Nalaquq (“it is found”): a knowledge co-production framework for environmental sensing and communication in Indigenous arctic communities

In 2007, the Yup’ik village of Quinhagak contacted archaeologists after locals found precontact artifacts on a nearby beach. This collaboration led to the subsequent excavation of Nunalleq, an important ancestral site threatened by climate change. Since then, an international research team has partnered with Yup’ik leadership in Quinhagak to address the larger impact of climate change. In turn, this article introduces Nalaquq—our framework for combining custom sensor networks with traditional knowledge to study ellavut (trans. “Our land and weather”). Doing so provides a guide for communication scholars interested in working alongside Indigenous circumpolar communities to visualize and communicate climate science.Yup’ik (pl. Yupiit) are an Alaskan Native community whose land is threatened by climate change. Our article outlines how sensors can help Yupiit monitor climate change and communicate traditional knowledge. We begin by discussing how Yup’ik science differs from western science and how we use sensor networks. Next, we introduce a sensor network we developed in Quinhagak, Alaska. Finally, we discuss the value of Indigenous knowledge for scholars of environmental sensing, public health, climate change, and communication studies.