ELOKA Advisory Committee Meetings
ELOKA Advisory Committee (EAC)
The purpose of the ELOKA Advisory Committee is to help guide and advise on ELOKA activities. The Advisory Committee will have six members, made up of experts and leaders working with Arctic communities and in the fields of community-based research, data management technologies, and LTK. The committee will meet in person once per year for three years (2013, 2014, and 2015). Annual meetings are anticipated to be two days long and will be held in a major center in either the U.S. or Canada. Between annual meetings, the advisory committee will be asked to communicate with the ELOKA team via email and file sharing programs. The meetings hope to accomplish the following:
- Provide general advice on ELOKA's current work providing data management services for LTK and CBM projects
- Provide insight into the latest directions in other LTK and CBM activities in and outside of the Arctic, allowing ELOKA to stay informed and potentially support broader issues and initiatives
- Advise on existing and developing technologies that can contribute to ELOKA data management services
EAC Meetings
22-24 September 2015
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
Since 2013, the ELOKA Advisory Committee has convened three times and within this time period the committee has provided a unique perspective in regards to stewarding and managing Indigenous knowledge. The final EAC meeting was held in Boulder, Colorado on the University of Colorado campus though this time it was decided to hold a workshop, which turned out to be an enormous success. Known as the Sharing Knowledge workshop, ELOKA invited partners and elder and youth participants from northern communities to Boulder for presentations and discussions with the aim to share experiences in using new technologies for sharing and transferring knowledge, in addition to including more Indigenous voices in Arctic-wide and global discussions around knowledge documentation, data management and cyber infrastructure. The 3-day workshop featured speakers, media demos, and dynamic workshop sessions, which included some really fun games from the North that facilitated cross-cultural exchange and discussion. The workshop provided a voice into how Arctic youth are sharing learned knowledge and how traditions, such as the importance of story telling, are still very viable in maintaining the sharing of knowledge. It was also decided to develop a collective draft statement to be presented at the Second Polar Data Forum (PDF II) emphasizing the unique contributions and needs of Indigenous Knowledge in international polar data management.
Statement from the Sharing Knowledge: Traditions, Technologies, and Taking Control of our Future Workshop: Indigenous Knowledge: Key Considerations for Polar Data Planning
ELOKA Advisory Committee (EAC) member Dan Wildcat facilitating discussion on Day 1. Boulder, CO. Photo credit: Rita Lukkarinen.
Videogame presentation of Kisima Innitchuna: Never Alone. This award winning game combines traditional storytelling of the Iñupiat people with modern gaming platforms that takes one into the frozen landscapes of the Arctic.
Eero Murtomäki (Finnish elder and hunter) sharing stories of Raven through photography. Tero Mustonen (SnowChange) acts as Eero's translator. Photo credit: Rita Lukkarinen.
Eric Tunuchuk (Yu'pik Environmental Knowledge Project) shares how he uses his knowledge of the Yu'pik language with the Yu'pik Atlas. Eric is a student at the University of Alaska and plans on pursing his Phd. Photo credit: Rita Lukkarinen. 
EAC Member Lewis Brower and his daughter Lewanne (Barrow, AK). Lewis shared his knowledge of sea ice and the importance of understanding the nature of the ice when hunting. Lewanne shared the role of youth during whaling season. Photo credit: Rita Lukkarinen. 
Calvin Powhawpatchoko (Commanche and Computing Consultant) provided an insight into how youth are engaging in techonological advances moreso than any other generation and this plays into communicating the sharing of knowledge. Photo credit: Rita Lukkarinen. 
Taking advantage of Boulder's Fall weather the EAC workshop provided much interaction and engagement. Here, Shari Fox Gearheard demonstrates some hands on Inuit games to the workshop. The object of the game is to end up with a gift from the center. Photo credit: Rita Lukkarinen.
Another Inuit game in which the object is to remain the last person in the center of the circle. Here Peter Pulsifer, Dan Wildcat and Mike Jaypoody roll the dice. Peter ended up winning the game. Photo credit: Rita Lukkarinen.
