Arctic Peoples

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.”

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by Clive Tesar

The United States Government is beginning to show signs that it understands the seriousness of climate change. A new Bill in the United States Senate backs an 80% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. The Bill, sponsored by Senator Boxer, has attracted the support of democratic presidential hopefuls Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama.

A senior Senate staff official told a visiting delegation of Arctic Leaders,

We hope to be in a position to do something very aggressive on global warming when we have a new President. However, we still have a lot of difficult people, including two senators from Alaska who won’t agree.

The Arctic Leaders have been visiting Senators’ offices in Washington DC, for the past three days to persuade the Senators to back urgent action on climate change. The Leaders have stressed that they are not backing any particular Bill, or any particular US political party, but simply want to see the United States take any action that will start to stabilize temperatures in the Arctic.
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by Clive Tesar

Arctic leaders touring the United States with their eyewitness messages of climate change shared their stories with local Indigenous Peoples yesterday. The exchange came during a tour stop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The audience at a public meeting in a Presbyterian church included local Anishnabe people, and also some descendants of Saami people who had come to hear Saami Council Vice President Olav Mathis Eira.

Clyde Belcourt, a local Anishnabe elder, spoke of the local impacts of climate change that Indigenous Peoples in Minnesota are seeing. He mentioned a drop in water levels that is affecting the spawning beds of local fish such as walleye. Even more importantly, the low water levels are threatening the habitat of the wild rice, a traditional crop that is not only economically important to local people, but also has great cultural significance. Read the rest of this entry »

by Clive Tesar

Arctic Leaders were given a standing ovation today after bringing their observations of climate change to a public meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas. The event, at the Clinton School of Public Service, was the first of several taking place across the United States in the next week.

The leaders were introduced by a local celebrity, Minnie Jean Brown. Brown was one of the students known as “the little Rock 9″, a group of black students who were the first in the state to defy racial segregation in schools. She recognized the similarity between the rights Arctic Peoples are fighting for, and her own fight for rights years ago.
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It is now unclear whether or not the post of Arctic Ambassador has been cut by the Canadian government. Initially, it was reported that the position had been cut as a cost saving measure, and that the former ambassador, Jack Anawak, was out of the job. Spokespersons for the Canadian government now say that although Anawak is gone, there is no news on whether the actual position remains. They say what is known is that the functions previously performed by the ambassador will now be performed by a senior government official.

Anawak, an Inuit former politician from Nunavut, had been the ambassador since 2004. The post was created twelve years ago. Anawak is reported by CBC Radio saying he is disappointed with the decision.

“In view of the fact that the Arctic Council is a very important body, and upcoming issues, like climate change and global warming, are very important issues that Arctic Council is dealing with, as well as the upcoming International Polar Year.”

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by Bobbie Jo Greenland

I attended the Coastal Zone Canada 2006 Youth Forum in [GP:Tuktoyaktuk], Northwest Territories, Canada, from August 11-14, 2006. This conference was about the impacts of climate change on coastal communities. Tuktoyaktuk was a good place to hold it. The community has spent millions of dollars in the past few years on putting rocks on the shoreline to try stop erosion. The warming climate is raising the sea level, and warming the permafrost that holds the shoreline together. Read the rest of this entry »

Arctic Day was an event during the United Nations Climate Change Convention meeting in Montreal. It was a joint effort between the Canadian Government and several Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations (for more on this see the story below). The Arctic Athabaskan Council produced this film from the event:

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