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National Park Service U.S. Departmentofthe Interior ClemsonUniversi I 29.2:B 45/3 604 019 694 662 Spanning the Bering Strait 20 YEARS OF COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH V: -Efl :22S3 rm I INTRODUCTION The Shared Beringian Heritage Program has been fortunate enough to have had a sustained source offundsto support community based projects and research since itscreation in 1991. Presidents George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev expanded their cooperation in thefield of environmental protection and the studyofglobal changetocreatethe Shared Beringian Heritage Program. The Bering Strait area shares manysignificant natural and cultural resources. The purpose ofour program isto recognize and celebratethese resourcesthat Russia and the United States have in common and to sustain the cultural heritage of Native peoplesthroughoutthe region. In support ofthese goals, annual funding forthe Beringia Program is currentlycommitted to a variety of projectsthat involve scientists, government officials, teachers and youth from the United Statesand Russia, especially local communities and Native people acrossthe Bering Strait region. Since 1991, the Shared Beringian Heritage Program hasfunded over 130 projects, with 12-20active projects each year. They rangefrom 1-3 years in duration. The program is dedicated to contributing in all areas of research, whether it's bio-sampling ofGrey & Bowhead Whales in Chukotka orfacilitating an exchange of Shishmarefand Uelen ivorycarving traditions. Recent projects have included work on marine mammals, sea ice patterns, reindeer herding, archaeology, and documentation of local traditions, language, and culture. All project information is easily accessible at http://www.nps.gov/akso/beringia under Projects & Research. The website provides information on individual projects dating back to 1991 and also howto applyfor projectfunding through the Beringia Program. to © I SATELLITE IMAGE OF THE BERING STRAIT SHARED BERINGIAN HERITAGE PROGRAM CONTINUING PROJECTS FY 2010 Followingisthelistofcontinuingprojectsreceivingfunding throughtheSharedBeringianHeritageProgram.Nonewprojects weresolicitedfor2011.Sinceprojectproposalscanbeof1-3 yearsinduration,thereareusuallycontinuingprojectsreceiving fundinginadditiontoprojectsselectedthatyear.Formore detailedinformationonthecontinuingprojectsvisitourwebsite, www.nps.gov/akso/beringia,goto "FindaProject"andclickon theyearinwhichtheprojectwasselectedforfunding. Continuing Projects Funded in FY 2010 Beringia: What's Climate Change to You? Partner: GoNorth! Adventure Learning Contact: Mille Porsild Collaborators: Beringia Nature-Ethnic Park, ChukotkaAutonomousOkrug, Natalia Kalyuzhina Ethnography LaboratoryinAnadyr, scientistsViktoriya GolbtsevaandVladislavNuvano BeringiaTourServices Chukotka ScienceGroup UniversityofAlaska, Fairbanks, DepartmentofAnthropology, Dr. SvetaYamin-Pasternak UniversityofColorado, Physics Education Research Group, Dr. StephanieViola Chasteen CollaborationwithscientistsfromWoods Hole Research Center, NASA, and United Nations EnvironmentProgramme Location: Provideniya, Sereniki, Yanrakynnot, Lorino, Lavrentia, and Uelen Duration: 3years Funding: $37,000 in 2011, $48,400 in 2012, $49,610 in 2013. Thisprojectwasselectedforfundingin2010, butwasdelayedinordertochangepartnersfrom the Universityof Minnesota to the UniversityofAlaskaandthe UniversityofColorado. Thisprojectwill establisha local and sustainableframeworktodeliverBeringia: What'sClimate Changeto You? (WCCY) in Chukotka, Russia.Thisispartofa Pan-Arctic-American networkwherestudentsandteacherspartner withscientiststodoscienceand exploreclimatechangearoundthecircumpolararctic.ThevehicleforWCCYisthe "GoNorth" adventure learningseries.Theyouth-generatedcontent is used bymorethan 3 million learnersand is broadcastedtoteachers in morethan4,500schoolsacrossthe 50U.S. statesand on 5continents. Bowhead Coastal Observation Project - Chukotka Partner: North Slope Borough Contacts: Craig George, Cyd Hanns Collaborators: *RussianAcademyofSciences, Dr. Vladimir Melnikov »Association ofMarine Mammal HuntersofChukotka, EduardZdor Chukotka ScienceSupportGroup, GennadyZelensky ChukotTINRO, Denis Litovka Location: Uelen and Sereniki, Russia (maychange based on logisticsand recommendationsofcolleagues in Chukotka) Duration: 3years Funding: $34,022 in 2010, $39,230 in2011, $47,216 in 2012 Thisprojectwillstudythedistribution and abundanceofthe