Wayfaring the BW project

Covid-19 Remote Interviews

One year later after I had left Coral Harbour, by March 2021, the project PI’s reported to have adapted their strategy to the Covid-19 restrictions on travel from the South and to the national public health social distancing practices in force. The polar bear denning surveys that had been planned for the region, had been executed under local leadership, and methods to compile TEK had been adapted together with Co-PI Leonard Netser to allow Southern BearWatch team members to “participate remotely.”

Despite the fact that much effort, technology and resources were put into the adaptation of these TEK interviews to take place with involvement from the South, the interviews were dis-continued after one pilot interview and the first interview with a Coral Harbour elder. The material circumstances required to record and livestream these interviews proved to be too disruptive for the task at hand.

You have bumped into an ice-pressure ridge. It's a small one through, and you can easily cross it. Follow it nevertheless to learn more about how the material aspects of our Covid-19 adaptations interfered with the dynamics between interviewer and interviewee. Understand why it was considered unworkable, and why a cup of tea was suggested as a replacement technology. Alternatively, you can consider the pilot recording in which Leonard shares his detailed knowledge on Southampton Island a succesfull outcome, and keep going.

Ice pressure ridge: Tech, TEK and Tea

Fieldtrip BW Team Coral Harbour Summer 2021

Although collaborations had already taken place remotely between local PI Leonard Netser and the PI’s from the South, it was only in the Summer of 2021 that the respective team members from the North and the South got to meet each other for the first time within the community. A short 5-day introductory fieldtrip was organized to visit Coral Harbour. During this trip several BearWatch researchers presented the proposed research activities that were upcoming to the Coral Harbour HTA and other interested community members. The time was also used to set up material equipment for a simple local lab to support further community lead sampling efforts, to be conducted over late 2021 and early 2022. The trip was finally used to visit some of the sampling areas that were pointed out by Leonard and elder [name] during the TEK mapping interviews of 2020.

Tag along, and get a sense of Southampton Island in the Summer. Otherwise, move straight ahead to the second leg of this fieldtrip, towards Gjoa Haven.

Invitation: Drive across  the Island

Fieldtrip BW Team Gjoa Haven Summer 2021

This fieldtrip to Gjoa Haven was the first opportunity after Covid-19 restrictions to revisit the community since the polar bear quota restriction impact workshops and TEK collection workshops that were organized in 2019.

This visit was used to organize two TEK sessions, as to receive the required feedback for finishing the envisioned peer-reviewed publication on Gjoa Haven polar bear TEK (Arlidge, 2022). It was also used to present results of several other graduate students that had been working on the analysis of samples towards developing various elements of the BearWatch bio-monitoring toolkit. This visit also provided opportunities for me to collaborate in person on how to proceed with the publication and dissemination of Gjoa Haven's Voices of Thunder regarding the polar bear quota restriction impacts.

Voices of Thunder Meetings

Being physically present in the community, presented opportunities to co-create an audio-visual productions with multiple community members, in addition to discussing and revising the latest iteration of the academic paper, that I had started to write.

You find yourself at a cross-road with many tracks.

Choose carefully, as some of these tracks might lead you down different cuts, with a low chance of returning to this particular cut that traces the unfolding of the BearWatch project.

If you turn left, for example, you can follow cut 2 as it tracks along the processes of co-creating the animated graphic documentary and other video projects that I ended up making with several community-members of Gjoa Haven in the Summer of 2021.

You also can take a shortcut towards the final animated documentary and other audio-visual outputs that we created to generate attention to the experiences of Gjoa Haven’s residents around their severely reduced polar bear quota.

Neither track seem to return to this cut anytime soon, however.

Alternatively, you could stick around in the community, where you are invited to help with logistical chores around town. This is a helpful way to get to know people, and it will be much easier than in Coral Harbour.

Otherwise, you could just move onward with the BearWatch project. Either keep going, so that you can return to Gjoa Haven in the spring of 2022 and present some of the work that was done. Or by take a small detour that passes by the community-lead sampling efforts done in Southampton Island in March 2022.

Detour to Cut 2: Aesthetic Action, co-creating a graphic documentary

Cut 1: Voices of Thunder Animated Graphic Documentary

Invitation: Help out with chores around town

Detour: Community-lead Sampling CH 2022

Meetings Spring 2022 Gjoa Haven

Test text test

Cut 1: Voices of Thunder Testimonial Reading

Invitation: Checking Seal Dens

Meetings Spring 2022 Coral Harbour

Test text test

Ice pressure ridge: Seasonal Activities

Detour: Zine-making

Fall 2022 Coral Harbour

test text

Detour to Cut 2:Coral Harbour Workshop

Invitation: Spending Time in a Cabin

Wayfaring Calendar Pilot

Detour: Another point of beginning Wayfaring method

Ice pressure ridge: Arctic Travel