DOI: 10.18739/a2qz22h8h
title: Using Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, traditional knowledge, to guide the development of hypotheses on narwhal tusk function, Canadian Arctic and Greenland, 2007-2010

description: Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ), or traditional knowledge, integrated with interdisciplinary studies of science, enables a more comprehensive understanding of the narwhal and the sensory capabilities of its extraordinary teeth. Translation and dissemination of 55 Inuit interviews, a field expedition to collect additional interviews and test variables of tusk sensitivity, the creation of anatomic plates utilizing Inuit observation, and broad based initiatives in social and natural sciences, are proposed in this study to help understand one of science's most intriguing organ systems. Preliminary findings from Inuit interview recordings, and scientific laboratory and field studies, describe the narwhal tusk as a sophisticated sensor that can discern changing salinity concentrations, and potentially other variables of pressure, temperature, and osmotic gradients. Because of the sensitivity to salinity concentrations in sea water, the erupted male tusk may have the ability to read and navigate ice formation in arctic waters. The whale's migration and behavior patterns may thus be potential indicators of arctic climate and environmental change. The broader impact for this study extends to three major groups of people that include Inuit communities in Nunavut and northwestern Greenland, students and faculty in university-based programs of social and natural sciences, and collaborating scientists. As one of eight IPY endorsed projects that addresses social and natural science, this study will engage the Inuit people on multiple levels by 1) employing an Inuit student researcher, 2) continuing interviews of elders and hunters in communities associated with the narwhal, 3) requesting experienced hunters to oversee anatomic plate renditions of narwhal phenotypes, 4) utilizing Inuit experience as guides on expedition, 5) enlisting Inuit artists for visualization of IQ observations and 6) organizing a discussion-based workshop on IQ uses in science attended by elders and scientists from America. In the broader context of IPY, this study will leave a legacy of a nexus of scientists, young investigators, and indigenous peoples interested in understanding how this unusual animal fits into the puzzle of its arctic environment, and a template for future investigations that bridge Inuit experiences and Western scientific thought. Telling the story, is a tapestry woven with Inuit hands, as the essential fibers of experience and observation of narwhal anatomy, migration, population, distribution and behavior create patterns within the interviews recorded. Insights, perceptions, and observations from Inuit elders and hunters have assisted, influenced, and led to several scientific findings. Their knowledge has already inspired a dialogue that extends from graduate student evolutionary biology programs, to grade school classrooms as a future generation contemplates the wonder of this tusk, and the Inuit people who know it so intimately. Educational outreach for this work is tied to the broader impact as translations from Inuktitut and Greenlandic dialects will be organized in book format, Web based MP3 and MP4 sound files, archival digital sound wave files, and professional broadcast digital video. These recordings will be disseminated to recognized institutions and individuals based on ethical standards established. Who will listen? Thus far, over 200 large media sources around the world have delivered the message in video, print, radio and Web-based programs that have excited millions of inquisitive minds. As in studies of dental anthropology, where important findings of social science, like diet, migration, distribution, habits and behavior, can be described, this work also offers important contributions for this species. This tooth is attached to a fascinating marine mammal that is linked to its arctic environment, and is intimately attached to the Inuit people who share a reverent regard for its place in their shared world.