ARVIAT
Fostering the skill of observation in youth is the focus of research in Arviat this summer field season.

Andrew Kuksuk, youth mentor for the young hunters program, talks about last year's wildlife health monitoring to a crowd of 200 in Arviat at a community research night titled Youth Become Scientists June 25. - photo courtesy of Jamie Bell

"Elders have said that young people today do not observe their environment the way they would (once) have been expected to be very observant and in tune with what was going on around them," said Shirley Tagalik, a member of the Hamlet of Arviat's Health Committee and the Arviat Wellness Centre.

"It raises safety issues for kids who are going on the land. There's even concern that it hinders people from making good decisions in everyday life because this lack of observation means that we're not continually thinking critically or thinking in a preparedness way.

"That's a key issue with the elders."

Building from existing research programs and youth programs, the Arviat Wellness Centre is hoping to change that.

"We've been doing research around climate change for the last five years. This year we're wanting to focus on our youth, and developing the capacity of our youth," said Tagalik.

Projects will also develop and increase scientific skills and help youth engage the community in conversation and knowledge building, she added.

This was the overall theme of an event held for the whole community the evening of June 25, titled Arviat Youth Become Scientists. Approximately 200 people came to hear from four speakers, including youth, about ongoing research.

The evening began with elder Louis Angalik. He has worked with the wellness centre for many years and has been a key contributor to the young hunters program curriculum.

"Louis started us off by talking about how Inuit observation is a critical skill that must be developed in everybody and what happens when that is missing. And why that is just as important today, not just important in the past. It's even more important today because things are changing more rapidly."

Tagalik says Angalik also shared his perceptions of climate change.

"Louis said Inuit have always known the climate is always changing. They recognize the continuum of change, but he talks about change occurring more rapidly. So it becomes really important that we are aware of the things happening around us. Because another big thing for Inuit is continually planning and preparing for the future.

"If you don't know what's happening now you're going to be less and less able to plan and prepare for the future."

Andrew Kuksuk, youth mentor for the young hunters program, presented on last year's wildlife health monitoring and tissue sampling for the necropsy survey.

"Our young hunters program, which has been quite successfully delivered in the community for three or four years - we're wanting to engage them as environmental monitors," said Tagalik. "Last year we delivered a necropsy survey program and taught about 20 young people how to gather tissue samples and do analysis of a deceased animal. So we're moving that training down into our young hunters program."

Tim Anaviapik Soucie of Pond Inlet spoke on water quality monitoring in his community.

"They've been doing water quality monitoring for the last couple of years and we invited him to come down and work with our youth monitors to train them in water sample collection. We identified key sites where we source drinking water. We're going to begin weekly monitoring of those sites," said Tagalik.

"We're going to be doing analysis of micro-organisms, so looking at a micro-colony in a water system and how impacts on that micro-colony might predict how other plants and animals are going to be doing."

Youth hunters will work with youth monitors to collect an analyze that water on a weekly basis.

Martha Pingushat spoke of an ongoing project, the community greenhouse, which involves soil research and is an attempt to address food production and food security.

"We're in the third year of our greenhouse project," said Tagalik. "The local soil is pretty much inert so we're looking at how we can improve the quality of the local soil so that we can take advantage of our longer growing season and our much warmer temperatures."

Because the cost of importing soil is "hugely prohibitive" the project is looking at ways to improve local soil. One research project measures how plants grow in store-bought soil, in local soil with added commercial nutrients and in local soil with various additions from community waste, such as through composting.

"Last summer we added to that by looking at how we could use local seaweed to provide nutrients to the soil."

Tagalik says the ultimate goal of that project is to train young people to be doing the data collection, looking at it and to think critically.

"But we also want to use this project to engage the rest of the community, to have the community contribute their observations and information for our project and engage them in answering the 'So what?'"

This applies to all the research projects the wellness centre has on the go.

Finally, Jamie Okatsiak, leader of the youth media team, presented a video created from interviews with elders on climate change.

After the presentations, caribou harvested by the young hunters program was served.

Food in hand, those in attendance moved around the gym, visiting tables set up to showcase the work from all the projects.

The evening's finale was a performance by Abraham Eetak and other band members.

"We had a healthy eating song contest and they performed those six songs, as well as some of their own songs," Tagalik said.

"Thrilled crowd, I have to say."

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