Does climate change really exist? If it doesn’t, what are the explanations for many of the phenomena occurring throughout Alaska?
From June 13-17, 23 people throughout Alaska convened at Howard Luke’s camp on the banks of the Tanana River to discuss and learn about climate change research. The camp was sponsored by the Association of Interior Native Educators and the International Arctic Research Center under Polar Learning and Responding Climate Change Education Partnership through Columbia University and funded by the National Science Foundation.
On the first day of camp, each of the participants discussed observations made in their locations. These are some of the facts they shared:
Trimble Gilbert, 80, is a Native Elder and second chief of the Interior Athabascans. He has lived in Arctic Village all of his life. His observations were:
• The area around Arctic Village is losing permafrost.
• The glaciers in the mountains are melting at a faster rate.
• The snow fall is a lot less.
• There seem to be a lot less birds in the spring.
• The overall water level is going down.
• There have been a lot more polar bear in the area.
Trimble reminded us we all need to be prepared to face change, we all need a big wood pile and we need to train our children and grandchildren to face hard times.
Wilson Justin, a Native Elder from Nabesna, has lived in the interior all of his life. His observations were:
• The mountains used to have snow at the top all summer, but now it all melts.
• The trees used to have a dark side and a light side, but now there are no dark sides on the trees.
• Frogs that quieted after an extended drought in 1983-84 have returned to the area.
Wilson also shared a bit about a legend passed along for many generations: Elders talked about a time in the future when there would be two suns, and Wilson said he finally understands the legend. We don’t have two suns, but the climate is changing at twice the rate so it appears that we now have two suns.
Doreen is an Elder from Barrow. Her observations were:
• Changes have occurred in lagoons, which have three parts (the salty part next to the ocean, a less salty part, then the fresh water). Recently, bigger storms have pushed the salty water to the fresh water part of the lagoon.
• More people are falling through the ice because it doesn’t freeze as solid as it did before.
• During spring whaling, it is harder and harder to find solid ice to pull the whale onto.
Sam Demientieff from Holy Cross and Fairbanks said that he had once talked to Howard Luke, a well-known Athabascan Elder about global change. He said it made Howard really mad when anyone said “global changes,” he would reply “don’t blame the globe – it’s the people who have caused the changes!”
Fawn from Fairbanks said school was never cancelled because of rain in the winter, but now it’s common.
Dianna from Fairbanks said she has seen a lot more bats.
Colleen from the interior region Nulato, said there used to be more day of 50 or 60 degrees below zero. Now it’s a lot warmer.
Andrew from Mountain Village in western Alaska, commented that the ice breaks up a lot earlier now. The river current is a lot stronger and there seem to be less mosquitoes.
Angie from Mountain Village in western Alaska, said there seem to be a lot more snow, things happen earlier in the spring and fish seem to have a lot more parasites.
Norvin who grew up around Huslia in the interior of Alaska, said:
• There are a lot fewer bank swallows along the river.
• There area a lot more grizzle bears.
• There is no longer 50 to 70 below zero weather in the winters.
• There is less snow.
• There are more forest fires, bark beetles, coyotes and magpies.
Beverly from Barrow said:
• The shore fast ice is now very thin.
• Spring whaling starts much earlier now, usually in the first week in April. It used to be at the end of April or first part of May.
• The walrus and seals have no ice to rest on.
• Polar bears are not getting enough to eat.
• There are more blizzards and rain in the winters.
Gladys from Hooper Bay in western Alaska said:
• There is a lot less snow in the winter and a lot more rain.
• The ocean is not freezing in the winter.
• The barge now comes in May and it used to come in June.
• The bluffs have been eroded away.
• The lakes have dried up.
• There is lots of erosion along the shoreline.
Peter from Sitka in southeast Alaska said:
• The plants and berries are appearing a lot earlier.
• It is a lot more windy.
• The herring now come in a couple of weeks earlier.
• The whales are staying around longer.
Allison from Seward said the glaciers are disappearing and the salmon are dying as the streams get warmer.
Carol Lee from Fairbanks and Lake Minchumina has noticed a lot of changes in birds in the interior since she was a child 60 years ago. Birds that are more recent residents are magpies, bluebirds and nuthatches. The bald eagle and swan populations have really increased. Gardens used to always be planted around the first of June and harvested around Labor Day and now we are planting them in early May and harvesting them as late as the first week in October.
Frank from Beaver said that along the Yukon they have more wind and more storms.
These are the words of individuals who live climate change; it is their life. They are learning how to adapt to it because the lives of those in their villages over the past 100 years have been in a state of constant change. In some places, contact with the Western society only happened a little over 100 years ago. These are people of Alaska who have lived in their communities for 20 to 80 years. Most live a subsistence lifestyle and are connected daily to the land and to their environment. To the participants of this camp, climate change is real.
• Carol Lee Gho is a retired high school math teacher and retired University of Alaska Fairbanks assistant professor of math. She currently works part-time as the curriculum specialist for the Association of Interior Native Educators (AINE). She is originally from Lake Minchumina, and her Inupiat roots are from the village of Wainwright.
