Course:CONS200/2024WT1/The impact of melting sea ice on traditional Inuit hunting practices

Inuit People Hunting

Introduction

Climate change is a serious global issue affecting everyone. It also impacts people and communities that rely on hunting to survive. Climate change is visibly impacting the environment, especially in the Arctic, where sea ice melted faster in 2020 than ever before. Sea ice is crucial because it supports hunting for marine mammals like ringed seals, a key resource for the community. Since the early 1900s, glaciers worldwide have been melting quickly, largely due to human activities like burning fossil fuels. Since the industrial revolution, emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses have raised temperatures, causing glaciers to melt faster. A recent study shows that shrinking sea ice has significantly shortened the seal-hunting season in northern Alaska, endangering communities that have depended on these marine animals for food and clothing for generations. The Inuit, meaning "the people" in Inuktitut, are an Indigenous group mainly living in northern Canada. Their homeland, Inuit Nunangat, includes the land, water, and ice in the Arctic, which are vital to their way of life. The 2021 Census shows that there are 70,545 Inuit in Canada. Many Inuit live in Inuit Nunangat, meaning "the place where Inuit live," which consists of four regions: the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (in the Northwest Territories and Yukon), Nunavut, Nunavik (in northern Quebec), and Nunatsiavut (in northern Labrador). Inuit Nunangat includes 53 communities, covering about 35% of Canada’s land and 50% of its coastline. Most of Canada’s 65,000 Inuit reside in Inuit Nunangat, though about a quarter live outside it, with roughly half of those in towns or cities. Climate change is melting Arctic sea ice, disrupting Inuit hunting. Hunters rely on stable ice to access seals and whales, vital for their food and culture, but thinning ice makes this difficult. It’s crucial for people to pay attention, as we’re already feeling the effects of the climate crisis, particularly with melting sea ice disrupting traditional Inuit hunting practices.

Sea Ice reductions and its consequences for Inuit hunters

The natural habitat that Inuit communities rely on are dramatically changed by the fast melting. Since the end of the 20th century, the area of Arctic sea ice in summer has decreased by more than 50%. As the Arctic temperatures increase, the extent of the glacier melt problem increases. Rather than the study shows that the Arctic is warming at nearly twice of the global average level, which is accelerating the loss of sea ice. The ice is becoming thinner and less predictable, so that makes Inuit facing a more dangerous and unfamiliar environment.

Inuit People and their kid

The melting of Arctic sea ice has affected a lot of Inuit community, especially Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), which has guided Inuit hunters in predicting ice stability, animal behavior, and weather patterns for previous centuries. As the environment becomes increasingly unpredictable, much of the knowledge passed down through generations about ice safety is becoming less useful. In Iglulik and other places, hunters observed that the ice conditions are highly variable, the ice sometimes cracks without warning or forms unusual patterns. This change brought a dangerous environment to hunters, and even hunters fell into the ice. Hunters can no longer rely on ancestral knowledge to identify safe routes or understand the behavior of the ice, which undermines the confidence and practicality of TEK in modern hunting practices. Also, such risks force hunters to change routes, and they need to go further to reach the hunting ground. This increases the risk and cost of each trip. These adjustments have led to an increase in expensive fuel consumption, further exacerbating the economic and resource constraints of Inuit families.

In addition to altering hunting habits, melting sea ice also has a grievous impact on animals. Marine mammals such as whales rely on sea ice to breed and rest. When the ice disappeared, marine animals were forced to shift their habitats to adapt. This makes increasing challenges for hunters to locate them by using traditional methods. This environmental change disrupted the established hunting tradition that the Inuit relied on for generations. With fewer opportunities to hunt these animals, the community faces a growing reliance on costly imported food. However, these foods are not only expensive but also not as nutritious as traditional diets. Meadpointed out that the food sold in stores usually contains more sugar, fat and processed ingredients than nutritious traditional food. Therefore, the incidence of obesity, diabetes and other chronic problems in the Inuit community is on the rise. If Inuit people want to eliminate this problem, they can only reduce the quality of their diet.

The cultural consequences of these changes are equally profound. For Indigenous peoples, their living cultural customs and identity tend to be highly dependent on the local environment, which makes them particularly sensitive to environmental changes. According to the Commonality Among Unique Indigenous Communities: An Introduction to Climate Change and Its Impacts on Indigenous Peoples, Inuit people are very vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Traditional hunting customs are an indispensable part of the inheritance of intergenerational knowledge and values. For Inuit community, traditional hunting is a way to pass on knowledge, values and skills to younger generations. However, with the rapid change in ice conditions, the younger generation has reduced traditional hunting opportunities. It is increasingly difficult for younger people to apply this knowledge effectively, which may lead to cultural erosion . The loss of this influence is not limited to practical skills, but also weakens the identity and continuity of the Inuit community. For many people, hunting is a way to connect with their traditions, and failure to maintain these customs can lead to a confused identity.

