SOCIAL SCIENCE

Social Science

Kawerak’s Social Science Program collaborates with tribes and communities in the Bering Strait region to conduct research on topics such as traditional knowledge of subsistence resources, subsistence practices, environmental change, and human-environment and human-animal relationships. We also conduct policy and resource management analyses, provide recommendations and comments to agencies and other bodies, and create educational and other products for various audiences.

Our work is based on direct tribal and community participation in research beginning with the development of project ideas, to the conduct of projects, through analysis and data sharing. The Social Science Program uses anthropological methods for data documentation such as conducting interviews, focus groups and workshops, participant observation, archival research, and visual (e.g. photography) and spatial (e.g. mapping) documentation of information. We utilize various data analysis methods, including tribal and community participation in data analysis and data review, and the use of qualitative data analysis software.

In addition to our collaborations with tribes and communities, we also work with other non-profit organizations, independent and university-based researchers, and State and Federal agencies on research, analysis, and community outreach activities.

Upcoming Events

Tribal Research Priorities Gathering Event by invitation only.

This gathering will bring together representatives from across the region to engage in the development of regional research priorities, grounded in collaboration and guided by Tribal sovereignty. The process centers the voices of our communities, with the intent to identify shared priorities that reflect the values and goals of the Tribes of the Kawerak region.

This gathering will provide a dedicated space for Tribal representatives across the Kawerak region to come together and engage in respectful dialogue, share insights, and identify shared priorities across key issues affecting our communities.

As always, this convening will be grounded in the values of Tribal sovereignty, meaningful engagement, and collaboration. It builds on long-standing relationships and is rooted in the belief that decisions and direction for the region must come from Tribal voices.

Please direct questions to research@kawerak.org.

Knowledge Sovereignty and the Indigenization of Knowledge Project

Facilitated by Kawerak and social science partner Sandhill.Culture.Craft, this is a co-productive, collaborative, and Tribally-based effort with its roots in the Bering Strait and western Alaska region but with broad reach across Alaska and the wider Arctic.

The fundamental goal of this work is to advance, through various means, the knowledge and research sovereignty of indigenous people, the indigenization of knowledge and research, and the promotion of positive relationships between indigenous communities and research.

See updates on the project at Kawerak.org/knowledge

Links & Downloads

• Co-production of Knowledge Graphic Explained, Yup’ik/English video
• Kawerak-Region Tribal Research Protocols, Guidelines, Expectations & Best Practices
• Kawerak June 2024 Comments on Draft Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Fisheries Research Conducted and Funded by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center
• Position paper: Addressing misconceptions about Indigenous Knowledges
• Perspectives on Co-production of Knowledge in Fieldwork Experience for 3D Preservation of Indigenous Heritage
• Article: Ethical Considerations in the Use of 3D Technologies to Preserve and Perpetuate Indigenous Heritage
• Tribal Coalition TK/ITEK letter
• Article: A framework for co-production of knowledge in the context of Arctic research
• Knowledge and Research Sovereignty Workshop report
• Chapter: Adaptation to repetitive flooding: expanding inventories of possibility through the co-production of knowledge
• 4-Language Glossary: Terms for Research, Science, and Policy
• Article: “We never get stuck”: A Collaborative Analysis of Change and Coastal Community Subsistence Practices in the Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas, Alaska
• Article: Assessing the sustainability and equity of Alaska salmon fisheries through a well-being framework
• Navigating the New Arctic NSF Comment Letter
• Dec 2021 NNA Follow Up Letter
• Article: Indigenous peoples and salmon stewardship
• Chapter: Mapping and Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic
• Chapter: Sociocultural Features of the Bering Strait Region
• Fourth National Climate Assessment: Tribes and Indigenous Peoples
• Michael Francis Kazingnuk’s The Eskimo History Story (transcribed)
• Research Processes and Indigenous Communities in Western Alaska: Workshop Report
• Article: An Indigenous approach to ocean planning and policy in the Bering Strait region of Alaska
• Chapter: Arctic Vessel Traffic and Indigenous Communities in the Bering Strait Region of Alaska
• Chapter: Cosmological Changes: Shifts in Human–Fish Relationships in Alaska’s Bering Strait Region
• Article: The Incorporation of Traditional Knowledge into Alaska federal fisheries management
• “Always taught not to waste”: Traditional Knowledge and Norton Sound/Bering Strait Salmon Populations
• Article: A Bering Strait Indigenous Framework for Resource Management: Respectful Seal and Walrus Hunting
• Kawerak’s Traditional Knowledge (TK) Definition
• Kawerak Knowledge and Subsistence-Related Terms
• Chapter: Conceptual and Institutional Frameworks for Protected Areas, and the Status of Indigenous Involvement
• Summary: Knowledge, Beliefs and Experiences of the Supernatural Environment project
• Article: Building an Indigenous Evidence-base for Tribally-led Habitat Conservation Policies
• Article: Qualitative Participatory Mapping of Seal and Walrus Harvest and Habitat Areas
• Article: Developing Theoretical Marine Habitat Suitability Models from Remotely-Sensed Data and Traditional Ecological Knowledge
• “The World Has Changed”: Iŋalit Traditional Knowledge of Walrus in the Bering Sea
• Indigenous Knowledge and Use of Bering Strait Ocean Currents Report
• Indigenous Knowledge and Use of Bering Strait Ocean Currents Book
• Indigenous Knowledge and Use of Ocean Currents (poster in English and Russian)
• We Depend On the Sea Poster
• Seal and Walrus Harvest and Habitat Areas for Nine Bering Strait Region Communities
• Bering Strait Marine Life and Subsistence Data Synthesis
• Little Diomede Iñupiaq Glossary and Walrus Preparation Guide
• Policy-Based Recommendations from Kawerak’s Ice Seal and Walrus Project
• Article: Participation and Resistance – Tribal Involvement in Bering Sea Fisheries Management and Policy
• Food for the Soul: Bering Strait Region Non-Salmon Fish Preparation and Recipes
• Article: Linkages between human health and ocean health
• Seal and Walrus Hunting Safety Book
• Traditions of Respect Book
• When the fish come, we go fishing: Local Ecological Knowledge of Non-Salmon Fish Report
• Climate-Ocean Effects on Chinook Salmon: Local Traditional Knowledge Component
• 2022 Letter to NOAA regarding Tribal Consultation  
• 2020 Disaster Policy Brief
• IARPC Plan comment letter, 2020
• 2019 Community-based solutions to climate change resilience