Practical information and benefits: There are a number of practical reasons for researchers being involved in community adaptation, including the ability to facilitate financial and human resources to which communities otherwise would not have access; the focus on issues which would likely be neglected given the present day nonclimate‐related challenges facing Northern settlements; providing support to interpret jargon‐laden scientific reporting about climate change into meaningful information; the ability to advocate for policy needs to broader levels of government; the opportunity to link communities in different regions facing similar challenges with climate change; the ability for researchers to be more neutral and work across kinship boundaries in communities; and the potential to help define and pursue answers to research questions of relevance to community members, especially where incomplete or inaccurate information constrains adaptation. Furthermore, given historical experiences of research in the North, the focus on working with communities in projects in which indigenous knowledge is highly valued can help to legitimize and enhance confidence in such knowledge systems to the science community in general, to policy makers, and in some instances to communities themselves (e.g., Ref 81).