{"id":846,"date":"2016-06-10T15:48:22","date_gmt":"2016-06-10T06:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/?p=846"},"modified":"2018-03-28T13:52:58","modified_gmt":"2018-03-28T04:52:58","slug":"lecture-on-inupiat-of-arctic-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/en\/lecture-on-inupiat-of-arctic-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"Lecture on Inupiat of Arctic Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Chie Sakakibara, Assistant Professor from Oberlin College of Arts &#038; Sciences, is going to present a lecture on Inupiat, indigenous people in Alaska. See the followings for the detailed information. This event is open to the public.<\/p>\n<p>Title:<br \/>\nSinging for the Whales: Environmental Change and Cultural Resilience among the Inupiat of Arctic Alaska<\/p>\n<p>Lecturer:<br \/>\nChie Sakakibara \u2013 Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, Oberlin College of Arts &#038; Sciences<\/p>\n<p>Date\uff1aJune 21, from 6 pm<br \/>\nVenue: Center for Ainu &#038; Indigenous Studies, Hokkaido University<\/p>\n<p>Abstract<\/p>\n<p>Chie Sakakibara, Ph.D.<\/p>\n<p>Research on the human dimensions of global climate change needs to examine the way vulnerable populations confront uncertainty through cultural practices. This is a vital point for indigenous peoples around the world but particularly for those in the Arctic region where the effects of climate change are most dramatic. The I\u00f1upiat of Arctic Alaska are especially susceptible to environmental change because they rely on sea ice to hunt the bowhead whale. Many I\u00f1upiat identify themselves as the \u201cPeople of the Whales,\u201d and the body of the bowhead has sustained their physiology at the same time it has nurtured cultural meaning and lifeways. The bowhead remains central to I\u00f1upiaq life and culture through the hunting process, the communal distribution of meat and other body parts, associated ceremonials, and other events that sustain well-being; what I call the I\u00f1upiaq whaling cycle. Currently, climate change increases environmental uncertainties that both threaten and intensify human emotions tied to whales by influencing the bowhead harvest and the security of the I\u00f1upiaq homeland. This emotional intensity is revealed in the prevalence of traditional and newly invented whale-related events and performances, the number of people involved and the frequency of their activities, and the commitment with which they participate. In this presentation, I illustrate how collective uncertainty about future environmental conditions is expressed and managed in I\u00f1upiaq practices, and by extension, how deeply climate change penetrates the cultural core of I\u00f1upiat society. In so doing, I will demonstrate how I\u00f1upiat reinforce their cultural relationship with the bowhead whale to better cope with an unpredictable environment and future. This research suggests that vulnerable populations confront environmental uncertainty by reaffirming their cultural identities and traditions.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-847\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/ja\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/towing-a-whale-April-2005-700x525.jpg\" alt=\"towing a whale April 2005\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-848\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/ja\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sakakibara-photo.jpg\" alt=\"Sakakibara photo\" \/><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr. Chie Sakakibara, Assistant Professor from Oberlin College of Arts &#038; Sciences, is going to present a l [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nocategory"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}