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"Culture in northern Canadian dioceses threatened by melting ice cap By Sara Loftson
8/24/2007

The Catholic Register

TORONTO, Canada (The Catholic Register) ` An
ice-fisher from Sachs Harbour, Northwest
Territories, and a sugar-cane farmer from the
Fiji Islands have more in common than some may think.

Tropical islands in the south Pacific and the
polar regions are two areas that stand to face
the most immediate and dramatic effects of global
warming, said David Hik, a biology professor at
the University of Alberta in western Canada.

Island countries are particularly vulnerable to
rising sea levels, while melting ice poses its
own set of challenges to the Arctic, said Hik,
director of the Canadian chapter for the
International Polar Year, a two-year project
allowing researchers from 63 countries to
collaborate and gain insight into the Arctic and Antarctic.

](Global warming) is not isolated by geography,
the whole world is connected through the
hydrological system,^ said Hik. ]Changes in the
polar region of the Arctic have effects in other parts of the world.^
A consequence of global warming is that Arctic
sea ice cover is shrinking at the rate of 8.6
percent per decade. If this rate continues the
Arctic Ocean will be ice-free in summer by 2060
according to the United Nations Environment Program.

When sea ice in Hudson Bay melts two weeks
earlier it forces hungry polar bears to come
ashore. Lorraine Brandson, a 24-year veteran with
the Churchill-Hudson Bay Diocese, has witnessed
polar bears coming into town looking for food.

]We have had an increasing number of bears being
handled,^ said Brandson, curator for Churchill\s
Eskimo Museum, established by the Missionary
Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1944.

]The Department of Conservation has a polar bear
alert (675-BEAR) with people available 24 hours
to scare bears out of the zone around the town.
Sometimes they have to put them in a [jail\ or further north.^
When the Inuit, who make up 85 percent of the
diocese\s population, see more bears come into
their communities they believe the bear
population has increased and want their hunting
quota raised; meanwhile, scientists think it\s
because the bears are nutritionally stressed due
to a two week shorter hunting season on the
melting sea ice, said Brandson, who also works as
the administrative assistant to Churchill-Hudson Bay Bishop Reynald Rouleau.
]There you see a conflict between scientific
knowledge and local knowledge. We may be seeing
more of this ... if people perceive things
differently,^ said Brandson. ]There\s always been
a real recognition of our diocese that research
and understanding of the Arctic is important.^

The diocese sits on the board for the Churchill
Northern Studies Centre, a research center for
Arctic studies co-founded by former
Churchill-Hudson Bay Bishop Omer Robidoux. The
center encourages aboriginal people to take
courses so there is some understanding between science and local knowledge.
Changing weather patterns not only affects polar
bears\ lifestyle, it also affects the local
people. For the Inuit, ]their hunting culture is
dependent on sea ice. What\s being documented in
the past is as that sea melts, their ability to
travel on the land is more difficult, unpredictable,^ said Hik.
While Mackenzie-Fort Smith Bishop Denis Croteau
said he has noticed changes in weather such as
shorter cold spells and delayed winters, he
doesn\t think climate change affects the local people that much.
]I don\t think (climate change) has been so
marked in the church here yet, because most of
our native people are not living the old
lifestyle of hunting, trapping and fur trading,^
said Croteau, who\s spent 43 years living in the
north. ]They\ve adapted to the modern way of life
and they have 9-5 jobs and very few will be on
the land ` and it\s more of a holiday. ... From
the church point of view it isn\t an issue.^

Brandson disagrees. ]Climate change has to be
something that\s considered. It will impact
people who\ve already seen a lot of modernization in their life.^
Even if these people can buy supplies from the
store hunting is important from a nutritional and
cultural point of view, she added.

]Every major event or activity is a community
feast that is all based on country food. It\s a
binding element. It tells them who they are.^

Another consequence of warmer temperatures is
melting permafrost, a permanently frozen layer of
soil. It is ]creating havoc for roads, bridges,
pipelines and most importantly for the 4 million
residents of the Arctic, 110,000 (of whom live) in Canada,^ said Hik.
]Things start to twist and sag and sink,^ said
Whitehorse Bishop Gary Gordon. ]If it starts
thawing out we will have problems; the foundation
starts to get wonky and the building starts
shifting around when the permafrost melts.

]The north likes to blame the south for all of
its problems. It\s sort of like if all those
people down south would stop making all this
pollution things would be better up north,^ said Bishop Gordon.
]I think the witness of Jesus and the gospel
simplifying our lifestyle is both for northern
people and for southern people and the church is
able to help people and witness to people that we
maybe need to downsize. If we lessen our
consumption in the West in order to assist the
consumption in the poorer nations it would create balance,^ he said.
]It really comes down to a deep profound respect
for the human person,^ said Bishop Gordon.

Hik said once the results of the International
Polar Year are revealed faith organizations could
play an important role in communicating them to
the communities in which they serve.

]What I fear is these changes could be so rapid,
the upheaval could be very disruptive for these
communities, but that requires being prepared,
having good information and sufficient time to
plan,^ Hik said, explaining the better integrated
faith communities are into the social, cultural
and spiritual life of the local communities, the
better they will be able to help.

]A strong community that can make good decisions
on how to prepare for change and adapt to change
will be able to maintain its culture,^ he added.

Brandson said people who contemplate working in
northern dioceses need to make a serious time
commitment and not just see it as work experience.

]The local people do know the difference between
someone who is coming up for a job and leaving
and someone who wants to be with them and loves them,^ she said.
]We have to promote that some new people would
want to take a vocation in the north and support
the local lay leaders who are quite admirable,^ Brandson said. "
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