Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates the epistemological and ontological affects related to alternating patterns in movement (atmospheric and phenomenological) for Dene people, materials and animals as a result of climatic changes in the Canadian North.

Paper long abstract:

In the Canadian North, the effects of climatic changes have become increasingly dire and concrete. Gwich'in, Dene people who live in the northern northwest corner of Canada, have observed and experienced a large number of changes on their land and in the sky. Gwich'in Elders state that they find it more difficult to read the weather and water. The land, too, is thawing and changing with sink holes and localised flooding becoming more apparent. Not only do these alterations influence a variety of facets in Gwich'in lives (e.g. processes of knowledge and skills and the mobility of people and goods), they also affect animals. Movement is an integral part in northern lives with many animals and people accordingly migrating in correspondence with the seasons. Changes in the rivers, on the land and in the atmosphere, then, affects such movements both in the community and on the land. In this paper I want to address the notions and narratives of weather and climate change. I further illuminate the epistemological and ontological affects related to alternating patterns in movement (atmospheric and phenomenological) and immobility for Gwich'in, animals, and materials.