Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 10/99) - Elders watch the clouds, sense the air and notice where the wind is coming from. It's a far cry from the high-tech world utilized by weather centres.

Arctic Weather Centre program supervisor, Yvonne Bilan-Wallace, travelled to two Northern communities last month. The weather specialist wanted to meet with aboriginals who rely on her forecasts, and learn how to make them more effective.

"We thought we weren't communicating as well as we could with the aboriginal people. We can put out a perfect forecast, but if the people it's designed to help don't understand it, then there's a problem," Bilan-Wallace said.

She arranged for four focus groups to be set up, two each in Rankin Inlet and Inuvik. Each group consisted of a cross-section of aboriginal people with various backgrounds, from elders to hunters and pilots. It's the first time an initiative like this has been launched.

"The focus groups were designed so we could better understand how the forecasts are used, how accurate people perceive them to be and how we can better get the information to the people," Bilan-Wallace said.

Besides supplying critical information to pilots and mariners, the Arctic Weather Centre puts out reports that anyone who goes out on the land and water can use.

Forecasts are prepared from sources such as satellites, super computers and weather balloons.

After directing the focus groups in Inuvik and Rankin Inlet, she said she learned a lot about traditional ways of forecasting the weather.

"We write forecasts but being weather-smart goes beyond that. I think people who are on the land are more aware of subtle fluctuations in the weather -- especially since their life can depend on it," Bilan-Wallace said.

"(The traditional methods) are just a different science. Ours is based on technology and theirs is based on observational techniques that go back thousands of years."

Rankin Inlet town foreman, Noah Makayak, participated as a focus group member. He developed a great deal of respect for what Bilan-Wallace does.

"I myself can only tell the weather from the wind, looking at the clouds and what I'm seeing day-to-day," Makayak said.

"I found out how (the weather centre) works and how they get the forecast. I've always wondered how they were able to forecast the weather days in advance. It's amazing how they do it."

He said that doesn't mean he relies less on his own judgement.

"The only way I can predict the weather is from what I learned from my dad and grandfather," Makayak said.

"I didn't believe they knew what the weather would be like when I was growing up but now I'm remembering what they taught me and I'm using it. Still, it's good to have a weather report, it gives us an idea of what's going to happen."

To further enhance communication between the Weather Centre and aboriginal communities, a phone survey of 1,135 homes in the territories will be conducted during the last two weeks in May.