It is time for Inuit and indigenous peoples everywhere to insist upon legal mechanisms to protect our culture and economies. We have global and national agreements to protect unique ecosystems, and we have global and national agreements to protect endangered species. Well, our cultures, our peoples, are endangered and we require the same consideration afforded the environment and wildlife.
I am speaking about this for a reason. At the recent ministerial meeting of the eight nation Arctic Council in Inari Finland the Government of the United States refused to use in the Inari Political Declaration the language already adopted in Johannesburg. At Inari, the State Department representatives said that the USA was not bound by this global document and insisted on a footnote in the Inari Declaration to the effect that Indigenous peoples have no rights to self-determination under international law.
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Hunting to us is not a sport, the process of the hunt is invaluable for our survival, and through it we gain wisdom and respect--the keys to living and acting sustainably. The animals we harvest are completely used, the meat and fat is eaten, the bones are carved and the hides are made into clothing and crafts. The sale of a sealskin vest or a carved walrus tusk provides badly needed cash for our hunters to purchase gasoline for their snowmobiles, ammunition for their guns. By removing our markets through trade barriers, deprives our hunters of cash that they need. If our hunters cannot hunt we lose skills and wisdom that they have to offer our young people.
The age-old relationship between Inuit and the animals we hunt is now affected by external events. The health of our animals is, in part, determined by global environmental factors including climate change and contaminants. Even hunting these animals is hindered as a result of climate change � the ice is changing. Eating our precious country food is questioned because of the contaminants it contains. These external events erode our relationship with the animals, threaten our relationship with the land, and devalue a proven path to wisdom and sustainability.
The hunt is being pushed to the periphery of our life. We need to bring it back to the center. Our hunting culture teaches values of courage, patience, tenacity, respect, good judgment and, ultimately, wisdom. The outside world does not fully appreciate that these character building and decision-making skills that are learned on the land are very transferable and in fact required to survive in the modern world.
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More and more countries recognize that the Arctic is an "indicator" and "barometer" of the health of the globe. This is particularly evident as a result of climate change. Our traditional knowledge is needed to monitor and express the health of the Arctic, and Indigenous peoples are needed to interpret their knowledge to the benefit of all. In convincing the globe of the immediacy of these issues, we must not lose sight of how climate change is affecting our communities. Climate change is not a prediction of the future in the Arctic�it is happening now. In Alaska communities are slipping into the sea, in Canada lakes are draining as the permafrost melts, tailing ponds that hold the waste from mines are failing and releasing their toxic burdens. Our hunters are falling through the ice, animals migration routes are changing the list goes on and on. The world is quick to focus on the plight of polar bears, this of course is important but I want to put a human face on climate change, the face of all Arctic indigenous peoples as we try to adapt to our changing world.
Nakurmiik
Sheila Watt-Cloutier
Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Conference
Anchorage, Alaska
October 25, 2002
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and again:
The work of the Arctic parliamentarians over the past 8 years has contributed measurably to the recognition of the global importance of our region. We face many challenges, surprisingly the harsh climate being the least of these. We are facing a social and cultural crisis that is proving to be very challenging to ou youth; we are facing first hand, global environmental challenges of contaminants, biodiversity loss and perhaps most critically for a people of snow and ice, the effects of climate change.
More and more Inuit are talking about climate change. We have seen the climate scenario computer models. We have talked with climate scientists. We know there is a scientific consensus that climate change will be most pronounced in high latitudes. But we know something else. Climate change is not a long-term issue, it is happening now and it is a concern to Inuit now.
Hunters and elders across the North are reporting daily and weekly, changes to the natural environment as a result of climate change. Reports indicate increased snowfalls, longer sea ice-free seasons, new species of birds and fish and, a general warming trend. This warming trend has also brought with it a myriad of insects. The media has used polar bears as the Arctic face of climate change; we want to see the people first. We are a marine people and share the same concerns of the small island states regarding climate change.
Sheila Watt-Cloutier Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Conference
Ottawa
November 19, 2002
