Nearshore and Farshore perspectives on arctic Coastal Seas

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T h e C h a N g i N g a r C T i C O C e a N | S p e C i a l i S S u e O N T h e i N T e r N aT i O N a l p O l a r Y e a r ( 2 0 0 7 -2 0 0 9) "The Ocean is always Changing" Nearshore and Farshore perspectives on arctic Coastal Seas The strong oral traditions of indigenous peoples carry a deep experiential understanding of the world that is passed on through narrative and demonstration, while Western science advances through measurement, hypothesis testing, and modeling.We show here that the two approaches, working alongside with trust, can be stronger than the sum of their parts.One of us (Fienup-Riordan) is an anthropologist who has sought out collaborations with Western scientists to inform our understanding of Yup'ik knowledge (Fienup-Riordan, 2007;Fienup-Riordan and Rearden, in press).The other (Carmack) is an oceanographer who represents the other side of that coin; while he has worked with an Inuit elder in Canada to inform understanding of physical and biological processes (cf.Carmack and Macdonald, 2008), most of his career has been spent in conventional Western investigation.
While our experiences and understandings of the ocean are very different, each can enrich the other in important ways.
A large proportion of oceanographic investigations are carried out on large spatial scales far to sea, with less focus on the nearshore waters of small, coastal villages.Whereas oceanographers attempt a comprehensive understanding of the ocean, from the surface to the seafloor, Yup'ik and Inuit hunters are most concerned with surface features of the water and ice cover that impact hunting success and safe travel.Yet, coastal Yup'ik residents also see the ocean as an integral part of ella, a word that translates as weather, world, universe, and awareness, depending on context.Contemporary Yupiit may also use ella to denote atmosphere, environment, and climate.Clearly, the Western concept of the ecosystem as an integrated system of natural and cultural phenomena is not new to Yup'ik people (see Folke et al., 2004, for a "resilience" perspective).For example, Paul Tunuchuk of Chefornak exclaimed: "Everything inside ella has customary teachings and instructions attached to it-air, land, and water.And they [the ancestors] mention that we must treat it with care and respect.What will become of us if we don't treat it with care?" (March 2007:216)  2 The emerging question, then, that concerns both indigenous and Western ocean observers: How can we link local observations with large-scale environmental issues in ways that respect and build on both knowledge systems?We refer to activities that involve partnerships between traditional and Western approaches as co-science. 2 Yup'ik observations cited in this article were recorded between 2006 and 2010 as part of a natural and cultural history project initiated by bering Sea coastal communities in collaboration with the Calista elders Council (CeC), the primary heritage organization for Southwest alaska.CeC's primary information-gathering tool has been the topic-specific gathering during which specific questions are addressed by meeting with small groups of elder experts, accompanied by younger community members, for two or three days.unlike interviews, often conducted by the uninformed, CeC gatherings (like academic symposia) encourage elders to speak among their peers at the highest level.alice rearden translated the comments of Yup'ik elders, and they are cited by name, CeC gathering date, and transcript page number.
Yup'ik knowledge is, first and foremost, dynamic, changing, and socially situated.
As such, it is best considered as a knowledge system embedded in a particular cultural context.Ki sa ralik R .
Iin ray aq R .                                               in the course of everyday experiences.Some argue that it is in the discontinuities between the values people hold and the continually shifting circumstances of everyday life that we find the primary driving forces of change.
TheY SaY The OCeaN CaNNOT be learNed