Games were a highlight of the workshop. Here Matt Druckenmiller (center) looks on as Gerald Patsy plays the Never Alone video game. This video game can be be played with one or two players. Zemmey Hall (floor) is player number two. Photo credit: Heidi McCann.
As part of the workshop a young flute player and dancer from the Seven Falls Indian Dancers performs a song. Shortly after his performance the dancer performed a hoop dance. Photo credit: Rita Lukkarinen..jpg)
Mike Jaypoody (Kangiqtugaapik/Clyde River) and Shari Fox Gearheard (ELOKA Co-PI) present how media technology, film, training and youth in the community of Kangiqtugaapik is being utilized as a tool for sharing with other communities and beyond. Photo credit: Rita Lukkarinen..jpg)
Tero Mustonen (SnowChange) and Carolina Behe (EAC Member) engaging in discussions. Photo credit: Rita Lukkarinen. 3-7 November 2014
Oglala Lakota College
Kyle, South Dakota, U.S.A.
The EAC held its November 2014 meeting in Kyle, South Dakota at the Pejuta Haka College Center on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation home to the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe. Established during the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, Pine Ridge Reservation encompasses a territory of approximately two million acres of the Northern Great Plains in southwest South Dakota. Pine Ridge Reservation is the eighth largest reservation in the United States. The reservation is part of the mixed grass prairie, an ecological transition zone between the short-grass and tall-grass prairies; all are part of the Great Plains. Many grassroots efforts are in place working to reclaim and consolidate tribal lands and access the resources needed for the Lakota people to live on. One such project is the Buffalo Restoration project, which aims to restore the traditional ecology, economy, and culture surrounding the buffalo. Pine Ridge is the homeland of EAC Member Jhon Goes In Center.
EAC members at the November 2014 meeting included Carolina Behe and Lewis Brower (Alaska), Peter Pulsifer and Heidi McCann (ELOKA), and Dennis Yellow Thunder and Mike Catches Enemy of the Oglala Lakota Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Shari Gearheard (ELOKA Co-PI) and Scot Nickels (Director of Inuit Qaujisarvingat) participated via Skype. Productive dialogue involved how best to move forward with ELOKA. Two members of the Oglala Lakota Tribal Historic Preservation office also participated (Dennis Yellow Thunder and Mike Catches the Enemy), offering their tribal perspective with regard to managing data. Key topics revisited from the first EAC meeting in 2013 featured: clarification to the meaning of "community-based monitoring" and traditional knowledge with respect to ELOKA; how to appropriately represent Indigenous knowledge information systems and other contexts; impacts of new technologies and linkage to education; and training initiatives for community members.
Information about the 2015 meeting will be posted here in the near future.
Kyle, South Dakota. Photo Credit: eiganadam.
18-19 September 2013
National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
Full EAC Meeting Report
EAC Meeting Program
EAC Meeting Overview
Meeting Agenda
CBM White Paper
The first ELOKA Advisory Committee took place in Boulder on September 18-19, 2013. Despite flooding a few days prior, three members of the committee were able to attend and participate in active dialogue. On the first day, discussions focused on ELOKA, member experiences and perspectives relevant to the committee, and the need to confirm and reaffirm existing priorities while identifying new ones. On the second day, discussions focused on community-based monitoring, the role ELOKA plays in facilitating such projects, and networking. See the meeting report for more information.
An outcome of the first meeting was the development of a white paper on data management targeting the attention of the academic community.
Front row L to R: Allaina Wallace, Jhon Goes In Center (EAC Member), Henry Huntington, Peter Pulsifer, and Carolina Behe (EAC Member). Back row L to R: Chris McNeave, Colleen Strawhacker, Olga Ulturgasheva (EAC Member), Heidi McCann, Lynn Yarmey and Betsy Sheffield. Photo credit: Chris McNeave.
