INUVIK
The precious history of the Arctic is washing away in front of peoples' eyes, says a University of Toronto researcher.

Max Friesen of the University of Toronto spoke at the Aurora Research Institute in Inuvik April 14 about the impact climate change is having on ancient Inuit archaeological sites in the Mackenzie Delta. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

Max Friesen, an archaeologist specializing in Inuvialuit history and culture, discussed his growing concerns with the damage to sites in the Mackenzie Delta during a lecture at Inuvik's Aurora Research Institute April 14.

Approximately 20 people attended the presentation to hear about the potential havoc being wreaked by the region's warming climate.

Friesen is one of the leaders in the Arctic Cultural Heritage at Risk program (Arctic CHAR) which is seeking to prioritize archaeological sites by importance for excavation before they are destroyed by flooding and slumping permafrost.

"We're about midway through the project, which is looking at the impact of change on the archaeological record," he told the audience. "That's more radically and quickly in the Arctic than anywhere else.

"For archaeologists, the permafrost has preserved organic materials beautifully, in many cases perfectly, since they were abandoned by people," Friesen said. "So we have this beautiful preservation, but as things go, the ground is going to be thawed more deeply and for a longer period of time, and these artifacts are going to be exposed to things that can cause them to fall apart."

The potential for rising sea levels is also an immediate threat, he said. Some predictions suggest the sea level in the Delta could rise as much as a metre, which could be devastating.

It will also swamp many valuable sites, making them unavailable to common methods of excavation, he said.

Tourism activities are also a distinct threat, because more people will be able to reach important sites more conveniently.

The Arctic CHAR program is focused primarily on the Delta, where climate warming is among the highest in the world.

"The Delta is already showing a huge susceptibility to warming and huge changes in the permafrost and rate of slumpage," Friesen said. "Put those together, the permafrost here is projected to be impacted at a high level. Even worse is the projected impact of the rising sea levels.

"In the Mackenzie Delta, the land is actually sinking. Combine that with rising sea levels, there's just massive erosion going on in an area where there's an irreplaceable record of Inuvialuit history. They lived primarily on that coasts, and those are now threatened."

The Inuvialuit of the region were likely the most successful and sophisticated people living in the Arctic centuries ago, Friesen said, adding to their importance.

"So with Arctic CHAR we are trying to address the loss of all of this archaeology. So the first thing we did was develop a really big geographic information system (GIS) and computer mapping program so we can predict where are the regions that are going to be most affected."

Those predictions include the Inuvik area area running north to Tuktoyaktuk, Friesen said. "There are hundreds of sites here, and most are concentrated on the outer coasts."

Friesen fielded few questions about the program from the audience. Instead, most of the questions revolved around details of the everyday life and construction techniques the ancient Inuvialuit utilized.

Brian Terry asked whether Friesen and his fellow scientists working on the Arctic CHAR program had considered the possibility of dealing with an oil spill at the sites if offshore drilling was allowed.

"That would be more devastating to wildlife than the sites, although there could be a chemical reaction," Friesen said.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.