The OCeaN kNOwS
Qanruyutet are not the only guidelines for dealing with the ocean and its Those who talked about them said that they are a married couple, a female and a male.Then in spring when the waves begin to get stronger in our area, they constantly make "engg, emmm" noises like a person in pain.When the wave lifts the shore ice, something makes noise like that, "Eeeeee-      (Rozell, 2009:xi).
Under these circumstances, the experiences and knowledge of Bering Sea hunters traveling in ice near its south-   stated: "Our way of life is not like the way of life our parents experienced.Our parents mentioned that ella is getting worse, following its people.Since its people are becoming bad, the weather is replicating their behavior." Given their view of personal responsibility, the connection elders make between human impacts on the environment, including the effects of commercial fishing and overhunting, and the "natural" effects of climate change should come as no surprise.Throughout our discussions, they continually referred to the role played by human action in the world when describing changes in the environment or species availability.Their insistence that "the world is changing, following its people" is the logical conclusion of their view of the world as responsive to human thought and deed.
Ella has always been understood as intensely social.The Western separation between natural and social phenomena sharply contrasts with our Yup'ik conversations, which eloquently focus on their connection (Cruikshank, 2005:9).
The adage, "The world is changing, following its people, " captures the Yup'ik view that environmental change is directly related not just to human action-overfishing, burning fossil fuels-but to human interaction.As Paul Tunuchuk (March 2007:216) said, "We are in this situation today because of not Sometimes, however, traditional knowledge is "lost" and must be relearned, often at great cost.Jimmy Jacobson gave the example of dangerous marine conditions along the Beaufort coast (Carmack and Macdonald, 2008).
The Mackenzie Inuit who originally occupied this region were almost completely killed off by smallpox in the late 1800s, and with them much knowledge specific to the region, so that when the region was reoccupied by Inuit migrating eastward from Alaska, lessons had to be relearned.The danger of ice shoves (surges of ice from the ocean onto the shore) and storm surges is an example: Jimmy recalled that a lot of "the old-timers" died relearning this lesson, when they were caught camping on the ice in specific locations and under specific wind conditions.And while the synoptic-scale meteorological events that caused these events were beyond the scope of local observers, precautionary rules about when and where to camp under certain wind conditions could be found.This example again points to the fact that local knowledge is not static, but is adaptive and based on experience and experiment.that whereas coastal erosion is often attributed to lack of sea ice allowing fall storms to eat away the shoreline, in fact, sea ice is the most effective mover of sediments in waters with seasonal ice cover (Eicken et al., 2005).How the ice interacts with the coast is not well understood and cannot be captured by satellites.Local observers marking places with dirty ice can help with modeling sediment transport by ice.
Finally, rise of sea level and related effects of increased fall storm surges associated with global warming are of particular concern to ocean scientists and to coastal residents (Jorgenson and Ely, 2001).Here, elders' long-term retrospective observations on these changes may be particularly valuable to scientists.

indigenous knowledge and Sensemaking
The ability of coastal people to give meaning to experience is a powerful  (Carmack and McLaughlin, 2011).Offshore research in the Arctic has revealed huge change in ice cover (Kwok, 2009) and ocean properties (McLaughlin et al., 2011, in this issue), with consequences to the ecosystem (Li et al., 2009;Yamamoto-Kawai et al., 2009)

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Yup'ik elder Simeon agnus sharing qanruyutet (instructions) during a trip with youth and elders around Nelson island, July 2007.Photo credit: Ann Fienup-Riordan

For
the purposes of this article, the term Western science refers to investigation based on the long-established scientific method, namely, a body of techniques or uniform rules for formulating, testing, and reformulating hypotheses based on systematic observation, measurement, and experiment (cf.Gauch, 2003).Western science is analytical, reductionist, positivist, objective, and quantitative.As a result, Western scientists typically put their objects of study into simplified, controlled experiments, thus isolating themselves from nature, a recurrent theme in the history of Western thought from the time of ancient Greece to the present day.For comparison, local and traditional knowledge refers to tacit knowledge embodied in life experiences and reproduced in everyday behavior and speech.As Julie Cruikshank (2005:9) points out, "local knowledge has become a common-sense term, couched in acronyms like TEK (traditional ecological knowledge) or IK (indigenous knowledge), gaining new visibility in management science studies, but too often depicted as static, 1 Collaboration between indigenous experts and western scientists to understand our changing world has been explored in other parts of the arctic, including work by gearheard et al. (in press); huntington and Fox (2005); krupnik and Jolly (2002); and laidler (2006).
Local and traditional knowledge was passed on orally in the past; today, it can be found in bilingual publications and on the web.In either case, experience and "best practices" are encoded in language, narrative, and social rules, such as abstinence from the ocean in the wake of special or disruptive events.Together, this body of knowledge becomes the foundation for cultural identity.All components of this identity are subject to change over time, as culture change is the rule rather than the exception.In a given situation, change can be either positive or negative: it is not inevitably good or bad.One can view culture change as a negotiation process with creative, although not necessarily painless, outcomes.Instead of viewing individuals as responding to fixed cultural norms, in the last 20 years, anthropologists have shifted their emphasis to understanding how people continually reshape their lives

