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.