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A Milestone in Realizing a Vision for Canadian Leadership in Arctic Science: New exhibition about Indigenous Knowledge App opens at Canadian High Arctic Research Station
June 4, 2025-Cambridge Bay, Nunavut
Today, a vision for Arctic science realizes a major milestone. Polar Knowledge Canada marks 10 years since its creation through a knowledge-sharing collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Arctic Eider Society.
On display at the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, is a new exhibition co-developed by the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Arctic Eider Society with support from Polar Knowledge Canada. The exhibition showcases SIKU: The Indigenous Knowledge App, as a practical application of Indigenous Knowledge taking a leading role in science.
SIKU is the Inuktitut word for sea ice. SIKU, the mobile and online technology platform created by and for Indigenous communities provides a platform for communities to manage their own programs for harvesting, guardians and community-driven research and monitoring.
The exhibition at CHARS, which is open to the public and will be on view until the end of 2025, tells the story of how SIKU was developed on a framework of self-determination and data sovereignty piloted by the Arctic Eider Society. With stunning imagery and interactive displays, visitors can learn how individual harvesters, as well as communities, use their own language and knowledge systems to document environmental changes and observations in marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
The exhibition is a symbol of the vision that began almost 20 years ago to establish a world-class research facility in the Canadian high Arctic. Polar Knowledge Canada was created in June of 2015 with the Royal Assent of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station Act . CHARS was built over the first five years and is now fully operational, hosting and collaborating with researchers from across Canada and around the world.
The scientific program strives to advance knowledge of ecosystems in the North - terrestrial, freshwater, marine and air - to monitor and understand the effects of changes to the climate in the Arctic, where the earth is warming at a rate four times faster than the rest of the planet. To examine and test sustainable energy technologies and infrastructure solutions and how they work in the extreme Northern environment, in an effort to reduce the use of fossil fuels in the North and the impacts it has on communities and the environment. And to understand the connection between community wellness and environmental health, such as the impact of diseases in animals that are traditionally harvested, as well as to communicate to Northern communities about how to protect themselves when consuming country food with the changes the mammal, fish and bird populations are experiencing.
More about the exhibition: SIKU: The Indigenous Knowledge APP
Divided into five sections, the exhibition, includes information panels and testimonials, as well as three videos, two activities for children and a feature presentation of the film People of a Feather.
The first section introduces SIKU including a video The second and third sections delve into the importance of SIKU as a tool for Indigenous self-determination and for sharing Indigenous knowledge. Five project case studies from Nunavut, Nunatsiavut, Nitassinan and Eyou Itshee are featured in more detail. There are also videos about the SIKU Ice Watch and Goose Watch campaigns, which engage users in sharing knowledge about ice conditions and the spring goose migration.
The fourth section zeroes in on projects around Cambridge Bay that use SIKU. One monitors the prevalence of biting insects, and the other is SmartICE, a well-established ice-monitoring program across the Arctic.
The final section delves into the creation of SIKU by the Arctic Eider Society, an Inuit organization in Sanikiluaq, including its use as part of the Qikiqtait Protected Area initiative for the Belcher Islands Archipelago. Visitors can then grab a seat in the Knowledge Centre at CHARS and enjoy the award-winning feature film, People of a Feather, which portrays the unique relationship between Sanikiluaq Inuit and eider ducks.
A comprehensive exhibition about the Inuit of Sanikiluaq, the Arctic Eider Society and the Qikiqtait Protected Area (including the SIKU App) will open September 26 in the Northern Voices Gallery at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. This exhibition is also presented with the support of Polar Knowledge Canada.
