Martha Dowsley - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Martha Dowsley

"This paper examines the role of three regional governments in the management of polar bears... more "This paper examines the role of three regional governments in the management of polar bears. In Nunavut, Canada a quota system has been used to control harvest, but the increasing de facto role of harvesters, who do not unanimously subscribe to conservation concerns, threatens the management structure. In Nunavik, Canada, no controls of polar bear harvest levels were instituted by higher levels of government and nor have grassroots organization developed such controls. In Greenland, Denmark, the conservation and economic need for quotas to be implemented by regional government has been recognized and quotas were introduced in January 2006. These three case studies show that regional governments must accept three roles for the sustainable use of polar bears. The first two are coordinating and the third is fostering. The coordinating roles are to provide a biologically appropriate level of management and to provide legal harvest control incentives to all resource users in order ...

Research in Canada's Arctic reveals that Inuit conceptualize both hunters and polar bears as... more Research in Canada's Arctic reveals that Inuit conceptualize both hunters and polar bears as active participants of the hunt and as part of a larger socio-economic system requiring the involvement of both humans and animals. The Inuit viewpoint creates serious conflicts with Western wildlife management systems that utilize a more traditional common property approach. This finding calls into question assumptions in common pool resource theories that treat natural resources as inherently passive and fully available for human appropriation. In fact, when polar bears are understood as active participants in the hunt, the rights of use, exclusion and transfer typically associated with property ownership in Western thought require significant revision. In this paper we present an argument for the incorporation of natural resources as worthy of consideration in common pool resource decisions and identify how a tenure system of active relationships operates in Arctic Canada. We offer t...

Arctic Anthropology, 2010

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a common pool resource that contributes to both the subsisten... more The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a common pool resource that contributes to both the subsistence and monetary aspects of the Nunavut mixed economy through its use as food, the sale of hides in the fur trade, and sport hunt outfitting. Sport hunting is more financially profitable than subsistence hunting; however, the proportion of the polar bear quota devoted to the sport hunt has become relatively stable at approximately 20% across Nunavut. This ratio suggests local Inuit organizations are not using a neoclassical economic model based on profit maximization. This paper examines local-level hunting organizations and their institutions (as sets of rules) governing the sport and Inuit subsistence hunts from both formalist and substantivist economic perspectives. It concludes that profit maximization is used within the sport hunting sphere, which fits a neoclassical model of economic rationality. A second and parallel system, better viewed through the substantivist perspective, demonstrates that the communities focus on longer-term goals to maintain and reproduce the socio-economic system of the subsistence economy, which is predicated on maintaining social, human-environment, and human-polar bear relations.

ARCTIC

Unlike all other members of the deer family, subpopulations of barren-ground caribou (Rangifer ta... more Unlike all other members of the deer family, subpopulations of barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) are typically sine-cyclic. We used Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) to rank competing population dynamics models for 11 North American barren-ground caribou subpopulations. Nine of these subpopulations were best described as sine-cyclic with periods ranging from a minimum of 26 years (Bluenose-East and Porcupine) to a maximum of 55 years (Western Arctic); and amplitudes ranging from a minimum of 8 455 (Cape Bathurst) to a maximum of 327 432 (George River). Time series estimates of subpopulation abundance generated by the sine cycle models showed good correspondence to published subpopulation estimates of abundance for all nine sine-cyclic subpopulations (r = 0.978; p < 0.001). Lack of demographic closure (migration between subpopulations) was evident in both of the subpopulations that were not identified as sine-cyclic. Barren-ground caribou subpopulation ampl...

We used the Qamanirjuaq, Bathurst, and George River barren-ground caribou sine cycles to project ... more We used the Qamanirjuaq, Bathurst, and George River barren-ground caribou sine cycles to project numbers (Nt), calculate subpopulation annual growth rates (λt) and calculate logistic carrying capacity (Kt). Maximum annual growth rate was 1.196 and maximum annual rate of decline was 0.836 for the harvested Qamanirjuaq subpopulation sine cycle. However, the maximum annual subpopulation growth rates for both the harvested Bathurst and George River subpopulation sine cycles were greater than the biologically possible maximum intrinsic rate of increase during the eruption phase. Subpopulation numbers for Qamanirjuaq, Bathurst and George River barren-ground caribou subpopulations all closely tracked carrying capacity for one complete cycle with lag times between Nt and Kt ranging from < 1-year to approximately 5-years. The short lag times observed indicates that Qamanirjuaq, Bathurst and George River barren-ground caribou subpopulations closely track their range condition. Range condit...

Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic, 2018

Interfaces Brasil/Canadá, 2018

We discuss our personal experiences while developing a community-based participatory research pro... more We discuss our personal experiences while developing a community-based participatory research project (CBPR) with Lac Seul First Nation for the purposes of recording some of their land use history and for the training of youth from the First Nation and students from our university in Archaeology, Social-Cultural Anthropology and Geography. Drawing on Geography and Anthropology literature we illustrate how both disciplines influenced our work and understandings of our professional and personal journeys. We discovered primarily that the traditional academic research phases of project design and data collection did not adequately describe the birth of the project and the subsequent information exchange. Instead, we found that the phases of research that were important were: Relationship building, Project design, Learning, Immersion/Data Collection and Activism/Shifting Perspectives.

In this chapter, we introduce the concept of ‘placemaking’ to the Canadian Arctic context, a term... more In this chapter, we introduce the concept of ‘placemaking’ to the Canadian Arctic context, a term frequently used in urban planning and architectural settings to describe and characterise how spaces are formed by organic and systematic activities, particularly in contemporary times.

Women and Birth, 2020

Problem and Background: Although the number of Muslim women in Canada and northwestern Ontario (N... more Problem and Background: Although the number of Muslim women in Canada and northwestern Ontario (NWO) is increasing, few studies have focused on their experiences of perinatal health care. Extant research has highlighted discrimination and care that lacks respect for cultural and religious norms. These factors may limit access to health services and increase unfavorable maternal and child health outcomes. Aim: To explore the perinatal health care experiences of Muslim women in NWO. Methods: A qualitative, descriptive study used purposive and snowball sampling to recruit a sample of 19 Muslim mothers. Ssemistructured interviews were conducted, audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically. Findings: The mothers' experiences were categorized into four themes: women's choices and preferences of health care providers (HCPs); attitudes toward prenatal classes and education; husbands' involvement and support in the birthing process; and challenges to optimal care. Discussion and Conclusion: The findings show that NWO Muslim women's experiences were generally positive and their care choices and preferences were shaped by their religious beliefs and cultural practices. Factors that enhanced their experiences were HCPs' awareness of and respect for the women's religious and cultural beliefs and practices. However, the women lacked personal knowledge of a range of care options and services. Respecting Muslim women's religious and cultural beliefs and practices will enhance their experience of care. Equity in access to quality services, care, and outcomes can be further enhanced if Muslim women are informed about the range of care options and services as early in their pregnancies as possible.

The Canadian Field-Naturalist, 2004

At Presqu’ile Point, Presqu’ile Provincial Park, Ontario on 23 March 2003, while interpreting the... more At Presqu’ile Point, Presqu’ile Provincial Park, Ontario on 23 March 2003, while interpreting the waterfowl migration for park visitors, we witnessed two adult Great Black-backed Gulls attack and kill a male Long-tailed Duck.

Polar Geography, 2017

Emigration of indigenous women from small, isolated communities in Alaska and Greenland is seen a... more Emigration of indigenous women from small, isolated communities in Alaska and Greenland is seen as a pattern of female flight that results from modernization. As women see more options for a satisfying life, many are leaving remote northern communities. Female flight can result in social, cultural and economic problems for small communities and decrease the sustainability of such locales. We conducted an initial review of census data and found little evidence of female flight across the Canadian Territorial North, in Nunavut specifically, nor in any Nunavut communities. Two study communities in Nunavut, Clyde River and Qikiqtarjuaq were surveyed in an attempt to better understand the factors that affect movement decisions of Canadian Inuit women. Two explanations for the apparent lack of female flight were examined. First, that Nunavut is in an early phase of the demographic transition and thus could expect high migration as it modernizes. The second is that Nunavut communities are modernizing in such a way that young women are choosing to remain at home, and thus the territory is experiencing a unique path to modernity that does not fit the demographic transition model. The evidence more strongly supports the second explanation, although further research is recommended.

