Climate Change, Food, and ‘Sharing’ among the Iñupiat of Wainwright, Alaska [Part 2 of 2]

This case study examines the implications of climate change for the Iñupiat community of Wainwright, Alaska. Specifically, it addresses Iñupiat relations with agviq, the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus). First, we describe how Iñupiat whalers hunt the bowhead whale, how the whaling crew shares the whale with the community, and how the community celebrates a successful whaling season. Second, these descriptions are followed by observations of change in sea ice morphology and phenology, as well as potential impacts of climate change on bowhead whale hunting. These impacts potentially restrict Iñupiat food sovereignty, which is the right and ability of communities to choose culturally relevant and ecologically sustainable foods they obtain and consume from their ecological habitat (Kassam et al. 2010). Furthermore, hunting, distributing, and celebrating bowhead whales demonstrate community values, particularly the value of ‘sharing.’ Even if specific expressions of this value change, because sharing has historically played a significant role among the Iñupiat, it will likely continue to be significant in community adaptation to climate change.

Indigenous peoples living in high Arctic environments have developed sophisticated ecological and social relationships with the animals, plants, and inanimate objects that define their complex and dynamic habitat. These relations are integral to maintaining subsistence livelihoods, such as hunting and gathering, which are based on dynamic traditions that have enabled them to adapt to social and environmental change. Although indigenous peoples of the Arctic have contributed little to the causes of climate change, they are among the first to feel its effects. Climate change threatens subsistence livelihoods by increasing the variability and unpredictability of wind, currents, and formation of sea ice. Changes in sea ice jeopardize the safety of hunters and their access to marine mammals; and therefore, sources of food.