Choosing Mother Earth over money
Diane Ruben talks about her role as resource person for the Paulatuk Hunters and Trappers committee
Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Published Monday, January 12, 2015
PAULATUK
Her first three months on the job, Diane Ruben didn't receive a paycheque.
But she still stayed on as resource person for the Paulatuk Hunters and Trappers Committee (HTC).
She wanted her community to have access to important environmental programs and to promote protection and conservation of wildlife in the area.
"The money doesn't really matter to me," said Ruben.
"I love the pace and the people I'm connected with in and around the communities and partnering with a great team of people from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Fisheries Joint Management Committee, etc."
Prior to her starting in 2010, the Paulatuk Hunters and Trappers Committee's financial reporting wasn't being completed.
As a result, the organization couldn't receive funding from the government.
"It was in really bad shape," said Ruben of the organization.
"I think they must have had two meetings in a year before I started (in June 2010) because of the funding nobody got paid for meetings. But they had to continue because of the programs they'd been trying to start, but nothing worked out because of no resource person."
The books are now regulated in Inuvik and Ruben works hard applying for grants to fund programs.
Ruben is the only employee working at the HTC office, except for when she takes on a summer student.
From her first day on the job, Ruben advocated for the return of the beluga-monitoring program, which was running when she had previously worked as the HTC resource person in 2006.
She made a number of calls before being directed to Lisa Loseto, a researcher with DFO.
Loseto saw merit in the program and the two began writing proposals for funding.
"I had to prove myself to them, sell this place to them, that we were a team and we were very enthusiastic about getting this program restarted," said Ruben.
She successfully advocated for the inclusion of traditional knowledge in the revamped monitoring program.
The monitoring has already yielded some interesting results, said Ruben. In 2013, researchers found the concentration of contaminants was higher in belugas harvested near Paulatuk than in whales at Hendrickson Island and the eastern estuary.
In previous years it was the other way around, said Ruben.
"With these new results, we are strongly recommending that this program continue from year-to-year to learn more and develop a trend from all the consecutive years samples," she said.
Loseto praised Ruben for her tireless efforts and passion for her job.
"(Ruben) has become an integral part of our research team. Her dedication to conduct valuable research in the community and achieve more has motivated myself and my research team," stated Loseto in an e-mail to News/North.
"The partnerships that Diane builds has resulted in the initiation and development of many new research and monitoring programs for the area."
Ruben received the Instantaneous Award from the Fisheries Joint Management Committee in late November "for excellence in reporting on the many fish and marine mammal monitoring and research programs in Paulatuk."
| New HTC programs this year |
Ruben said she expects to be quite busy in the new year with the possible addition of two new programs.
She's applied to the Loblaw Water Fund, presented by the World Wildlife Fund, to restore the lake the hamlet first used to supply water to residents.
The hamlet stopped using the supply years ago because of contamination, said Ruben.
She said she'd like to see it restored because "people love to walk up there, have a picnic and take water for cooking and tea and whatnot."
The other new program she hopes will start this year will focus on the Hornaday River. Elders and community members say the water level has decreased three to four feet since the 1980s.
"It's a big concern in the community … everybody fishes there every year," said Ruben.
DFO plans to install a device in the lake in June or July to monitor the water level, she added.
"I don't know what kind of steps we'll take next if we notice more of a decrease in the levels to sustain our char population and health," said Ruben.
"But there's always a way."
