Climate Change Cruikshank Summary

Julie Cruikshank is a professor at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Anthropology. In her department description she is said to focus her studies on “theoretical trends linked to oral tradition studies” (Columbia, 2017). I could not think of a better topic to write about when it comes to environmental anthropology like climate change. I have noticed that the public perception of climate change in relation to Glacier movement is based on the notion that climate change is a “new” concept. However, Cruikshank displays clear evidence that the idea of climate change has been around far before empirical evidence could create tools to identify the changes that lead to climate change. If climate change is the process of industrialization influencing trends in the environment, then stories of Athapaskan and Tlingit elders are clear definitions of climate change. Even though Julie references climate change

Julie does mentions that stories are also every changing and evolving along with the ecology, however she doesn’t mention any stories in the current Northern community that have been impacted by climate change. It’s important for the reader to understand that the foundation knowledge of Indigenous people is being comprised as their environment changes due to industrialized practices. The book references many stories about how the Glaciers are conscious live beings that are influenced by human behaviour. One of my favourite things about Indigenous Traditional Knowledge is how indigenous people see the world in a symbiotic, holistic, circular, interconnected and collectivist way. The book is a direct reflection of the former. For example, the story of how Glaciers don’t like it when you cook with grease, and if you do they get upset (Cruikshank, 2005). This example shows how the Glaciers are considered part of the community, and are thought to have feelings and