Multimedia on birch, 28” round. 2024. AVAILABLE.
Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus), or iqaluk (ᐃᖃᓗᒃ) in Inuktituk, is a cold-water salmonid fish species that northern populations rely on for livelihood and preservation of traditional Inuit and subarctic Indigenous knowledge and ways of life. Arctic charr is the only freshwater fish species found throughout the entirety of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (up to 81° N). Dwarf fireweed, or Paunnait (ᐸᐅᓐᓇᐃᑦ), along with the blossom of other tundra vegetation is a vibrant signal of the emergence of spring in the Arctic, the time when iqaluk begin spawning. Paunnait is a resilient plant, thriving in disturbed soils, yet providing versatile nutritional and medicinal uses in Inuit culture. As our planet warms, there are several negative impacts that iqaluk face; from higher mortality rates due to warmer and acidifying waters to changes in spawning and run timing from changing lake and sea ice conditions, to the fragmentation and loss of habitat from climate-induced landscapes changes, this and other cold-water species are at high risk of becoming endangered.