The Power of Multiple Perspectives: Behind the Scenes of the Siku–Inuit–Hila Project

Abstract

The Siku–Inuit–Hila (Sea ice–people–weather) project presents a new approach for collaborative research in the Arctic that links Inuit and scientific knowledge. For perhaps the first time, Inuit have undertaken comparative environmental research in a formal structure: not only comparative across Inuit knowledge and science but also comparative across time and place. By involving local research team members in community knowledge exchanges, we blurred the distinctions between “researchers” and “participants,” giving each team member a variety of roles during the project, including host, visitor, teacher, and student. The exchanges were complemented by quantitative sea ice measurements taken from specially designed local monitoring stations and information gathered during regular sea ice expert group meetings held in each community. Our experiences illustrate that this approach to collaborative research can yield new insights into sea ice processes, changes, and impacts at the local and regional scales.