Focus Groups with Village Residents

These conversations were designed to capture the feedback and perspective of community members in the context of the proposed offshore drilling program. The range of participants included groups of active hunters and whalers to young aakas [grandmothers] and small family groups. Participants were asked the same set of questions as their community Elders, although the format was more strictly adhered to in the context of these group discussions. Participants were asked: 1) About the environmental and social changes they had already observed in their lifetimes and their hopes and fears for the future in the context of incoming industrial development and the potential for more environmental and social changes to come (both positive and negative). 2) Whether or not they felt that their community was currently in the best position possible to both take advantage of the opportunities as well as face the challenges that such change could represent and whether they had any suggestions for improvements in terms of local decision-making processes, etc. 3) About the knowledge and practices they felt were most needed to be documented and communicated to outside decision-makers. Participants were also asked to identify some of the values and traditional ways of doing things here in the village that they felt were critically important to pass on to the youth within their own Tribe. 4) Overall, what they felt was the most important thing that their community could do to embrace the changes to come while still maintaining the core values of their culture.

本数据集的对话旨在捕捉社区成员对拟议中的海上钻井项目的反馈与看法。参与者涵盖活跃的猎人、捕鲸者群体，以及年轻的aakas（祖母们）和小型家庭团体。与社区长老一致，参与者被问及一系列相同问题，不过在小组讨论场景下，问题格式的遵循更为严格。具体问题包括：1）他们一生中已观察到的环境与社会变化，以及在工业发展即将到来、更多环境与社会变化（含积极与消极两方面）可能出现的背景下，对未来的希望与担忧；2）其社区当前是否处于既能把握变化机遇、又能应对挑战的最佳状态，以及对改进本地决策流程等方面的建议；3）哪些知识与实践最需记录并传达给外部决策者，同时需指出村中那些对传承给本部落青年至关重要的价值观与传统做法；4）总体而言，社区在接纳未来变化的同时，应采取何种最重要举措以维系自身文化核心价值观。