Inuit and Scientific Studies of the Narwhal: Connecting Parallel Perceptions

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT #0613671 Inuit and Scientific Descriptions of the Narwhal: Connecting Parallel Perceptions. Inter-disciplinary Studies of the Narwhal with a Focus on Tusk Function Martin T. Nweeia, DMD., DDS., Principal Investigator Clinical Instructor, Harvard School of Dental Medicine Research Associate, Marine Mammal Program, Smithsonian Institution Narwhal Tusk Research Qaujisanniq qilalugaup tugangninnik www.narwhal.org This award provides the project with resources to explore the possibility of combining science with the Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Inuit elders in Canada and Greenland in order to provide insight into the structure and function of the narwhal tusk. This particular project has additional urgency because a large number of the most knowledgeable elders are, as a result of advanced age, becoming increasing fragile. The Narwhal Tusk Research is a multinational collaboration with an interdisciplinary approach that crosses the borders of biologic, chemical, physical, and social science to discover the purpose and function of the erupted tusk of the narwhal. Thus far, 27 Institutions worldwide and over 48 scientists will combine their insights and backgrounds with 32 Inuit elders from the Eastern Canadian High Arctic and Western Greenland to assemble the pieces of this marine mammal puzzle that has eluded discovery for hundreds of years. Investigators with myriad backgrounds in cellular biology, histology, anatomy, marine mammal science, dental medicine, evolutionary genetics and mathematics are currently analyzing narwhal teeth and their associated structures. Inuit elders with extensive experience as hunters and guides are continuing to provide Traditional Knowledge that describes behavioral and social characteristics of the narwhal. As part of this project, elders from four communities in Canada and Greenland will be interviewed in digital audio and video formats to record their insights, perceptions, and observations based on hundreds of years of collective experience. Each of these parallel perceptions has shared points that contribute to, guide, and challenge past studies and direct current findings about the tusk.