Knowing the field

Clifford Geertz: “ From the native point of view ”

Understanding the Reality of the Local Responders

Examples of Coping Strategies

!   By building stronger houses than what the building code requires;

!   Having doors of houses opening from the inside;

!   Always keeping a shovel and an axe inside their home, so they can escape if the house is buried with snow and they need to escape rapidly;

!   Putting up cables that can be followed in between houses, that way they do not get lost in the wild or fall into the sea;

Examples of Coping Strategies

!   When walking outside, tying themselves to something or someone if the wind is too strong;

!   Always park their skidoos or car facing the wind, so the windshield or the doors will not be damaged by the wind;

!   Always go in the wild with the ratio of one skidoo per person in case of a mechanical problem...

They identify the most vulnerable persons in the village:

!   Elders with no children living in the village

!   Single mothers or wives with husbands working outside the region for most of the year

!   Outsiders without local knowledge !   Professionals such as nurses, teachers and policemen.

Climate Adaptation

Conclusion

!   Added value to Disaster Management

!   It gives a different angle or perspective to tackle emergency planning.

!   It uses participant observation and field research, by using qualitative data and working the cultural angle of a social group.

!   Endless use in disaster field in pre-disaster, during the intervention and in post-disaster.

Conclusion

!   Brings some answers to practitioners and decision makers in disaster preparedness.

!   It also studies the cultural changes and social transformations in the post-disaster period and could be useful in planning long-term reconstruction.

!   Disaster Anthropology could complement hard science research by adding a different point of view.

What’s in it for you? And now the remaining question is…

Merci beaucoup!