Simulated data and code from: Socio-economic predictors of Inuit hunting choices and their implications for climate change adaptation

These data are part of a data portal that accompanies the special issue ‘Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture,’ published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B in 2023. To access the data portal, please visit 10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4h4.

Summary
Repository of R and Stan code to simulate and analyse foraging trip data (patch choice and harvest success).

Accompanying manuscript
F. Hillemann, B. A. Beheim, E. Ready. 2023. Socio-economic predictors of Inuit hunting strategies and their implications for climate change adaptation. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 378: 20220395. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0395

Manuscript Abstract:
In the Arctic, seasonal variation in the accessibility of the land, sea ice, and open waters influences which resources can be harvested safely and efficiently. Climate stressors are also increasingly affecting access to subsistence resources. Within Inuit communities, people differ in their involvement with subsistence activities, but little is known about how engagement in the cash economy (time and money available) and other socio-economic factors shape the food production choices of Inuit harvesters, and their ability to adapt to rapid ecological change. We analyse 281 foraging trips involving 23 Inuit harvesters from Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik, using a Bayesian approach modelling both patch choice and within-patch success. Gender and income predict Inuit harvest strategies: while men, especially men from low-income households, often visit patches with a relatively low success probability, women and high-income hunters generally have a higher propensity to choose low-risk patches. Inland hunting, marine hunting, and fishing differ in the required equipment and effort, and hunters may have to shift their subsistence activities if certain patches become less profitable or less safe due to high costs of transportation or climate change (e.g., navigate larger areas inland instead of targeting seals on the sea ice). Our finding that household income predicts patch choice suggests that the capacity to maintain access to country foods depends on engagement with the cash economy.

Methods

Simulated data:

This repository includes R code to simulate and analyse harvest trip data. Exemplary data are included (dataset .csv outputs can be reproduced using the code provided).

Real-life data collection:

The data analysed in the manuscript were collected as part of a mixed-methods research project focused on Inuit subsistence and food security in Kangiqsujuaq (Nunavik, Quebec, Canada). Between October 2013 and July 2014, ER recorded details of all harvesting activities by members of eight Inuit households from different socio-economic backgrounds, during fortnightly interviews. Details recorded in these interviews include the Inuktitut name of the destination (toponym), the harvester’s target species or goal for the trip, number and identity of companions on the trip, the mode of transport and an estimate of gasoline used, and what and how much was harvested (if anything). Some additional harvesting trips were recorded during participation observation (foraging follows) and in occasional interviews between July 2013 and July 2014. Household surveys conducted with 110 households in the village provided information on household composition, economic activities, food security, and food sharing activities. Interviews were conducted in English or Inuktitut, by ER and a local research assistant.