This paper is an overview of two interrelated projects, the Tuktoyaktuk Traditional Knowledge Project and the Heritage Resources Training Program. The objectives of the Traditional Knowledge Project were to first determine the location and nature of heritage sites important to the Inuvialuit so heritage managers can better assess the impacts of oil development on those resources, and secondly to learn about aspects of traditional life for use in archaeological interpretations. Traditional knowledge research allows people from communities to contribute directly to archaeological knowledge. The Heritage Resources Training Program served as a vehicle to develop and test training methods to provide people from communities with some of the basic skills and information needed to conduct this type of research.