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. The Yukon-kuskokwim delta, 2009.Courtesy of Patrick Jankanish and Matt O'Leary Yup'ik residents of the Bering Sea coast early learned an attitude of humility and respect for the ocean, which sustained them-an attitude that went hand-inhand with the practical skills of ocean hunting.John Eric (March 2007:52) of Chefornak reflected this high regard: "As someone who has lived along the ocean, I have always viewed it as the most important element of our environment.We cannot live without the ocean.Our ancestors mainly sustained themselves from the ocean.Also, all species of fish enter the rivers from the ocean…It's no wonder that the ocean has the name imarpik [from imaq, "contents"] because it holds everything." Dozens of qanruyutet (instructions) embodied time-tested rules for interacting with the ocean.John Phillip (October 2003:239) of Kongiganak noted, "They say that we cannot depend on the ocean or all the bodies of water." Many contend that a person can never fully learn all the potential hazardous situations out on the ocean.According to John Jimmie (March 2007:75) of Chefornak: "I' d hear the cautionary lessons of the ocean when I' d go to Ann Fienup-Riordan (riordan@alaska. uncertainties.Eyagyarat (traditional abstinence practices following birth, death, illness, miscarriage, and first menstruation) that guide behavior during life's transformations must also be taken into account.Many Yup'ik elders believe that because the ocean has a sense of awareness, it will sense a person who is under a circumstance that prohibits them from being down on the ocean; the ocean indeed has always been aware and knowing.As John Eric (March 2007:101) explained: "My father and those before him mentioned those other customs which we followed-our eyagyarat having to do with the ocean.He said that if someone died during winter, their son or his siblings have to wait until someone brought a seal pup up to the village before going down to the ocean.They also said that the occurrence of a miscarriage is something that the ocean doesn't like.Someone who experienced it said that when that occurs [in a family] they have to wait for the appearance of a grebe [typically in late March] before a person can go down to the ocean." People's safety during transformative events was believed to rest on their invisibility in a sentient universe.For example, Frank Andrew (September 2000:32) of Kwigillingok noted the admonishment that one going through first menstruation should climb a hill and to throw moss or dirt at ella to blind it." The ocean also had eyes that must be closed.This requirement to stay out of view explained the reasoning behind restrictions regarding ocean hunting.Frank continued: "They said that men practicing eyagyarat should not go down to the ocean until the grebes and ringed seals arrived in spring.Grebes come first to the ocean and move on to land.When grebes started to defecate and when the blood of the ringed seals soaked the ocean down there, they said the makuat [ocean's eyes] close and become blind.Nothing would happen to hunters when they went down to the ocean, and they would no longer risk developing physical ailments." Frank Andrew (October 2001:106) also noted the consequences when those restricted from hunting or traveling on the ocean disobeyed eyagyarat: "The ocean knows when a child dies.If those who have a duty to abide by eyagyarat go down to the ocean before the family's time of abstaining is over, large waves break the ice apart.But if they had not gone down, large waves would not develop until after the sea mammals down there have their offspring.That is the piciryaraq [way] of the ocean.The grebes blind the ocean's eyes that it uses to look around.After the grebes arrive the ocean won't react if they go down.The ice cannot be broken and the weather is calm as in the past.The ocean down there nallutaituq [knows everything that is going on]. " Walter Tirchik (April 2001:150) of Chefornak recalled that his uncle told him the same thingwhen the grebes arrive and defecate in the ocean, the ocean's eyesight dims, and hunters practicing eyagyarat can safely approach the sea at that time." To ignore this admonition was to invite disaster.Walter continued: "Avegyaq's mother told her son, 'They have not spoken of grebes, don't go down.' He replied, 'Those things are not true.' After he went down, large waves as high as this ceiling developed, and he returned home.After that I think he started believing it." Ocean Conditions and Safety: Ocean Swells Large waves and windy weather were visible and immediate penalties for failure to follow eyagyarat.Frank Andrew (August 2003:75) described his understanding of ocean swells known as qairvaak (literally, "two large waves"), the long, high-amplitude waves generated by storms in the open Bering Sea and North Pacific: During winter, the ocean is quiet and very calm, and the qairvaak are not there.And when sea mammals begin to have their pups, the qairvaak begin to appear.They call the smaller of the two swells the wife, ulcuar [small swell], and her husband is the larger one, ulerpak [large swell].They only exist down in the ocean and don't get to the Kuskokwim River.
