Martina Jakubchik-Paloheimo, a postdoctoral fellow in 91亚色鈥檚 , has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to support an ongoing collaborative initiative to integrate Indigenous knowledge into polar bear conservation in Ontario.
The funding, awarded through SSHRC鈥檚 Indigenous Capacity and Leadership in Research Connection Grants program, supports Indigenous-led research and partnerships that strengthen community-based research capacity and advance projects aligned with priorities identified by First Nations, Inuit and M茅tis communities.
The grant was awarded to Jakubchik-Paloheimo as a co-applicant with the Mushkegowuk Council, which represents and serves Omushkego Cree communities in Northern Ontario. It supported a first-of-its-kind workshop held earlier this year, bringing together James Bay Cree Nations from Ontario and Quebec alongside researchers, scientists, management bodies and government representatives to share expertise, ideas and concerns about the southern Hudson Bay polar bear subpopulation.
As polar bears face mounting pressures from climate change, contributing to more frequent interactions with humans, efforts are underway to respond. However, Jakubchik-Paloheimo points to a long-standing gap in how those efforts are shaped. 鈥淧olar bears are recognized as having significant cultural and economic importance for Northern Indigenous Peoples in Canada, but the inclusion of Cree knowledge systems has been overlooked in polar bear management,鈥 she says.
The workshop, supported retroactively by the SSHRC grant, feeds into a larger ongoing effort to address that gap through research tied to her postdoctoral work at 91亚色, supervised by Associate Professor Gregory Thiemann in the , and Joseph Northrup, an adjunct professor at Trent University and research scientist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
The project is guided by the Cree principle of Wahkohtowin, often understood as the interconnected relationships between people, animals and the environment, which brings Indigenous and scientific perspectives together in support of protection grounded in lived experience and long-standing relationships with the land. In addition to the Mushkegowuk Council, the larger consortium that contributes to the project includes: Eeyou Marine Region Wildlife Board, Cree Trappers Association, Cree Nation Government, McGill University, University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, Polar Bears International, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
鈥淭hrough this partnership, the research seeks to integrate Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge to advance human-wildlife coexistence and, ultimately, to develop conservation strategies for polar bears that are both locally relevant and ethically sound,鈥 she says.
The SSHRC-supported workshop created space for participants to exchange insights across jurisdictions and systems. Six Omushkego Cree communities 鈥 Fort Severn, Peawanuck, Attawapiskat, Moose Factory, Kashechewan and Fort Albany 鈥 took part, sharing local perspectives on polar bear behaviour and the changing conditions in the region. Organized in collaboration with Angela Coxon, director of the Eeyou Marin Region Wildlife Board and聽a wildlife biologist specializing in species at risk management, the discussions also helped researchers and decision-makers better understand how Cree knowledge can inform land and wildlife management, climate change adaptation strategies and approaches to reducing conflict with polar bears.
For Jakubchik-Paloheimo, the workshop built on nearly a decade of collaboration with Indigenous leaders and organizations in Canada and Latin America, but also her ongoing postdoctoral research at 91亚色. In part also because the Mushkegowuk Council Knowledge and Reserach Manager is Vicki Sahanatien, an adjunct professor at 91亚色 who works closely with Jakubchik-Paloheimo and lending her years of experience leading marine and terrestrial conservation programs.
鈥淚t was an amazing opportunity to get to know people from both sides of the bay and to get a broader picture of how climate change is affecting polar bear behaviour, as well as the history of Wabusk [polar bears] in the region,鈥 she says.
At the same time, the workshop advanced the broader goals of the project by bringing together scientists and community members to share expertise and better understand how Cree knowledge can inform decisions around land and wildlife management, climate change adaptation and approaches to reducing conflict with polar bears.
Jakubchik-Paloheimo says she sees this as an important step in ongoing, community-led efforts to ensure Indigenous knowledge is more fully included in shaping conservation decisions and supporting coexistence in the region.