Documenting the Cultural Geography, Biogeography, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of King Island, Alaska

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

The proposed research by PI Deanna Kingston, Oregon State University, is an in-depth interdisciplinary project on Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with the community of King Island. The proposed research will document TEK of King Island Inupiat (Eskimo) including research on the cultural geography and biogeography of King Island. This project not only fits into a growing literature on TEK, but also examines social science theory on place names, memory, cultural meaning, and geography. In addition, the researcher proposes to train young King Island community members, who are by definition from an underrepresented minority group, in social and biological scientific methods of data collection and analysis. In this way the PI hopes to stimulate the interest of young Inupiat in scientific careers.