Socio-economic factors have further exacerbated the challenges posed by these environmental changes. Because they are in remote Arctic areas, scarce resources are their difficulties. Longer and more hazardous hunting journeys require more fuel and equipment, which further increases the cost and increases the financial burden of Inuit families.As hunting became more and more expensive and unreliable, many Inuit people were forced to turn to hired labor for income. This change in livelihood destroys the traditional structure of the Inuit community and puts a heavy burden on their families.

The biggest culprit of these negative effects is the increase in industrial activity in the Arctic. As the Arctic becomes warm, melting sea ice brings new opportunities for resource mining, shipping and transportation. The study found that the increase of noise, pollution, and human presence from industrial activities disrupt the habitats and migration patterns of marine mammals. For example, shipping traffic interferes with the migration routes of marine mammals such as dolphins and whales, while that makes hunters more challengeable to predict where and when to catch them.  Industrial activities also bring pollution, introducing toxins that accumulate in marine animals, which may eventually affect the Inuit, who rely on these animals as their main source of food . A notable example of this is the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), industrial toxins, in the Arctic food chain. Studies have shown that levels of PCBs in Inuit breast milk are among the highest in the world, a stark indicator of how pollutants introduced by industrial activities can affect the health of Arctic communities. This contamination creates a dual crisis, threatening both food security and the physical well-being of Inuit populations.

Addressing the Impacts on Inuit Hunting Practices

In response, Inuit communities employed various strategies to adapt to threats that impact their lifestyles. While governments and international societies also helped through supportive policies and advocacy for Indigenous rights. These combined efforts maintain Inuit hunting practices and preserve cultural heritage dealing with modernization and environmental challenges.

Community Efforts

For Inuit communities, they integrate traditional knowledge with new methods to enhance hunting and food gathering. On the one hand, according to Mead, schools significantly contribute to this integration by incorporating traditional hunting knowledge into their curriculum: children learn to speak Inuktitut and practice hunting skills under the guidance of Elders. As children understand the practices that sustained their ancestors, this transmission of knowledge is also important for preserving their Inuit identity. On the other hand, hunters developed new techniques that require less reliance on stable ice . Moreover, the introduction of shops as alternative food sources supports the Inuit diet in a rapidly changing environment. Local stores now offer imported foods, which provide a greater variety of dietary options that complement traditional foods. Items previously difficult to obtain (such as fresh fruits and vegetables), are now more accessible yet transportation challenges keep prices high. As high food costs place additional financial strain on many families, this shift thus also impacts Inuit rates of poverty and potentially deepens existing economic disparities. Food-sharing networks within communities enable those unable to hunt (particularly elders and low-income families) to access traditional foods. These food networks and local food banks continue to supply nourishment while keeping traditional foods in Inuit diet despite external pressures.

Government Policies

Government initiatives significantly address the effects of environmental and economic changes on Inuit hunting practices, especially regarding food access. For example, since the 1960s, the Canadian government has implemented the Food Mail Program, which provides subsidies to lower the cost of transporting perishable and non-perishable foods to northern communities. Given the Arctic's long winters, this program helps to deal with challenges associated with obtaining fresh food in local stores. While not all Inuit directly benefit from this subsidy due to the ongoing high costs of certain food items, the program generally reduces prices and improves food availability in northern stores. Furthermore, after many generations of taking hunting rights away from Inuit people, the Canadian government has established policies granting special hunting rights to Inuit people and acknowledged the cultural and practical significance of hunting in their lives. Thus, aiming to preserve Inuit traditions, these policies support the procurement of traditional foods and protect the cultural practices that define Inuit identity.

Global Advocacy

To a larger extent, international organizations and advocacy groups also contribute to supporting Inuit hunting practices by promoting Indigenous rights on a global scale. For example, The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is a foundational document outlining the rights that Indigenous communities should possess. Although UNDRIP is not legally binding and was initially rejected by many countries, it has since been endorsed by nations with substantial Indigenous populations, such as Canada, the United States, and Australia. This declaration indicates a global commitment to recognizing and respecting Indigenous rights and ensures that the preservation of Inuit hunting practices receives respect in international discussions. Another notable example of international advocacy occurred in 2005 when the Inuit submitted a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. As climate change directly affects their ability to hunt and maintain their traditional lifestyle, the petition argued that the United States' climate policies are failing to adequately reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus violated the Inuit people's rights to property, life, and health. Although the Commission ultimately did not pursue the petition, this case was groundbreaking, marked a brave attempt of an Indigenous community challenging a nation over climate policies and brought great global attention to the unique vulnerabilities of Indigenous communities. Nevertheless, global animal-caring organizations like PETA express opposing attitudes toward Inuit hunting practices and frame such activities as unethical due to animal welfare concerns. This opposition can undermine Inuit rights by narrowly paying attention to animal rights yet overlooking the broader context of Indigenous sovereignty and the sustainable nature of traditional hunting in practices. By discussing these issues, international advocacy efforts enhance awareness and contribute to global concerns about the impacts of climate change on Indigenous communities.

