Arctic PASSION is Launching a New Database
Arctic PASSION is launching a new database with Tahltan climate event observations, to help understand ongoing changes in the Arctic region.
The event database is a tool to document and share significant cultural and environmental events within Tahltan Territory, an area over 90 thousand square km, an area larger than Hungary, located in British Columbia, Canada.
Tahltan researchers from Tu’dese’cho Wholistic Indigenous Leadership Development (TWILD) and Snowchange Cooperative worked for over three years to collect observations of climate, ecological and cultural change in the Canadian sub-Arctic.
Oral histories
The traditional knowledge documentation and community-led monitoring are part of TWILD’s programming, to prepare future generations of Tahltans to thrive through a distinctive braiding of Indigenous and Western knowledge.
Drawing on oral histories from Tahltan elders, as well as Tahltan science, self-documented videos and photos, the database is a vital effort to centre on the land, lived experiences of climatic change in efforts to tackle climate change in the Arctic and sub-Arctic.
The Database has sections on Indigenous histories and colonial damages, observations of change, oral histories and videos and sections on revitalization of knowledge and training of younger generations to Tahltan culture and lands.
Arctic PASSION invites researchers, educators, decision-makers and members of the public to explore and make use of the database and engage with the stories that shape the Arctic.
The database is hosted by the Arctic Seas portal, Snowchange’s portal for information about Indigenous Communities and Ecology of Northern Waters.