mmmm." It seems to be the ice.They say it's those two, the noise of the persons of the water.The female is higher pitched.Sometimes, however, the qairvaak appear before their usual time.Frank (October 2003:75) continued: "They say those two [ocean swells] have awareness, and they don't like it when a person breaks a law.Even though we don't see them as human, they become upset when a person who must follow abstinence practices offends them and will appear before their usual time, breaking up the shore ice." The occurrence of ocean swells marks the transition from relatively stable winter hunting conditions along shorefast ice to the myriad sea ice forms of spring.These high-amplitude waves originating far from shore can break the ice pack hundreds of miles away from the open ocean.Swells travel relatively fast and present a direct link to processes far away (Hajo Eicken, University of Alaska Fairbanks, pers.comm., August 2009).John Eric (December 2009:235, 2007:113) explained: Since there are many sandbars along our shore, qairvaat that reach shallow areas are constantly breaking.
While swells are not dangerous to travel on in deep, ice-free water, Paul Tunuchuk (March 2008:307) noted the admonishment not to in the ice in spring if swells arrive: "They are dangerous when they collide with one another.And when there is a lot of ice, the swells obviously advance toward shore." Ocean swells are a force to be reckoned with.John Eric (March 2008:296) emphasized their power: "Qairvaat are large, and a sheet of ice that is a distance away disappears from sight when [the swell rises].They say they come up toward land from the ocean and can rise over three feet.Because they are large, no matter how thick an ice sheet is, [qairvaat] can break it…They also said that [qairvaat] are large when they first arrive, but the next day or day after, they are calmer." Michael John (June 2008:209) of Newtok contrasted waves formed by the wind and ocean swells, which make one feel dizzy: "These pieces of ice make an eng sound [when qairvaat are advancing toward land], and one will start to feel strange." John Eric (December 2007:75) noted that ocean swells come from far out to sea and can be hard to distinguish: "When these qairvaat are present down on the ocean, they go down slowly, and then they peak slowly…[Qairvaat] aren't apparent.They say that qairvaat come to shore from somewhere in Japan.[laughter] Qairvaat are astonishing." Simeon Agnus (December 2007:105) of Nightmute commented on the arrival of ocean swells: "They appear during spring when the shore ice starts to disappear.Qairvaat start to be around when fledglings are first seen down on the ocean." Paul John (December 2007:106) noted that ocean swells start to reach shore when the ice that held them back begins to recede.John Eric (March 2008:176) associated the arrival of qairvaat with the birth of seal pups: "We also heard that when baby spotted seals and baby bearded seals are born, the ocean swells arrive at that time.They say the motion of the swells puts them to sleep.They are like a babysitter." To this day, many residents of lower Kuskokwim communities attribute the arrival of ocean swells before their usual time to failure of hunters to follow traditional abstinence practices aimed at making them invisible and thus enabling them to approach the ocean without negative consequences.A person ignoring eyagyarat could cause the shore ice to crack and detach along their tracks.Ocean swells are, in fact, a greater hazard in the Canineq (lower Kuskokwim coastal) area than around Nelson Island, which is protected by nearby Nunivak Island.Paul John (December 2007:106) explained: "Although the weather is calm sometimes, [the waves] are deep in shallow areas.Akuluraq [Etolin Strait] has small [waves] like that since Nunivak Island blocks the qairvaat that head toward shore from the ocean.That's why there aren't large qairvaat around Nelson Island." Simeon Agnus (July 2007:264) shared his experience: "I am afraid of Canineq, the way that the [shore] ice breaks to pieces when there are large ocean swells.In spring camps [on Nelson Island] our means of transportation Indeed, a conceptual model of ocean waves and swells generated in open water and encountering sea ice (Figure 3) shows our understanding of the physical processes involved.Swells are longwavelength surface waves that have propagated into a given area of observation after being generated by winds in other areas, often hundreds or thousands of kilometers from their origin.Swells initially travel as deepwater waves at a speed determined by their length, but begin transition to shallow-water waves where speed is determined by water depth when water depth shoals to less than half the wave length (Pond and Pickard, 1978; and see Figure 3 for equations expressing wave speed).Through this transition, wave orbits change from circular to elliptical and then to near horizontal, and waves steepen markedly.If, under climate forcing, the extent of sea ice continues to retreat and thin in spring, and more open water is exposed to offshore wind forcing, the passage of swells under the ice will become a more widespread occurrence, as illustrated in a case study by Matthew Asplin, University of Manitoba and colleagues (Asplin pers.comm., 2011), and described as qairvaat.The Ocean and ice are Changing The sea ice bordering Nelson Island and the lower Kuskokwim coast during winter and spring comprise the southern edge of an enormous ring of ice surrounding the North Pole.Because of the ability of this ice to modify the world around it, some view the changes in sea ice that are now occurring as perhaps the most far-reaching physical change of the earth in our lifetimes

