June 19, 2019
Photo cred: nunataryuk.org The team starting their field work. From left to right: Andreas Richter, Peter Charlie, George Tanski, Louis-Philippe Roy, Jöelle Voglimacci-Stéphanopoli and Vincent Sasseville
Louis-Philippe Roy stands at the edge of the Arctic Ocean on the northernmost edge of Yukon, Canada. The untrained eye may see only an expanse of ice and snow, broken by a few muskoxen. Yet, Louis-Philippe knows the ground below him is unstable—thawing at an alarming rate. Where he stands, the coastline of Qikiqtaruk or Herschel Island, is falling into the sea. Permafrost, the frozen ground that has served as the island’s foundation for millennia is thawing, taking cultural history with it.