Inoqatigiinneq –Sharing Life

By Jamie Bastedo

Aplaneload of Inuit leaders celebrated Canada Day this year in Nuuk, Greenland. While most of us took a day off to celebrate summer, they had been working long hours, through that whole week, to tackle some of today’s most pressing issues facing Inuit society. They had gathered for the 11th General Assembly of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), the organization that fosters political and cultural strength among 150,000 Inuit from across Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia.

Make no mistake, this meeting was a big deal, requiring a major investment of time, money and resources by several nations and lots of very important people. This special forum happens only once every four years. Delegates included Inuit leaders from all levels of government, federal Ministers, United Nations diplomats, ambassadors, plus renowned scientists, educators, sociologists and economists. The Honorary Patron for this esteemed Assembly was none other than His Royal Highness Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark.

Still, as high-powered as this meeting was, organizers gave it a simple name that evokes images of good times at home with family and friends: “Inoqatigiinneq, Sharing Life”. Mary Simon, President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, captured this practical, back-tobasics tone of the Assembly in her opening remarks. “These meetings demonstrate that of the many complex international issues we discuss, most issues in the end are basic human issues affecting the well-being of our families.”

The meeting’s agenda was dominated by these five issues:

• Economic development in a fast-changing Arctic and global economy;

• The Arctic environment and the many stresses it faces due to contaminants, climate change, and threats to biodiversity;

• Hunting and food security, with a focus on the effects of animal rights groups on traditional activities;

• Governance of Arctic regions, particularly in light of sovereignty questions that are heating up as sea ice thaws and development pressures mount;

• Health and well-being, with a focus on community wellness and the importance of language and culture in supporting youth. »

“Most of these issues are ongoing,” Duane Smith told Tusaayaksat a few weeks after the Assembly. Born and raised in Inuvik, Smith is a veteran advocate of Inuit rights and Vice Chair of ICC. He feels that each issue has many levels and, as the Assembly’s theme suggests, ultimately reaches back to touch all Inuit homes. In fact, for Smith, housing itself is a big issue that deserves much more attention. “I don’t think this issue will ever go away primarily because the Inuit population is recognized as one of the fastest growing, where population is rising much faster than housing can keep up. Therefore you have overcrowding issues, poor living conditions, the re-emergence of certain health diseases such as tuberculosis, poor air quality, dietary issues. Health is a broad issue and relates closely to the quality of housing and the standards that are set.”

Tusaayaksat asked Smith how he saw our federal government responding to such issues. “The present Conservative government has it’s own way of operating and delivering,” he said, “and we have to try to work out a process where the Inuit nationally can have a relationship with them to raise issues of concern. Unfortunately it always takes time, with any government, be it the federal or regional level. When we see an issue of dire need for attention right then and there, it’s not always their first priority. Hopefully we can develop some kind of mechanism to deal with these pressing issues in a more immediate manner. To some degree I believe this federal government has been trying to do that. In other areas like housing they are definitely lagging.”

Smith stressed that, in dealing with the kinds of issues addressed by the ICC Assembly, governments need to deal with them more directly, “instead of through standard processes that have been in place for the past fifty years.”

Smith was one of the nine international delegates who signed the Nuuk Declaration, the Assembly’s flagship document that will steer ICC’s work over the next four years. It is an inspiring and practical assertion of Inuit values and priorities shared around the circumpolar world.

The Nuuk Declaration begins by recognizing that “the respectful sharing of resources, culture, and life itself with others is a fundamental principle of being Inuit.” It encourages all Inuit, in the spirit of the Assembly’s theme, “to share their life’s experiences and Inuit knowledge with each other and with those who live beyond the circumpolar region.”

The Declaration highlights youth as “the key to a sustainable future” and calls for more meaningful engagement of children, youth and elders in the work of ICC. Further, it strongly encourages all Arctic states to fully implement the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Heightened threats to the Arctic marine environment were also highlighted, with the Declaration making specific mention to the Gulf of Mexico’s recent offshore oil disaster. It calls for increased recognition of the fragility of Arctic waters and of the fact that “any significant oil spill would be catastrophic for Inuit”. It points to the “significant concern and measured fear” shared by Inuit people over shrinking sea ice but also to their history of successfully “finding resources within their communities and elsewhere to adapt and meet challenges created by change.”

True to ICC’s core mandate, the Nuuk Declaration calls for putting Inuit issues, concerns, and rights at the centre of all Arctic policy initiatives and decisionmaking. In this spirit, it makes special mention of the UN’s 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and encourages all Inuit to learn about this important affirmation of their rights and how it applies to their particular situation. It also directs the ICC to “strongly encourage all Arctic states to fully implement its provisions”.

The entire text of this document is definitely worth reading. To find it, just search “Nuuk Declaration 2010” on the Internet. You’ll see that a lot of its directives are aimed at preparing for a looming storm of change, most of which is arising outside of Inuit homelands.

Keynote speaker, Marie Greene, President of Alaska’s NANA Regional Corporation, spoke eloquently on this subject. “As the Arctic becomes more accessible to the Outside world – as the world creeps closer to our borders, our waters, our lands – we must work together to protect them. We must stand together, for we face strong Outside influeneces and we will need each other to remain steady when this impending storm comes. If we are united, we will succeed. I urge us, as Native peoples of the North, to make a pledge to consult not only with our own people but with each other. To make every effort to work through our differences so we can face the world in strength of unity... We will show the world that though we speak different languages, we are one people, we are the Inuit, and this land is ours.”

In reflecting on the impact of the Nuuk gathering, Mary Simon stated that, ”I have always used events such as these ICC meetings as a marker to evalutate our progress on the most pressing issues of the day. It is my hope that the 2014 Assembly looks back at this week’s event as the beginning of a renewed emphasis and effort towards positive social change for Inuit.” Simon spoke passionately of the responsibility of Inuit leaders to move governments beyond statements of good intentions into “a new era that will look at the health and education of Inuit as a measure of our entire country’s well-being.”

In a typically punchy closing to her talk, Simon declared that, “Inuit have never accepted the status quo as anything other than the starting point for change. Let the 2010 ICC General Assembly be that point in time for a new era in social change for the Inuit. Nakurmiik.”∞