Arctic Peoples

by Clive Tesar

Canadian Inuit are opposing vigorous lobbying efforts to get the polar bear listed as “threatened” under the American Endangered Species Act. The US government has been considering the action since 2006. Now three conservation groups, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace are threatening to sue the US government to get it to proceed with the listing. Canadian Inuit say the environmentalists are taking aim at the wrong target.

Two organizations that represent Inuit in Canada are disagreeing with the tactic of using the polar bear to try to force the American government to take action on climate change. Duane Smith, the president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada) says,

“I don’t see how listing it as threatened will complement the sustainability of the population. It is climate change that is the problem, not the sustainable hunting of polar bears.”

Read the rest of this entry »

By Patricia Cochran and Taito Nakalevu

Three years ago, when a tsunami washed away the lives and livelihoods of people in South-east Asia, the rest of the world acted with commendable compassion. Tents, blankets and food were sent, reconstruction teams poured in, and people around the world sent millions of dollars to help. Now another devastating wave is threatening the lives and livelihoods of people globally - from the fringes of the Arctic to the Caribbean and the scattered islands of the South Pacific. This wave of global warming also brings devastation in its path, but it is moving so slowly that some people fail to recognize its destructive power. Arctic regions and small islands around the world are being hit hardest.
Read the rest of this entry »

by Clive Tesar
In a speech outlining the priorities of the Canadian government, the Arctic topped the agenda. Promising “new attention” to the north, the government says it will bring forward an integrated northern strategy that includes giving northerners more control over their government.

As part of this strategy, the government plans to build a new Arctic research station. In a statement, Inuit Circumpolar Council -Canada president, Duane Smith, supported the research facility, and expressed the hope that it will address all of the Canadian Arctic, and that climate change adaptation studies will be a central focus of the facility.

The issue of Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic was also addressed in the speech. According to the speech, mapping of the Arctic sea bed will be completed, and the size and capabilities of the mainly indigenous Arctic Rangers military unit will be expanded.

“I am happy with the throne speech focus on sovereignty and improving the well being of Inuit,” says Smith, “but I remind the government that sovereignty cannot be divorced from battling climate change in the Arctic.”

Read the rest of this entry »

by Clive Tesar

Reindeer herders from countries around the Arctic are meeting to trade knowledge and strategies for dealing with warming temperatures. The workshops are one branch of the Ealát Project, an initiative to look at the vulnerabilities of reindeer herders, and conduct research on how herders might adapt to climate change. Anders Oskal, Director of the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry says,

“Independent of what’s causing climate change, it’s happening now so while others may be discussing the causes, reindeer husbandry and indigenous societies need to work out strategies on how to cope with this issues. This project is supposed to be a contribution to that.”

Oskal hopes that at least six workshops will be held, covering the main herding regions: The Saami region (northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula); the four reindeer herding areas in Russia (Nenets, Yamal, Sakha/Yakutia, Chukotka) and Alaska (United States). The meetings will include people from a variety of different regions, so that they may share knowledge between them.
Read the rest of this entry »

by Clive Tesar

A young polar bear is now back on the Canadian Arctic coast after wandering 300 kilometres inland. The bears typically do not stray far from the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Duane Smith, President of Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada), suspects the bear wandered inland to search for food because the ice in the Arctic has receded so far offshore. The bears typically eat a diet high in marine life, especially seals. After being spotted near a community, the bear was lured into a cage by a muktuk (whale blubber) bait, and transported back to the coast.

by Clive Tesar

Patricia Cochran, International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council is now also the Chair of the Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat. She was elected to the post at a Board Meeting of IPS held during Arctic Council meetings in Tromso, Norway.

Ms Cochran says that there are many priority issues facing Arctic peoples as she takes office.

“It’s pretty obvious that climate change is a very big issue, contaminants still remain a big issue, looking at oceans management, biodiversity, there’s so many issues on our plate right now. We have to look at our priorities and at what we can do, and do well.”

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

by Paul Kaludjak
What should the Canadian federal government do in the face of the continued American rejection of Canada’s assertion of sovereignty over the Northwest Passage? Inuit occupy and travel throughout the area that Washington claims to be international waters. We will be most affected if the passage is opened to shipping as a result of climate change.

Read the rest of this entry »

Arctic Council Ministerial meeting" id="image75" title="Indigenous Leaders at the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting" src="http://www.arcticpeoples.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/pp_salekhard.jpg" />

At the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting in [GP:Salekhard], Russia, Indigenous Leaders from the circumpolar Arctic region delivered strong messages to the Arctic Council .

Watch the statements here in their original languages. Russian/English transcripts will be added later.

Read the rest of this entry »

The eight states that make up the Arctic Council are meeting along with Arctic Indigenous Leaders this week in [GP:Salekhard], Russia. Much of the discussion to date has focused on what is maybe the biggest issue in the Arctic at the moment, climate change. Indigenous Peoples had hoped that the release of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment would lead to immediate action on climate change by the Arctic states. However, much of the two years since the ACIA was released has been taken up with discussing what to do next. Chief Gary Harrison, from Chickaloon Village in Alaska, is the Chair of the Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat, the organization that helps to coordinate the work of the Indigenous Peoples at the Arctic Council . He says that he is particularly concerned that the states should take actions that reduce the production of climate change.

Read the rest of this entry »