Ecology and evolution, Jan 23, 2016

Subpopulation growth rates and the probability of decline at current harvest levels were determin... more Subpopulation growth rates and the probability of decline at current harvest levels were determined for 13 subpopulations of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) that are within or shared with Canada based on mark-recapture estimates of population numbers and vital rates, and harvest statistics using population viability analyses (PVA). Aboriginal traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) on subpopulation trend agreed with the seven stable/increasing results and one of the declining results, but disagreed with PVA status of five other declining subpopulations. The decline in the Baffin Bay subpopulation appeared to be due to over-reporting of harvested numbers from outside Canada. The remaining four disputed subpopulations (Southern Beaufort Sea, Northern Beaufort Sea, Southern Hudson Bay, and Western Hudson Bay) were all incompletely mark-recapture (M-R) sampled, which may have biased their survival and subpopulation estimates. Three of the four incompletely sampled subpopulations were PVA i...

International Journal of the Commons, 2007

The academic literature contains numerous examples of the failures of both top-down and bottom-up... more The academic literature contains numerous examples of the failures of both top-down and bottom-up common pool resource management frameworks. Many authors agree that management regimes instead need to utilize a multi-level governance approach to meet diverse objectives in management. However, many current operating systems do not have that history. This paper explores the conversion of ancestral top-down regimes to complex systems involving multiple scales, levels and objectives through the management of the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) in its five range countries. The less successful polar bear management systems continue to struggle with the challenges of developing institutions with the capacity to learn and change, addressing multiple objectives while recognizing the conservation backbone to management, and matching the institutional scale with biophysical, economic and social/cultural scales. The comparatively successful institutions incorporate these features, but reveal ongoing problems with vertical links that are partially dealt with through the creation of horizontal links to other groups. This case study suggests that it is possible to convert top-down institutions into multi-level governance structures, but that particular attention must be paid to the lower levels of the institutional scale. These lower, often less formal, levels also need different types of support than higher, more bureaucratic levels.

Society & Natural Resources, 2013

ABSTRACT Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) were listed as a threatened species in Ontario in 2009 as ... more ABSTRACT Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) were listed as a threatened species in Ontario in 2009 as a precautionary measure based on the expectation that their sea ice habitat will decline. The authors studied the Swampy Cree community at Fort Severn, which traditionally harvests this species, to assess community adaptive and governance capacities and designed and discussed four future scenarios regarding potential uses and management strategies for polar bears. The goal of the scenario planning exercise was to broaden community discussions of how to interact with the government regarding polar bear management. Community actions subsequent to the exercise were more proactive, indicating that the exercise successfully encouraged new thinking. We conclude that (1) scenarios create space for the discussion of options that were previously discounted, and (2) scenario planning is a useful tool for the empowerment of communities for the development of adaptive governance.

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ARCTIC, 2009

Since the 1990s, Inuit traditional knowledge (Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit) has taken on a substantial... more Since the 1990s, Inuit traditional knowledge (Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit) has taken on a substantial role in polar bear management in the Canadian territory of Nunavut through its direct use in quota-setting procedures. A co-management conflict has arisen from an increase of hunting quotas in January 2005 for Inuit living in the Baffin Bay and Western Hudson Bay polar bear population areas. The quotas were based on Inuit observations and their conclusion that these polar bear populations had increased. Scientific information suggests that climate change has concentrated polar bears in areas where humans are more likely to encounter them, but that the populations are in decline as a result of overhunting and climate-change effects on demographic rates. During consultations with wildlife managers and through other interviews in 2005, Inuit indicated their lack of support for quota reductions. Discussions with Inuit reveal two categories of problems that, though couched in the polar bear management issue, involve the co-management system and the integration of Inuit and scientific knowledge more generally. The first relates to direct observations of the environment by both Inuit and scientists and the synthesis of such information. The second relates to Inuit conceptualizations of human-animal relationships and the incorporation of scientific studies and management into that relationship. These problems reveal that differences between Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and scientific knowledge are not fully understood and accounted for within the co-management system and that the system does not effectively integrate Inuit cultural views into management.