Making Science Accessible to Inuit, Inughuit, and Iñupiat Arctic Indigenous Communities in Their Own Languages

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This project supports Iñupiaq (Northern Alaska), Kalaallisut (Western Greenland) and Inuktitut (Eastern Canada) versions of the award winning book, "The Meaning of Ice: People and Sea Ice in Three Arctic Communities." "The Meaning of Ice," with contributions by over forty Inuit, Inughuit, and Iñupiat from three Arctic countries, offers personal detailed stories, original illustrations and artwork, photos, and maps in over 400 color pages that describe a great depth of knowledge of sea ice and the critical and complex role that sea ice plays in Arctic Native peoples relationships with their environment and with one another. This project will translate "The Meaning of Ice" into three new books, each being one of the three Indigenous languages of the contributors. The Indigenous language versions are critical for distributing the book in Alaska, Greenland, and Nunavut. Offering the book in Iñupiaq, Kalaallisut and Inuktitut is a transformative approach to research and publishing, as well as research outreach, making research more widely available to an Indigenous audience. The project demonstrates the value and importance of supporting, promoting, and preserving Indigenous languages and directly addresses Indigenous empowerment through research and publishing.This will be the first time a book of this scientific importance will be translated into four Arctic indigenous languages, as such it has the potential of transforming the way scientists and communities collaborate and how important scientific information is communicated back to communities. This project also ensures that heritage language speakers will have access to scientific and traditional knowledge critical to their daily lives in their own languages. Translating ?The Meaning of Ice,? into three Arctic indigenous languages will make the research and writings of Inuit, Inughuit, and Iñupiat more accessible to their own communities in Alaska, Greenland, and Nunavut. The translation supports the growing need and interest of supporting and preserving Arctic Indigenous languages and also engages Arctic residents throughout the research process, including publishing, as a way to encourage participation and further leadership in research activities.