Biocultural Diversity and Indigenous Ways of Knowing

Human Ecology in the Arctic

Bibliographic Data

ID2708137
AuthorsKarim-Aly S Kassam, Karim-Aly Kassam (0000-0002-4495-8574, University of Calgary, corresponding author)
Year2012
Publication date2012-03-05
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueBiocultural Diversity and Indigenous Ways of Knowing (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherUniversity of Calgary Press (PUBLISHER • CA)
DOI10.1515/9781552384923
OpenAlexW4388780453
ISBN9781552384923
LanguageEN
References cited56

At the dawn of the third millennium, dramatic challenges face human civilization everywhere. Relations between human beings and their environment are in peril, with mounting threats to both biological diversity of life on earth and cultural diversity of human communities. The peoples of the Circumpolar Arctic are at the forefront of these challenges and lead the way in seeking meaningful responses. In Biocultural Diversity and Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Human Ecology in the Arctic Karim-Aly Kassam positions the Arctic and sub-Arctic as a homeland rather than simply as a frontier for resource exploitation. Kassam aims to empirically and theoretically illustrate the synthesis between the cultural and the biological, using human ecology as a conceptual and analytical lens. Drawing on research carried out in partnership with indigenous northern communities, three case studies illustrate that subsistence hunting and gathering are not relics of an earlier era but rather remain essential to both cultural diversity and to human survival. This book deals with contemporary issues such as climate change, indigenous knowledge, and the impact of natural resource extraction. It is a narrative of community-based research, in the service of the communities for the benefit of the communities. It provides resource-based industry, policy makers, and students with an alternative way of engaging indigenous communities and transforming our perspective on conservation of ecological and cultural diversity

Biology · Diversity (politics) · Geography · Indigenous · Sociology · Anthropology · Ecology · Environmental and Cultural Studies in Latin America and Beyond

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Open DOILibgenOpen Access