Cut 1 Abstract

International Polar conservation is sometimes presented as a success-story of population recovery and international ‘science diplomacy’. What is often left unconsidered in these celebrations are the more local impacts on Inuit-polar bear relationships that have emerged from- sometimes controversial- decision-making in the past. In this cut, you are invited to trace along several co-created outputs that focus on the ongoing impacts of a polar bear hunting moratorium (2001-2004) and the substantial quota reductions implemented in the M’Clintock Channel Polar Bear Management Unit in Nunavut, Canada. These outputs center the experiences and testimonies of community members from Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, who report a loss of income, -culture, and possibilities for -inter-generational knowledge transfers. Gjoa Haven continues to seek recognition for impacts among the ongoing struggles to reconcile different ways of knowing and being across international conservation agreements and the territorial co-management regimes. This cut traces the ways in which researchers from the BearWatch project collaborated with the community to co-create, i) A 20 minute co-created motion graphic documentary, ii) An academic publication, iii) A webpage, and iv) A Testimonial Reading, with the purpose of having Gjoa Haven's “Voices of Thunder” echo everywhere.

"Return" to Cut 1

Return to Cut 1:Voices of Thunder