1. The document discusses international relations and indigenous diplomacies in the Arctic, focusing on the Arctic Council, Inuit Circumpolar Council, and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami as key organizations.
2. It examines how Inuit groups have influenced international policies on issues like climate change and shipping through political activism and legal challenges to nation-state sovereignty.
3. New concepts of Arctic territory have emerged that recognize Inuit occupancy beyond national boundaries and administrative regions, exemplified by terms like "Inuit Nunaat" and "Inuit Nunangat."
(2012) International Relations and Indigenous Diplomacies in the Arctic (16.9 MB)
1. International Relations & Indigenous Diplomacies in the Arctic
For the wonderful educators at the
92nd National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference
Consulate General of Canada, Seattle – 15 November 2012
by Nadine C. Fabbi, Canadian Studies Center, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington
Lost in the Storm, 2001
Napachie Pootoogook
5. 1. Arctic Council (nation-states & indigenous organizations)
2. Inuit Circumpolar Council (recent political activity)
3. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (domestic Inuit political voice)
Analysis (policy, territory, customary law)
6. Arctic Circle - parallel of latitude – approx. 66˚
1/6th of earth’s surface
4 million people / 400,000 indigenous
(almost 7 million Washington State; 4.5 million B.C.)
7.
8. map image from The Vanishing Arctic, by Bryan and Cherry Alexander, 1996.
Arctic Council, 1996
Murmansk Speech, 1987
1. Russia
2. Canada
3. United States
4. Denmark (Greenland)
5. Norway
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Iceland
10. International Indigenous
Organizations
1. Saami Council
2. Inuit Circumpolar Council
3. Russian Association of
Indigenous Peoples of the
North
4. Aleut International
Association
5. Gwich’in Council
International
6. Arctic Athabascan Council
Cartographer / Designer, Philippe Rekacewicz, 2005
11. Cartographer / Designer, Philippe Rekacewicz, 2005
9,000
18,000
40,000
155,000
70,000
250,000
Permanent Participants
Over 500,000
12. International Indigenous
Organizations
1. Saami Council, 1956
2. Inuit Circumpolar Council,
1977
3. Russian Association of
Indigenous Peoples of the
North, 1990
1. Aleut International
Association, 1998
2. Gwich’in Council
International, 1999
3. Arctic Athabascan Council,
2000
Cartographer / Designer, Philippe Rekacewicz, 2005
13. map image from The Vanishing Arctic, by Bryan and Cherry Alexander, 1996.
Arctic Council, 1996
Council Members
1. Russia
2. Canada
3. United States
4. Denmark (Greenland)
5. Norway
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Iceland
16. European Union (2009)
- 27 member states
- three Arctic
- Denmark, Sweden, Finland
- Iceland
17. The Arctic Council… was formed to promote co-operation and co-ordination and interaction in regards to
member states in the Arctic. What [the] European Union is trying to do is not those.
Eva Aariak, Premier of Nunavut
Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health
19. Permanent Observers – Intergovernmental Organizations (9)
International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies
International Union for the Conservation of Nature
Nordic Council of Ministers
Nordic Environment Finance Corporation
North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission
Standing Committee of the Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
United Nations Development Program
United Nations Environment Program
Permanent Observers – Non-Governmental Organizations (11)
Advisory Committee on Protection of the Seas
Arctic Circumpolar Gateway
Association of World Reindeer Herders
Circumpolar Conservation Union
International Arctic Science Committee
International Arctic Social Sciences Association
International Union for Circumpolar Health
International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
Northern Forum
University of the Arctic
World Wide Fund for Nature-Global Arctic Program
36. 10 December 1948
- first major legal
challenge to nation-
state sovereignty
37.
38. - 7 December 2005, Inter-American Commission for Human Rights
- charges US for human rights abuses, ¼ greenhouse 5% population
- violation of the cultural and environmental rights of Inuit as guaranteed in Declaration (1948)
Sheila Watt-Cloutier
39. This was the first international legal action on climate change.
The Inuit effectively transformed the politics of climate change.
The Inuit put a human face on climate change.
43. “Sovereignty … used to refer to the absolute and independent authority of a community
or nation … Sovereignty is a contested concept, however … old ideas of sovereignty are
breaking down as different governance models, such as the European Union, evolve.”
Article 2.1
44. “Many international law
principles and standards in
relation to indigenous peoples
are rooted in the strong
conviction that the
development and
preservation of human
cultural diversity is both a
responsibility and a benefit for
all humanity. The UN
Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples
acknowledges that indigenous
peoples have the right to
maintain, control, protect and
develop their language,
traditional knowledge and
cultural heritage and
expressions.” Article 10.1
45. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
- land claims
- new map, new name
- application new concept territory domestic/international policy
53. “Inuit find it unacceptable that a map
labeled 'Canada's North' on pages six and
seven leaves out all the Inuit communities
in Nunavik (Northern Quebec) - where I live
- as well as those in Nunatsiavut (Northern
Labrador).”
Mary Simon, President
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
