Paper short abstract:

This paper will examine indigenous observations of climate change and the relationships between changes in the environment and changes that are also being observed in the community and in the youth and the people.

Paper long abstract:

In Alaska, rapid changes in climate and weather are leading to increased uncertainty and distress among the regions' indigenous inhabitants. Along the Bering Sea Coast, Yup'ik Alaska Native people are experiencing rapid and extreme changes to their landscape as well as to their water and weather systems. Changes in the climate and environment have introduced new and often troubling environmental conditions for indigenous residents accustomed to navigating their world using ancestral knowledge and practice. The changing environmental conditions have also brought new plant and animal life into the Yup'ik region and attenuated decreases in other traditional sources of food and harvest. Food and weather have been a primary human concern in the Arctic for centuries, and remain central to a Yup'ik way of being in the world. Previous studies acknowledge the critical role that the environment plays in the achievement and maintenance of physical health for the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. Equally important in a contemporary indigenous Arctic context, is the role of the environment for an individual's for an individual's spiritual and emotional health and holistic wellbeing. This paper will examine indigenous observations of climate change and the relationships between changes in the environment and changes that are also being observed in the community and in the youth and people. We will conclude by identifying strategies for positive adaptation and resilience to rapid socio-environmental change that communities are engaging today.