On the importance of having an international voice

For so many of our people, the value of engaging at the international level is often questioned. I think it’s the same for every Indigenous nation or community across the globe — when we have such urgent issues facing us right here at home and we need the resources to plug the holes that exist. Why? When we first organized in June of 1977, in Utqia?vik, Alaska, one of the issues that was facing Iñupiat in Alaska was a pending ban on Aboriginal subsistence whaling by the International Whaling Commission. So, we had to have a voice at the international level. We had to amplify our voice within the IWC to ensure that there wasn’t a ban on the way of life of the Iñupiat whaling communities. Eben Hopson, the founder of the organization, knew that and had the extraordinary foresight to pull the organization together, knowing that these external forces would become day-to-day challenges for us at the international level. So the fact that he had the foresight to bring our people together — to ensure that we transcend the borders and the boundaries in order to link arms and perspectives — and create an entity to serve as an advocacy organization for our people was crucial. It remains crucial to this day, especially as we see the increasing impacts of climate change, which have triggered the increasing interest in the region, largely focused on commodities, whether it’s the Chinese and the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement or the potential for uranium or thorium, lithium, rare earth elements or oil and gas, or whatever it happens to be. The hunger of those from other parts of the world have made it imperative that we are able to utilize the ICC as an international voice to register our perspectives as well as our concerns and our claims as distinct peoples.

On historical advocacy

Sheila Watt-Cloutier [former international chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council] really did effectively, as an Inuk, put the human face on climate change. The challenge she made through the Organization of American States to draw attention to the impacts of climate was a huge, bold step. It put the impacts of climate change on our homelands front and centre in a way that raised the red flag. That was such an important turning point. Certainly, we knew in 1992 at the World Conference on Environment and Development that this change was taking place. And now it’s commonplace for people to state that climate change is impacting the area twice as fast as any other region in the world, probably faster.

On changing attitudes towards Inuit

The Arctic and ice and snow — it’s universal. I suppose to some extent it’s almost like a calling card. You know — you’re from the Arctic, you’re an Inuk — you can go almost anywhere in the world and people know that, “oh, you’re the people that live in the ice and snow.” But I think that having the corridors of international relations lined by developments like the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and other elements, has been extremely helpful — that we, as a matter of the right of self-determination, have the right to a seat at the table. And by virtue of that, we have the ability, the capacity — indeed, the responsibility — to share our views and perspectives in favour of our people with the objective of ensuring that we’re always going to be here. I really do think that we’ve come to a point in time where we’re starting to turn the corner to ensure that we do have a place in this space. I see and feel a level of support for what we’re doing, what we’re seeking to gain in every forum that we’re involved in — a level of respect and recognition that I think the subject matter deserves. Even though there are problems all around us, I’m absolutely optimistic.