Inuit sharing ancient knowledge of ice, sea and land with new app

A social media app geared toward the outdoor lives ofInuit launched Wednesday with features that tie traditional knowledge to smartphone technology.

The Siku app and web platform, named after the Inuktitut word forsea ice, allows users to trade observations about dangerousconditions, document wildlife sightings and trade hunting stories.

It also integrates modern weather, sea ice and satellite imagery,while allowing travellers to add in the traditional terms for potentially perilous conditions using their own language.

The app was created by a team of developers assembled by theArctic Eider Society, a charity based in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, andlaunched at a conference in Halifax on Wednesday.

Joel Heath, the executive director of the society, says theproject was born from a desire by Inuit elders to document and share oral history with young people.

We're copying what our parents used to do, but in modern ways.- Lucassie Arragutainaq, hunters and trappers association

Lucassie Arragutainaq, manager of the Sanikiluaq Hunters andTrappers Association, says "we're copying what our parents used to do, but in modern ways."

Heath said during the launch at the ArcticNet conference thatInuit hunters are out on the ice or land most days gathering foodfor their communities, and they have unique needs that existing social media like Facebook and Twitter don't address.

Arragutainaq told an audience of several hundred that after tripsaround the ice of his community in Hudson Bay, hunters wouldconvey to others what they'd seen and where it was safe to travel onfoot or Ski-Doo.

He quoted Peter Kattuk, a hunter who died recently, saying,"It's time for the harpoon and the computer to work together," referring to how hunters will often test ice with harpoons.

Through the app, hunters can upload such information into Siku and tag other areas of interest, such as particular wildlife they'vetracked.

Dangerous conditions

Safety is among the key attractions of the program, said Heath.

During his presentation, he explained how one hunter testing Siku had placed a triangular warning sign on a map of an ice field nearSanikiluaq in the spring, providing a traditional Inuit term for its dangerous condition.

"It looks like a normal tidal crack ... But he knew the difference that if the wind comes across this kind of crack ... It can break it open," he said.

Hours later, the satellite map showed how the crack had widened enough that Ski-Doos on the wrong side of it wouldn't be able to return.

"It shows how [a hunter]taking a few photos and tagging can mobilize Indigenous knowledge," said Heath.

The app has four main types of posts: Social, Wildlife, Sea Ice and Tools.

There are 80 Arctic species listed under Wildlife, includingbirds, fish and land animals. Users can make posts that include observations of individuals, groups, tracks, nests and dens, as well as fields such as habitat, diet, body condition and other detailsabout rare or unusual events.

The Social button is where users can post about hunting trips and share photos, tagging them with location and other information.

Sea Ice provides users with the ability to report on conditions, while the Tool button provides options to capture data with scientific instruments, such as an ice core or water sample.

The project was the winner of the 2017 Google.org Impact Challenge in Canada, bringing $750,000 in funding.

Siku is available as an online platform at SIKU.org, while the mobile app runs on Android and iOS.