susan Hardwick, Mike Hibbard, and Alec Murphy for serving as my committee. Your encouragement, criticism, and guidance throughout my graduate education have been nonpareil and I appreciate your patience as you put up with my neuroses in the field. Susan, especially, deserves recognition for the time she spent guiding the research design and editing early drafts. A special note of thanks goes to James Ford, who supervised me in Canada and provided outstanding intellectual and financial support for this project. Conversations with Colin Scott and George Wenzel were highly provocative and valued. Tanya Giberyen generously shared her time to facilitate my arrival in Salluit. In addition, I’d like to acknowledge the intellectual contributions of the students and faculty in the University of Oregon’s Department of Geography, who have consistently challenged me to improve my thinking and writing. vii There are several friends and family who deserve recognition. Ken Morrison has been the greatest intellectual influence on me and listened to many hours of complaints about the direction of this project. Melissa Glader offered companionship, enthusiasm, and crucial support, even from several thousand miles away. Matt Pritchard, Tino Kreutzer, and Maeve Trudeau provided the humor, guidance, and accommodations to make me feel at home in Canada. Oleksander Ivasenko was a wonderful climbing partner who made sure to question all of my assumptions. K.C. Bolton, Alexandra Lesnikoski, and Jaclyn Patterson made for fantastic office mates and friends. Appreciation is also due to my mother, Diana, who has generously supported me well past the time I ought to have left the nest, and to my brother, Jeremy, who is the smart one in the family. My late father, Norton, deserves thanks for instilling a concern for Geography and a love of learning. This research was funded in part by Fulbright Canada, the Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Foundation, the Center on Diversity and Community at the University of Oregon, the Center for Intercultural Dialogue at the University of Oregon, the Graduate School at the University of Oregon, the Department of Planning, Public Policy & Management at the University of Oregon, School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the University of Oregon, and Professor James Ford. A debt of gratitude is owed to these organizations and individuals for providing the financial resources to make this project feasible. viii To Susan Hardwick, for the privilege of being her final M.A. student. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Significance and Purpose of Thesis Research ................................................ 5 1.2. Chapter Summaries ......................................................................................... 5 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 7 2.1. Vulnerability in Inuit Communities ................................................................ 8 2.1.1. Harvesting .............................................................................................. 8 2.1.1.1. Hunter Safety ................................................................................ 8 2.1.1.2. Accessibility of Hunting Areas ..................................................... 12 2.1.1.3. Availability of Species .................................................................. 14 2.1.2. Food Security ......................................................................................... 15 2.1.3. Human Health ........................................................................................ 17 2.2. Culture in Vulnerability Studies ..................................................................... 21 2.2.1. Culture as a Component of Vulnerability .............................................. 21 2.2.2. The Cultural Consequences of Climate Change .................................... 23 2.3. Conceptual Problems with Vulnerability ........................................................ 25 2.4. The Cultural Dimensions of Climate Change ................................................. 29 2.5. Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 33 III. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS ............................................................. 34 3.1. Research Questions ......................................................................................... 34 3.2. Study Site