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Conceptual model showing the propagation of ocean waves and swell originating in areas of open water under sea ice.C = wave propagation speed.g = gravity.l = wave length.h = depth.T = wave period.The circles and ellipses with decreasing size downwards are meant to represent wave orbital motions.The transition from deep water to shallow water behavior for incoming waves begins when orbital motions "feel" the bottom, approximately where h = 1/2 l.

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. a kwigillingok hunter pulling his kayak over the shorefast ice along the bering Sea coast, late 1940s. in the past, ice could extend up to three miles from shore, while today ice rarely extends past sandbars in shallow water.Photo credit: Warren Petersen

Figure 6 .
Figure 6.The edge of the shorefast ice as seen from the north shore of Toksook bay, February 2008.Photo credit: Nick Therchik Jr.
All forms of knowing fall short when kept static and isolated.Here we show the value of the co-science approach of local experts and Western scientists working together.As Yup'ik and Inuit elders note, respectful human interaction is the key to survival.In the many warnings elders give of a dangerous and unpredictable ocean, they also identify key research problems that could be addressed by co-science.One example is that of connecting the response of the nearshore ice regime to ocean swell and tides.Yup'ik people have many words describing the appearance and response of ice to waves and tides (Fienup-Riordan and Rearden, in press) but have no tools to understand the large-scale atmospheric and oceanic conditions that control the timing and magnitude of offshore waves.One way forward starts with face-to-face meetings and focused discussions between coastal residents and scientists, followed by research partnerships linking wind waves and ice dynamics.A second similar but distinct example concerns the question: "What goes on under the ice?"As noted above, an expanding literature has documented changes in sea ice in recent decades and how indigenous peoples interpret and respond to these changes (cf.George et al., 2004).Most of this work is based on observations from space or by observing surface features and dynamics.Indigenous hunters are certainly mindful that currents and waves beneath the ice create thin and unstable ice, but again, Oceanography | September 2011 277 they lack the specific tools to make the kind of under-ice measurements upon which prediction could be based or upon which trends associated with a warming climate could be detected.They do, however, have superior skills for traveling and working safely and efficiently on ice, and thus are the best fit to collect data on under-ice processes.They also have knowledge of place and timing that can only be acquired through lifelong connection with the environment.Again, simple and cost-effective partnerships involving Western scientists bringing specialized instrumentation to local communities may be of value to both.Meteorologist Uma Bhatt, who used satellite images to demonstrate linkages between diminishing Arctic sea ice and changes in the Arctic terrestrial ecosystems, provides another opportunity for productive collaboration (Bhatt et al., 2010).She and colleagues found that areas in the High Arctic have experienced the largest changes, with some exceptions over land regions along the eastern Bering Sea.In discussions with Bhatt, Yup'ik elders pointed out both a decline in tundra berry production and the timing of the harvest in recent years, which they associate with decrease in autumn rain and snow cover.Winds during the growing season were another factor.These observations point to the need to look at changes in wind and precipitation as well as sea ice cover to explain changes in coastal regions.Yup'ik elders also shared valuable observations about sediment-laden ice-a common characteristic of the shallow, muddy coastal environment where clear ice is the exception rather than the rule.Glaciologist Hajo Eicken of the University of Alaska Fairbanks notes quality that they bring to the study of environmental change.For example, Whiteman and Cooper (in press) define ecological sensemaking as the process used to make sense of material landscape and ecological processes.They argue that the inability to make sense of subtle ecological clues introduces hidden and sometimes dangerous vulnerability.By tapping deep experiential knowledge, the skill of sensemaking allows a hunter or traveler to interpret clues and react quickly when faced with the dangers of swiftly changing ice and ocean conditions and to quickly know when things are not as they were or as they should be.For example, Paul John (March 2008:572) described how Nunivakers used ocean swells to predict coming wind: "When the people of Nunivak Island only paddled [by kayak] from the village, they evidently kept an eye on the small pieces of ice down on the ocean.They say when the ice out there went out of view and appeared again [above the waves] that was a sign of coming wind, and they would turn back.They say the waves hit first.Although the weather was calm, they' d head to safety to escape danger when those small pieces of ice started to go out of view." John Phillip (October 2003:61) used swells to predict coming wind on the lower coast: "When the wind is going to blow from the north, the swells get high and deep." Hunters also use ocean swells as directional indicators, as they originate in deep water and always flow toward land.John Walter (March 