During this time of anthropogenic climate change, living in the fastest warming region on the planet requires this expertise. Across Inuit Nunaat, Inuit have shown incredible capacity to adapt to the myriad of climate change impacts, from unpredictable sea ice to thawing permafrost, from sudden changes in our food systems to impacts on our language.
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is an important tool in our work to affirm our distinct status, rights, and role as Arctic Indigenous peoples. The UN Declaration explicitly affirms our right to self-determination, a prerequisite to the exercise and enjoyment of all other human rights. It also recognizes the profound relationship we have with our lands, territories, and resources. Therefore, when we speak of this relationship, it is crucial for the IUCN and the global community to respect and recognize the interrelated, interdependent, and indivisible human rights of Inuit as distinct Indigenous peoples.
Through respect for and recognition of the rights of Indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and resources, we can ensure our values, customs, and practices of sustainable development are maintained and manifested in a way that supports our survival as a planet and as diverse peoples. However, this requires accommodation of our rights in the broadest sense.
A major contribution of Indigenous peoples to nature-based solutions is the wealth of “intricate knowledge” we have accumulated about our respective ecosystems. Indigenous peoples hold highly developed, sophisticated, and detailed understandings of the world where all aspects are interrelated, interdependent, and indivisible; if one element is disturbed, the whole will be impacted.
Our worldview reflects our relationship to our territories. Our relationship with our environment is diverse and extensive and includes the harvesting of marine mammals, fish and vegetation that contribute to our food security; sustainable use, management and co-management of the marine environment as an expression of food sovereignty; and traversing across oceans.
As a people of the sea, we have been creating new paradigms for marine conservation with Inuit-led approaches that build on our culture, values, and economy. The Pikialasorsuaq – in Canada, the Sarvarjuaq - is only one example of how Inuit in Canada and Greenland see marine conservation of a globally important region – the North Water Polynya.
It is necessary for all UN member states, the UNFCCC, CBD, IMO, international conservation and wildlife organizations including the IUCN, and all other specialized agencies and intergovernmental organizations to make the clear, unequivocal linkages between oceans, biodiversity, climate change and Indigenous rights for the well-being of the entire world. Indeed, the IPCC Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere underscores this essential dynamic. Such an understanding has direct relevance in a wide array of international and national fora (e.g. CBD and the Post 2020 Framework; Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions (BBNJ); the Central Arctic Ocean Treaty; the Arctic Council) and most importantly, explicit recognition of the pivotal role of oceans for Inuit and all of humanity.
For too long, we have faced difficulties with the acceptance and understanding of Indigenous human rights. It is time to turn the corner and ensure that the legitimacy and value of Indigenous lifeways and knowledge as well as respect for and recognition of Indigenous human rights are an integral element of every society. Through the ethical engagement of Indigenous peoples and their knowledge holders, we may find important pathways to co-production of knowledge that will ultimately contribute to safeguarding the planet for all. As Eben Hopson, the founder of the ICC stated in 1977, “Our language contains the memory of four thousand years of human survival through the conservation and good managing of our Arctic wealth…Our language contains the intricate knowledge of the ice that we have seen no others demonstrate. Without our central involvement, there can be no safe and responsible Arctic resource development.”
The right of self-determination combined with the original Indigenous conceptions of sustainable development and our knowledge systems are all necessary factors to ensure equity and equality between Indigenous peoples and others – We are at the heart of sustainable development and the overall integrity of the planet.
There is a fundamental need for trust and respect.
In conclusion, there is extraordinary power within our communities, especially in the face of the dramatic and rapid changes that we are seeing in the Arctic due to climate change and other factors. I believe that we are prepared to contribute to the wide range of issues and challenges that the entire world community is facing. Thank you. Quyanaq.
About the author
Dr Dalee Sambo Dorough is the International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC); an Arctic Indigenous peoples organization founded in 1977 that represents the rights and interests of Inuit in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Chukotka Russia. ICC is also one of the founding members that led the push to create the Indigenous Peoples Organization (IPO) member category of the IUCN. Dr Dorough is an Inuk from Alaska where she has been active in international relations, international law, and international human rights law as well as Alaska Native self-determination. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law (2002) and a Master of Arts in Law & Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University (1991). She is a former Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science at University of Alaska Anchorage. Dr Dorough served as an Expert Member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and is presently the co-Chair of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Implementation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Her professional interests focus upon Indigenous human rights and Arctic issues. She lives with her husband, Luke (Waccamaw Siouan) in Anchorage, Alaska and their daughter, Hannah.