As such, the collaborative efforts of Inuit communities, governments, and international societies seem to illustrate a comprehensive approach to sustaining Inuit hunting practices and suggest a commitment to the resilience of Inuit traditions with respect. While progress has been made, there remains considerable room for improvement. It is still necessary to develop further actions to ensure the long-term survival of Inuit cultural practices in the face of ongoing environmental and socio-economic pressures.

Evaluate additional solutions and recommendations

The extreme environmental changes in the Arctic, such as the rapid melting of sea ice in the region, have had a great impact on the Inuit traditional hunting methods and created many problems and obstacles. Therefore, the Inuit hunters have to explore new hunting methods to respond to the increasingly dangerous ice conditions. In this section, we will explore the hunting methods of the Inuit in great detail from a technological, social, cultural, and economic perspective.

A practical approach is to apply modern technology such as GPS devices and weather forecasting tools to improve the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the Inuit. The traditional ecological knowledge, which was passed down from generations, includes whale migration, animal migration, and seasonal changes. The combination of modern technology with traditional ecological knowledge allows the Inuit hunters to have more accurate judgments about the hunting conditions and therefore make more suitable decisions. For example, GPS devices can help to plan more optimal hunting routes, while satellites and weather updates can provide real-time updates on ice conditions and help to avoid potential hazards. However, the extreme weather conditions, the high cost of GPS, poor infrastructure, and geographic remoteness may limit the usefulness of these modern tools in Inuit regions. Therefore, although Inuit communities have gained access to modern technology, it is unrealistic to rely solely on them. Modern technology should indeed be used as a complementary tool to enhance rather than replace traditional knowledge.

Promoting community-led initiatives is crucial for improving the adaptive capacity of Inuit. Successful adaptations in Inuit communities depend on many social factors, such as strong social networks, knowledge sharing, and cultural continuity. Practically, establishing a knowledge-sharing portal where the older generation can share their traditional knowledge, such as predicting ice safety and sustainable hunting practices, would greatly facilitate the adaptation of young Inuit to new lifestyles. However, in most cases, engaging young Inuit in these initiatives is a challenging task. This is because, with the development of an urban lifestyle and moderation, the younger generation is losing traditional knowledge about hunting. Therefore, to address this issue, projects that combine navigation instruction (e.g., interpreting the shape of snowdrifts and understanding wind direction) with lessons on modern tools (e.g., using GPS devices to plan hunting routes) will help young people understand the connections between the two systems and respect their traditions. This approach not only preserves cultural heritage but also equips the younger generation with the skills they need to adapt to extreme environmental changes.

Financial support has also become a major factor in the Inuit's adaptation to climate change. As sea ice melts rapidly, making it impossible to reach previous hunting grounds, Inuit hunters will need to travel to more remote hunting areas, which in turn means an increase in the cost of fuel and safety equipment. Financial assistance in the form of low-interest loans for the purchase of basic equipment and operating costs can help reduce the financial burden on hunters and give them the opportunity to hunt in safe and well-operated conditions.

Climate policy and governance also play a crucial role in Inuit adaptation to climate change. Ford emphasize the importance of including Inuit communities in governance arrangements. Such arrangements can develop adaptation strategies that reflect their needs and values. Inuit must be allowed a strong voice in issues that deeply affect their lives. For example, the Inuit community can coordinate with local governments to develop relevant strategies that are feasible and culturally enhancing.

In conclusion, to deal with the challenges of melting sea ice, Inuit communities combine modern technology with traditional knowledge, community initiatives, political empowerment, and financial support. These coping strategies not only help to combat climate change but also help to protect the cultural heritage of the Inuit Community.

Conclusion

Climate change is a global issue affecting everyone, but it has a unique impact on Inuit communities that rely on hunting to survive. Sea ice is essential for Inuit hunters, providing access to animals like seals, which are critical for food, warmth, and fuel. Traditionally, seal hunting has been a way of life, supplying meat for food, skins for clothing, and blubber for heating. As sea ice melts, Inuit communities have had to adapt. They have developed new hunting methods that rely less on stable ice, combined traditional knowledge with modern tools like GPS and weather forecasting, and used local stores as alternative food sources. Though imported foods are often expensive, they offer more dietary options to complement traditional foods. Governments and international groups have also stepped in to help. Programs like Canada’s Food Mail Program reduce the cost of essential supplies, and documents like the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples protect Indigenous rights, helping Inuit communities to adapt in a way that honors their culture. In summary, addressing the impact of melting sea ice on Inuit hunting calls for a combination of community adaptations, supportive policies, and respect for Indigenous rights. Governments and Inuit communities must collaborate to build mutual understanding and respect, enabling them to effectively tackle the environmental challenges climate change poses to Inuit hunters. Combining technology, community initiatives, political advocacy, and financial support can help the Inuit cope with the effects of melting sea ice. Lastly, continued efforts are essential to help Inuit communities preserve their way of life in the face of climate change.

References

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