Collaborative Research: Linking Maps, Manuscripts, and Place Names Data to Improve Environmental Knowledge in Alaska

该奖项支持一个项目，该项目将汇编一个地理数据库，将阿拉斯加历史地图、手稿以及口述历史和印刷材料中的地名数据联系起来。该项目建立在北极地方观测和知识交流(ELOKA)项目现有的、经过验证的基础设施的基础上，以创建一个可持续的平台，供现有和未来的研究人员和社区成员使用。一种协作方法将在阿拉斯加土著语言和地理(Gary Holton)以及传统知识的基于网络的地图和可视化应用程序方面具有专长的研究人员聚集在一起(Peter Pulsifer)。将地名与地图和手稿联系起来，可以使地名研究有更大的时间深度，因为阿拉斯加土著语言的档案记录可以追溯到大约三个世纪前。这里采用的综合方法不是将地名视为一系列孤立的点，而是揭示了命名地点的配置与景观的社会生态维度之间的联系，从而提供了对环境变化背景下的生物和文化多样性、适应和复原力以及文化价值和生态系统服务的洞察。特别是，该项目为地方一级的生物文化多样性研究提供了基础，避免了主观界定的种族和语言界限。通过比较当前和传统的资源使用情况，可以了解生态系统服务，有助于为政策和管理决策提供信息。该项目开发的开放和可扩展的平台将为研究人员和社区成员提供使用基础。提供的基于网络的平台和相关的移动应用程序可以很容易地被K-12学生浏览，从而产生将地理和环境学习直接融入课堂的机会。同时，项目框架具有全面的地理信息系统功能，允许用户使用自己选择的分析工具访问地理语言数据集。这两个合作机构的长期机构承诺使该项目成长为阿拉斯加土著地名数据的标准储存库。

This award supports a project that will compile a geographic database linking place name data found on historic Alaskan maps, manuscripts, and within oral histories and printed materials. The project builds on the existing, proven infrastructure of the Exchange for Local Observations of and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA) project to create a sustainable platform accessible to both current and future researchers and community members. A collaborative approach brings together researchers with expertise in Alaska Native languages and geography (Gary Holton) and in web-based mapping and visualization applications for traditional knowledge (Peter Pulsifer). Linking place names with maps and manuscripts allows for a greater time depth in place name research, since the archival record for Alaska Native languages stretches back some three centuries. Rather than viewing place names as lists of disassociated points, the integrative approach adopted here reveals connections between configurations of named places and socio-ecological dimensions of landscape, thus providing insights into biological and cultural diversity, adaptation and resilience, and cultural values and ecosystem services within the context of environmental change. In particular, this project provides a foundation for biocultural diversity research at the local level, avoiding subjectively-defined ethnic and linguistic boundaries. By comparing current and traditional resource use, ecosystem services can be understood, helping to inform policy and management decisions.The open and extensible platform developed by this project will provide a foundation for use by both researchers and community members. The web-based platform and associated mobile apps provided can be easily navigated by K-12 students, yielding opportunities to incorporate geographic and environmental learning directly into the classroom. At the same time, the project framework has full GIS capabilities, allowing users to access geolinguistic datasets with analytical tools of their own choosing. The long-term institutional commitments by the two collaborating institutions positions this project to grow into the standard repository for Indigenous place name data in Alaska.