2007:1363) of Tununak recalled: "When we became disoriented we would stop and look at the water, and it looked like it was breathing as it flowed toward land." These examples show the importance of sensemaking, based on long and tested experience, in allowing rapid avoidance of threatening situations.The experiential knowledge of local people allows the detection of abrupt change and could-if enabled through social networks-provide an early warning system of abrupt ecosystem change.One example is a narrative by Peter Kattuk of Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, based on his experiences in winter 2009-2010.Of 71 seals captured, 69 had shrimp in their stomachs, not the usual capelin.Further, the seals were skinny and tended to sink when shot.Shrimp are a less-nutritious prey than capelin.The question is: Did Peter Kattuk simply observe an anomalous year, or has he experienced a regime shift that may require adaptation?A second narrative is from Adamie Thomassie, an elder of Kangirsuk, Nunavik, a region widely recognized for its charr.This winter, the lakes that Adamie has fished since childhood are nearly devoid of fish, and caribou hunting has also been poor.The snowmobile tracks that Adamie travels are now ice, from freezing rain, rather than snow.And the sea remains unfrozen, even as temperatures drop below -40°C.The changes Adamie reports are not slow changes over his life but instead are abrupt.Are Peter and Adamie both giving early warning of major change?An example of a regime shift and adaptive action is given by Hamilton et al. (2004), who documented the adaptive responses of two communities in southwestern Greenland to the collapse of cod stocks in the 1960s.In this case, one community, Sisimiut, prospered through the abrupt ecological transition from cod to shrimp, while the other, Paamiut, maintained a traditional fundamentally unsuccessful cod fishing effort, and thus declined.While both communities experienced the same ecological regime shift and had similar capital and human resources, the stronger social capital (social networks and cohesion) of Sisimiut allowed a more successful adaptation to change.Yet, how can we detect such rapid ecosystem transitions over the vast and poorly monitored Arctic?deep Collaboration: linking local and global Part of the solution to the question posed above may lie in forging truly meaningful partnerships between researchers and Yup'ik and Inuit community members.Our work with Yup'ik community members, for example, has been a major collaborative effort during which we made a serious attempt to coproduce the knowledge we share.Planning meetings went beyond consultation and cooperation, with one group providing ideas and understandings to another, to the co-conceptualization and, more significant, co-commitments (moral and ethical) of true collaboration.True collaboration, as many note, is the joint shaping of representations.These deep collaborations offer powerful alternatives to more conventional research approaches.In this article, we showed the nuanced understanding of place acquired and passed on by indigenous peoples, both to the needs of their own communities and to Western science in general.At the same time, it is clear that climate change is a global phenomenon and that broader understanding must take into account large-scale connectivity . If combined with the training of Western scientists to abstract and apply general laws, and if the pan-Arctic indigenous communities are linked through social networks, then traditional knowledge has the potential to become a foundation of environmental and climate monitoring and to serve as an "early warning system" of change and regime shift.Indeed, the Arctic Ocean is now being monitored.If we add to this monitoring a greater understanding of the seas immediately offshore of Yup'ik and Inuit communities, scales can be bridged and people engaged.How do we move together toward a deeper understanding of the marine system around northern North America to make this potential integration a reality?We can make a start by listening carefully to Yup'ik and Inuit community members, whose understanding of the ocean is not only useful but represents a unique view of the world worth taking into account in its own right.They have long accepted personal responsibility for changes in their homeland.They lead by example.

aCkNOwledgemeNTS
We are indebted to the many men and women throughout the North who generously shared their knowledge.Work with Yup'ik elders was supported by the Calista Elders Council with funding from the National Science Foundation, both the Division of Polar Programs and the Bering Ecosystem Study Program (BEST-BSIERP #19), for which we are profoundly grateful.

Figure 7 .
Figure 7. adamie Thomasie in kangirsuk, Nunavik, in January 2011.The outside temperature is -48°C and the ocean behind adamie, which normally closes in October, remains ice free.
aren't cause for much worry.Since [shore ice] here isn't extensive, it doesn't detach and float away.But when the wind is blowing directly against the shore, when the ice gets thin, the area where they go down to the ocean collapses." The qairvaaq broke the shore ice almost one mile back toward shore into fairly large pieces.Since it's hard to tell [when ocean swells arrive], at the time, we were at Qalvinraaq when the tide came in.[Oceanswells]aren't obvious inside the channel, in a deep area.But when they get to a shallow area, they become obvious.Even though the weather is calm and windless when those ocean swells arrive, they break our shore ice to pieces.