Currently, I am leading the Adikameg Project, a research effort that aims to support Adikameg (lake whitefish) stewardship across the Great Lakes by documenting and elevating Indigenous knowledge, values, and priorities about this ecologically and culturally vital species.
The project represents a collaboration between six Anishinaabe tribes and First Nations with researchers at the University of Vermont, Carleton University, and the University of British Columbia.
Project contact form below!
Project Objectives
The Adikameg Project focuses on better understanding the cultural, ecological, and historical importance of Adikameg (Lake Whitefish) for Indigenous peoples across the Great Lakes.
We seek to:
document and support the place-based, reciprocal relationships between Indigenous peoples and Adikameg and better understand how these relationships have (and continue) to change across time and space.
connect the bodies of knowledge and work on Adikameg that already exist in Nations across the Great Lakes so that fisheries management can be equally informed by Indigenous knowledge, values, and priorities as by Western scientific data.
With this project, we broadly aim to highlight:
how patterns of biological and cultural diversity have co-evolved, shaping one another across time and space.
how historical and political processes have shaped Great Lakes fisheries and human-Adikameg relationships.
Following the principles of OCAP (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession), the Adikameg project is beginning with a year of relationship-building in our participating Nations. While the project topic and overall goals have already been established (in response to concerns and interests brought up by First Nation/Tribal members), the rest of the project will be built out from the ground up—each Nation will determine how project data is collected, stored, and shared.
First Nation/Tribal Contact Form
If you are a member of an Anishinaabe Nation or are otherwise involved in Adikameg fisheries in the Great Lakes, please get in touch if you’d be interested in learning more or being involved in the project.
I will follow up with you!
Our Team
Tribal/First Nation Partners
Ryan Lauzon
…
Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, Fisheries BiologistGary Michaud
Little Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa Indians, Fisheries Biologist…
Jason Smith
…
Bay Mills Indian Community, Fisheries BiologistErik Olsen
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Fisheries Biologist…
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Fisheries BiologistWilliam Beaver
….
Seth Moore
Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Fisheries Biologist…
Research Affiliates
Thais Bernos
University of Vermont, Assistant Professor…
Katherine Meier
University of Vermont, Postdoctoral Fellow…
Alex Duncan
University of British Columbia and Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, Postdoctoral Fellow…
Eglee Zent
University of Vermont, Assistant Professor…
Vivian Nguyen
Carleton University, Assistant Professor…
This research is supported by funding from the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission and Great Lakes Fisheries Trust
