A researcher with the University of Saskatchewan is planning a year-long study on how climate change and industrial development is affecting northern trappers.
Pricilla Settee’s research will examine prospecting, mineral exploration, forestry, thinning ice.
“They’re [trappers] talking about first of all the impact of western development on their northern livelihoods. And then they said they have been noticing more and more things that they’ve never seen before like thinning ice or unsafe ice,” said Settee.
She explained that she applied for a David Suzuki Fellowship, after she attended a trappers meeting in April, feeling that the trappers were not being listened to.
“It was apparent that they felt really desperate that nobody was listening to them and that they were seeking allies,” Settee said.
Settee plans to interview trappers, by going to northern community’s to hear directly from their experiences.
She stated that the trappers also wanted the traditional way of live documented and preserved to be taught to youth, suggesting there was concern this knowledge was lacking.