Arctic Peoples

By Colleen Henry

As an intern for the Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat, I was recently asked to investigate, interview and report on an Arctic leader for an International Insititute of Sustainable Development newsletter. After a great deal of reflection I decided that an entity, not an individual, should be highlighted as an Arctic leader. And for good reason.

In the early days Sámi language and culture faced the threat of extinction as the governments of Norway, Sweden and Finland encouraged and promoted assimilation of Sámi into mainstream society. Since then the language and culture have been strengthened by Sámi Radio’s broadcasts. Read the rest of this entry »

By Sean Doherty

Research is a useful and powerful tool in understanding how climate change affects the Arctic, but it can easily miss parts of the story. Consulting with people in northern communities, and including their local environmental knowledge helps make the knowledge produced relevant to Arctic peoples, and increases the fullness and accuracy of the research.

The International Polar Year (IPY) that is officially launched this spring will involve many different projects that promise to focus on including stakeholders and their priorities. With this growing interest in stakeholders (residents, groups and local industries who will be affected by environmental changes in a study locale), it is important that terms such as ‘community involvement’ or ‘stakeholder’ do not become buzz-words thrown into research proposals out of convention, to appear relevant, or as a means to get funding. Stakeholder involvement cannot be taken lightly.
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by Clive Tesar

The disappearing caribou in the Northwest Territories (NWT) in Canada have people anxious – very anxious. Some herds have declined by thousands, some by hundreds of thousands over the past twenty years. Everywhere in the central Arctic, the trend seems to be the same – fewer caribou. This is not just a matter of concern for Indigenous Peoples in the region, It is a matter of real hardship, economic, cultural, social and spiritual. The lives of the Indigenous Peoples of the region have been bound up with caribou for thousands of years. Some believe that in every human heart is a little of the caribou heart, and in every caribou, a little of the human heart.

This is not the first time the caribou numbers have dropped. Indigenous knowledge and scientific evidence both suggest that caribou herds here hit a low about every thirty years. This is thought to be linked to the effect of climate and caribou populations on lichens, the plants that are the main winter food of the caribou. But things have changed in the Northwest Territories over the past thirty years. There are more people, and more roads. There is new technology being used to help hunters, including tracking of radio-collared caribou that has been posted on the Internet. There are new mines on the barrens, with more planned. Perhaps most importantly, the climate is changing, that changes snow conditions, forest fires, and plant growth.

In January 2007, the Government of the Northwest Territories brought together about 170 delegates in Inuvik, near the Arctic coast of the Northwest Territories, for a ‘Caribou Summit’, the first gathering of its kind.

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