Bering-Chukchi-BeaufortSeas bowheadwhale populationand documentmammal sightingsoffthecoastofChukotka, from2010-2012. Continuingcoastal observationsfill acritical need in continuingthe nearly20-yearprogram, especially nowwhentheeffectsofclimate changesarecausing rapidchanges intheecosystem.This research parallelsresearch in Alaska, both ofwhich provide information on regional bowhead populations. PHOTOS©KONSTANTINSAVVA fefipv- BIRD ROOKERY ON THE SHO SHARED BERINGIAN HERITAGE PROGRAM CONTINUING PROJECTS FY 2010 Climate Change: a View Through the Prism of Steller's Sea Cow Extinction Partner: UniversityofAlaska, Fairbanks Contact: Dr. Alexander Burdin Collaborators: Florida Atlantic University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Dr. O'Corry-Crowe Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida; Dr. John Reynolds, III Kamchatka branch ofthe Pacific InstituteofGeography Russian AcademyofScience in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Commander Island State Preserve, Dr. S. V. Zagrebelny Nikolskoe High School andvillage members. Location: Commander Islands, Chukotka Duration: 2years Funding: $39,762 in 2010, $38,200 in 2011 When discovered in 1741, Steller'ssea cow had already been reduced from a wide North Pacific rangeto a relict population aroundthe Commander Islands. By 1768, the lastsea cowwas killed on Bering Island. While hunting seemsto have beenthe ultimate cause ofthespeciesextinction, bycollecting and analyzing Steller'ssea cow remains, this projectwill testthe hypothesisastowhetherfactors relatedtoclimatechange influenced the eventual extinction ofthis lastgiant Beringian mammal. ^mmrmmja/gma*- EPART ON AN EARLY MORNING SUBSISTENCE HUNT Creating a Modern Map of Submerged Beringia - The Bridge that Endures Time Partner: Alaska-Siberia Research Center Contact: Alexander Dolitsky, Executive Director Collaborators: * OceanusAlaska, Michelle Ridgway, principal investigator. TJ Howland, Chiefof HydrographicSurveys, Terrasond Limited Dr. David Scholl, U.S. Geological Surveyand Stanford University Candace Stepetin, Pribilovian Native and liaisonto Russian and U.S. Native communities. Location: Submerged Beringian region, Russian and U.S. waters Duration: 1 year Funding: $35,050 The principal investigatorswill develop a geospatial database ofthe bestavailabledatafromthe U.S., Russia, and othersourcestocreate a modern seafloormapofsubmerged Beringia. Boththevisual mapofmodern underwater Beringia andthe databasegenerated will serve asa resourceforarchaeologistsexamining migration routes betweenthecontinents, aswell assignificantly updated geospatial referenceforgeologists and otherscientistseagertoexamine undersea lifeduring and subsequenttoclimate regimes. Indigenous Knowledge and Use of Bering Strait Region Ocean Currents Partner: Kawerak, Inc. Contact: Julie Raymond-Yakoubian Collaborator: ChukotTINRO, PacificScientific Research Fisheries Center, Dr. Yury Khokhlov Location: Alaska: Diomede, Wales, Shishmaref. Chukotka: Lorino, Lavrentiya, Inchoun Duration: 3years Funding: $20,000 in 2010, $33,251 in 2011, $45,000 in 2012 This projectwill documentthetraditional and contemporary use ofand knowledge aboutocean currents bythreeAlaskan andthree Russian communities inthe Bering Strait region. This knowledge, which includes a record ofchangesthroughtime, hasvalueforoceantravel andtracking climatechange effects, which is quickly being lostwiththe passing ofoldergenerations. The project involvescollaboration between an Alaska Native non-profit, Russian researchers, and local communities, and will assistwiththe on-going processofre- establishingties broken intheColdWar. Indigenous Language Learning and Documentation in the Bering Strait Partner: ArcticStudies Center, Smithsonian Institution Contact: Aron L. Crowell Collaborators: Regional cultural organizationsand language programs Alaska Native Language Center, UniversityofAlaska, Fairbanks Alaska Native LanguageArchive, UniversityofAlaska, Fairbanks Location: Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska Duration: 3years Funding: $35,999 in 2010, $45,000 in 2011, $46,000 in 2012 Thefuture of indigenous languagesaroundthe Bering Strait isseverelythreatened. TheArcticStudies Center (ASC)will workwith elderfluentspeakersofthe Inupiaq and St. Lawrence Island/Siberian Yup'ik languages to produce extensive linguistic recordingsand documentation of heritageobjects (made 1850s-1950s)that are included in the Smithsonian exhibition Living OurCultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoplesof Alaska attheAnchorage Museum.TheASCwill workwith Beringian region language educatorsto editthese recordings(video and audio) into languageteachingtoolsand communitysource bookswith English alphabet transcriptionsand English translations, Cyrillictranscriptionsand Russiantranslations. PHOTOOKONSTANTINSAVVA — SHARED BERINGIAN HERITAGE PROGRAM CONTINUING PROJECTS FY 2009-2010 Telling Our Stories, Vodcasts of the Sugpiaq Collections of the Kunstkamera and the Cape Alitak Petroglyph Survey Partner: Alutiiq Museum Contact: Sven D. Haakanson, Jr., Executive Director Collaborators: Elizabeth O'Connell, WonderVisions Peterthe Great Museum ofAnthropologyand Ethnography VariousSugpiaq leaders, artists, and anthropologists Location: St. Petersburg, Russia and CapeAlitak, Alaska Duration: 2years Funding: $18,580 in 2010, $12,000 in 2011 Thisfunding addsthecreation of 12video podcastsand vodcaststothe production ofan annotated catalog oftheSugpiaq Collections ofthe Kunstkamera, a current projectthat is reunitingAlaska'sSugpiaq communitywith ancestral objectsstored inthe PetertheGreat Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.Through vodcasts produced in Russian and English, Sugpiaq leaders, artists, and anthropologistscan speakdirectlyto multiple audiences. Continuing Projects Funded in FY 2009 Encounters Radio Broadcast Partner: The Island Institute Contact: Lisa Busch Collaborators: Elizabeth O'Connell, WonderVisions Location: Central Beringia subject matter, broadcast nationally Duration: 2years Funding: $11,000 in 2009, $15,000 in 2010 The Island Instituteexpanded Encounters:Radio Experiencesin theNorthtocovermoreofthecircumpolar north by producingtwo 29-minutesegments inthe Central Beringia region. Encounters isa regularweekly, nationallydistributed public radio program aboutthe humantraditionsofthe northern polar region. The program presentsscientific information and indigenous knowledgeaboutthe natural environment in a widelydistributed and easilyaccessible audioformat. Health Evaluation of Walrus Partner: EskimoWalrusCommission, Kawerak, Inc. Contact: Vera Metcalf Collaborators: Arctic Research Commission, Cheryl Rosa Alaska DepartmentofFish and Game, GaySheffield ChukotTINRO, Denis Litovka Association ofTraditional Marine Mammal Hunters (ATMMHC), Eduard Zdor Chukotka ScienceSupportGroup (CSSG), GennadyZelensky Location: Chukotka, Russia Duration: 3years (extended) Funding: Nofunding in 2009, $21,069 in 2010, $3,500 in 2011 tocovertravel cancellation cost in 2011; $21,236 in 2012 Thiscommunitybased projectwill proactively monitorwalrusasthearcticenvironment isaltered. Amulti-disciplinaryassessmentwill beconducted ofbodyconditionsand health-related parametersfor an importantarcticsubsistencespecies. Thedata collectedwill advancethe knowledgeofarcticpinniped biologyandwill includecomprehensivedata management plansthatwill serve astemplatesforfuture health assessmentand monitoring ofthespecies. This project moved fromthe North Slope Boroughto Kawerak, Inc., dueto a change in staffing. In 2010, weather preventedtravelto Chukotkatocompletefield work plannedforSeptember. WALRUSES RESTING ON SEA ICE — SHARED BERINGIAN HERITAGE PROGRAM CONTINUING PROJECTS FY 2009 PHOTO©KONSTANTINSAVVA Kivetoruk Moses, Inupiaq Artist 10 Partner: UniversityofAlaska-Fairbanks Contact: David Mollett Location: Nome, Alaska and Provideniya, Russia Duration: 1 year Funding: $15,000 in 2009 Beringia funding supported field worktogatherfirst-hand accountsfrom peoplewho knewor had a connection to Mosesand hiswork. Thefinal productwasa bookthatcontained a biography, artisticanalysis, and collection of high quality reproductions of Moses'work (still in progress). Preserving Our Knowledge Partner: Smithsonian Institution Contact: Igor Krupnik Collaborators: * Institutefor Russian Cultural and Natural Heritage, Lyudmila Bogoslovskaya Chukotka Local Language/Knowledge Experts Shaktoolik Local Language/Knowledge Experts Location: New Chaplinoand Sereniki, Chukotka; Wales, Gambell, and Shaktoolik, Alaska Duration: 2years Funding: $20,000 in 2009, $20,000 in 2010 Thiswasajoint Beringian-focused heritage programtodocumentendangered environmental and subsistence terminologies in five communities in Alaska and Russia: NewChaplino, Sereniki, Wales, Gambell, and Shaktoolik. Cultural and language specialistscollected indigenoustermsand produced illustratedthematic lexicons in St. Lawrence Island/Siberian Yup'ik and in Inupiaq.