Research on climate change, the bulk of which to date is in the Arctic, does not address global climate change’s cultural implications. Encounters with the cultural implications of Viliui Sakha [native horse and cattle breeders inhabiting the Viliui regions of northeastern Siberia] communities’ observations and perceptions of the local effects of global climate change reveal a need to develop research projects focusing on the cognitive/perceptual orientations of communities. Here, anthropologists can play a unique role.
We are trained as cultural interpreters, translators, advocates, educators, and mediators. Many of us already work in the various academic fields of global environmental change. We can use the tools of applied, public, and advocacy-oriented anthropology to work on behalf of our indigenous research partners.
Source
Crate, Susan A. 2008 Gone the Bull of Winter? Grappling with the Cultural Implications of and Anthropology’s Role(s) in Global Climate Change. Current Anthropology 49(4):569-595.
