Alaska and Yukon volcanoes 

Research topic:

• Observing the daily lives and resilience of people living near volcanoes.

• Study of matriarchal shamanism among the Tlingit.

• Analysis of ecological and indigenous resistance movements in Alaska, with a focus on volcanic natural disasters

Objectives :

• Study the relationship between everyday life and the resilience of populations living near volcanoes and other natural disasters, examining cultural adaptations and risk management practices related to volcanic activity.

• First study of symbolic systems around Volcanoes 

Team :

• Olivier Servais: Anthropologist specializing in digital technology, resistance movements and the relationship between spirituality and the environment.

• Michel Meersman: Socio-anthropologist specializing in First Nations and marginal populations.

• Joelle Lega: Trauma psychologist and photographer 

Travel and stay :

Start date: May 18, 2024.

Flight : Brussels - Anchorage - Juneau.

May 19-May 30: Fieldwork in the Juneau region with Michel Meersman.

Visit the Juneau City Museum

Juneau Glacier (Zone 3)

Sea Alaska Heritage Center Juneau Tlingit

Old Carvers and Old Weavers/Chaman

Forest land on Tlingit territory markers (Zone 3)

Land to Sitka and Volcano Edgecumbe (Zone 3)

May 30-June 5: Fly from Juneau to Haines, then drive and camp for 5 days. 

Kluane Park and Kluane Glacier (Zone 5)

First Nation 

Kluane First Nation

Slims River Valley (Zone 5)

Champagne and Ahihishik First Nation, Haines Junction

Chilkat reserve and museum (Zone 3)

June 6-7: Return by ferry from Haines to Juneau 

Attendance at Shi's Celebrations, Juneau

June 6, 24: Flight from Juneau => Brussels.

Methodology :

• Participant observation.

• Informal interviews.

• Ethnographic data collection (observations, life stories, photographs, lexicography).

• Qualitative analysis of the data collected.

Scheduled deliveries :

• Papers on symbolic systems, mythologies and volcanoes among the Tlingit. 

• Article in preparation on Tlingit mythologies and volcanoes. 

• Reflections on a Nishgaa volcano field study