Abstract
One of the most important developments in Arctic politics is the emergence of a diverse range of governmental and non-governmental organizations which represent the interests and goals of the Indigenous peoples of this vast and diverse region. Although many of these organizations exist at the local and sub-national levels and promote the self-determination of Indigenous peoples in individual countries, several transnational organizations representing Indigenous peoples across multiple states are active in the international arena. These organizations have participated extensively in international forums and associations such as the Arctic Council, where they have contributed to the development of policies aimed at monitoring and protecting the Arctic environment, and emergency response and management. As climate change and advances in technology make the Arctic more accessible to resource development and maritime transportation, the Indigenous peoples who have lived in this region for thousands of years will have to overcome a number of challenges that test their capacity and their ability to continue to project their voice among a multitude of new and powerful actors.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The term Saami is spelt differently depending on the country and context. Other variations include: Sami and Sámi.
- 2.
This does not include Iceland, whose Indigenous population are the descendants of Norse settlers who originally came to the uninhabited island in the ninth century.
- 3.
The eight member states of the Arctic Council are Canada, the United States, the Russian Federation, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
References
Abele, Frances, and Thierry Rodon. 2007. Inuit Diplomacy in the Global Era: The Strengths of Multilateral Internationalism. Canadian Foreign Policy 13 (3): 45–63.
Arctic Athabaskan Council. 2018. https://arcticathabaskancouncil.com/wp/. Accessed September 16, 2018.
Arctic Council. 2018a. https://arctic-council.org/index.php/en/about-us. Accessed October 1, 2018.
———. 2018b. Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North. https://arctic-council.org/index.php/en/about-us/permanent-participants/raipon. Accessed September 14, 2018.
———. 2018c. Aleut International Association. https://arctic-council.org/index.php/en/about-us/permanent-participants/aia. Accessed September 16, 2018.
Axworthy, Thomas S. 2012. Changing the Arctic Paradigm from Cold War to Cooperation: How Canada’s Indigenous Leaders Shaped the Arctic Council. Paper Prepared for the Fifth Polar Law Symposium, Arctic Centre, Rovaniemi, Finland, September 6–8, 2012.
Bennett, John, and Susan Rowley, eds. 2004. Uqalurait: An Oral History of Nunavut. Montréal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Bloom, Evan T. 1999. Current Developments: Establishment of the Arctic Council. The American Journal of International Law. 93 (3): 712–722.
Coates, Ken, and Carin Holroyd. 2014. Indigenous Internationalism and the Emerging Impact of UNDRIP in Aboriginal Affairs in Canada. In The Internationalization of Indigenous Rights: UNDRIP in the Canadian Context – Special Report. Waterloo, Ontario: Centre for International Governance Innovation.
Falch, Torvald, Per Selle, and Kristin Strømsnes. 2016. The Sámi: 25 Years of Indigenous Authority in Norway. Ethnopolitics 15 (1): 125–143.
Gray, Patty A. 2004. The Predicament of Chukotka’s Indigenous Movement: Post-Soviet Activism in the Russian Far North. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Graczyk, Piotr, and Timo Koivurova. 2013. A New Era in the Arctic Council’s External Relations? Broader Consequences of the Nuuk Observer Rules for Arctic Governance. Polar Record 50 (254): 225–236.
Gwich’in Council International. 2018a. https://gwichincouncil.com/. Accessed September 16, 2018.
———. 2018b. https://gwichincouncil.com/sites/default/files/2017-06-23%20GCI%20Background%20Presentation_0.pdf. Accessed September 16, 2018.
Havemann, Paul (ed). 2004. Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Henriksen, John B. 2008. The Continuous Process of Recognition and Implementation of the Sami People’s Right to Self-Determination. Cambridge Review of International Affairs 21 (1): 27–40.
International Labour Organization. 2018. C169 – Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (no. 169). https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C169. Accessed September 20, 2018.
Inuit Circumpolar Council. 2018. http://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/. Accessed September 14, 2108.
Jull, Peter. 1999. Indigenous Internationalism: What Should We Do Next? Indigenous Affairs 1 (January–March): 12–17.
Loukacheva, Natalia. 2009. Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ Internationalism: In Search of a Legal Justification. Polar Record 45 (232): 51–58.
Nuttall, Mark. 2008. Self-Rule in Greenland: Towards the World’s First Independent Inuit State. Indigenous Affairs 3 (4): 64–70.
Rodon, Thierry, and Minnie Grey. 2009. The Long and Winding Road to Self Government: The Nunavik and Nunatsiavut Experiences. In Northern Exposure: Peoples, Powers and Prospects in Canada’s North, ed. Frances Abele, Thomas J. Courchene, F. Leslie Seidle, and France St-Hilaire. Montréal: Institute for Research on Public Policy.
Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North. 2018. http://www.raipon.info/index.php#/. Accessed September 14, 2018.
Saami Council. 2018. http://www.saamicouncil.net/en/. Accessed September 14, 2018.
Sabin, Paul. 1995. Voices from the Hydrocarbon Frontier: Canada’s Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (1974–1977). Environmental History Review 19 (1): 17–48.
Survival International. 2012. Russian Indigenous Peoples’ Organization Ordered to Close. https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/8845. Accessed October 3, 2018.
Tarrow, Sidney. 2005. The New Transnational Activism. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Thompson, Niobe. 2009. Settlers on the Edge: Identity and Modernization on Russia’s Arctic Frontier. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Truth and Rconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015. http://nctr.ca/reports.php. (Date accessed: July 8, 2019)
Watt-Cloutier, Sheila. 2015. The Right to Be Cold. One Woman’s Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet. Toronto: Allen Lane.
Wilson, Gary N. 2007. Inuit Diplomacy in the Circumpolar North. Canadian Foreign Policy 13 (3): 65–80.
———. 2017. Nunavik and the Multiple Dimensions of Inuit Governance. American Review of Canadian Studies 47: 148–161.
Wilson, Gary N., and Jeffrey J. Kormos. 2015. At the Margins: Political Change and Indigenous Self-Determination in Post-Soviet Chukotka. In Arctic Yearbook 2015: Arctic Governance and Governing, ed. Lassi Heininen, Heather Exner Pirot, and Joël Plouffe, 158–173. Akureyri, Iceland: Northern Research Forum.
Wilson, Gary N., and Heather Smith. 2011. The Inuit Circumpolar Council in an Era of Global and Local Change. International Journal 64 (4, Autumn): 909–921.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wilson, G.N. (2020). Indigenous Internationalism in the Arctic. In: Coates, K.S., Holroyd, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Arctic Policy and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20557-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20557-7_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20556-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-20557-7
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)