Arctic Indigenous Peoples

Arctic Council — by Kris Molle — last modified Feb 11, 2009 03:18 PM

The 1996 Ottawa Declaration formally established the Arctic Council as an intergovernmental forum to provide a way to promote cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, the Arctic Indigenous communities, and other Arctic inhabitants on common issues. Particular issues include maintaining the cultures of arctic indigenous peoples, sustainable development, and environmental protection. Member States of the Arctic Council are Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America. (include map) There are six expert working groups that carry out the scientific work of the Arctic Council focusing on such issues as monitoring (AMAP), assessing and preventing pollution in the Arctic (ACAP), climate change, biodiversity conservation (CAFF, PAME) and sustainable use (SDWG), emergency preparedness and prevention (EPPR) in addition to the living conditions of the Arctic residents (SDWG). Each member state receives the opportunity to chair the Council for two years. Norway, Denmark, and then Sweden will hold the chair from 2006-2012.

Rights of Indigenous Peoples — by Kris Molle — last modified Feb 11, 2009 03:43 PM

The rights, claims and even identity of indigenous peoples are understood, acknowledged, and observed quite differently from government to government. Various organizations exist to, in one way or another, promote (or at least acknowledge) indigenous aspirations, and indigenous societies have often banded together to form bodies which jointly seek to further their communal interests. Specific countries have also recognized the rights of the indigenous peoples living there through acts, amendments, and/or laws. In cooperation, representatives of Indigenous peoples have met in The World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP), which held its first conference in British Columbia in 1975. Cooperation has continued in the research and education organization The Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS), founded in 1984, in Olympia, Washington, USA. Indigenous peoples and their interests are also represented in the United Nations primarily through the mechanisms of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP). In April 2000 the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution to establish the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) as an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council with a mandate to review indigenous issues. In September 2007, after a process of preparations, discussions and negotiations stretching back to 1982, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The non-binding declaration outlines the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to identity, culture, language, employment, health, education and other issues. Four nations with significant indigenous populations voted against the declaration: the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Eleven nations abstained, thirty-four nations did not vote, while the remaining 143 nations voted for it. Countries voting against the Declaration said they could not support it because of concerns over provisions on self-determination, land and resources rights and, among others, language giving indigenous peoples a right of veto over national legislation and State management of resources. They mostly disagreed with the way the declaration is worded, and therefore applied, not its motivating principles. Other U.N. bodies address indigenous rights through Conventions such as the International Labour Organization’s Convention No.169 and the Convention on Biological Diversity (Article 8j)

Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations — by Kris Molle — last modified Mar 16, 2010 02:57 PM

There are various Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations covering the Arctic region. Please note that the information and all materials (photos, publications etc.) provided on the Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations was reproduced (unless otherwise stated) with the kind permission of the individual Organisations themselves for which PCO would like to express their thanks.

The Barents Euro-Arctic Council — by Kris Molle — last modified Feb 17, 2009 01:29 PM

The Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) is the forum for intergovernmental cooperation on issues concerning the Barents Region. The BEAC meets at Foreign Ministers level in the chairmanship country at the end of term of office. The chairmanship rotates every second year, between Norway, Finland, Russia and Sweden. The Russian Federation took over the Chair from Finland in November 2007 for the period 2007-2009, and will be followed by Sweden 2009-2011.

News Articles & Publications — by Kris Molle — last modified Jan 14, 2009 02:54 PM

Here you can find news articles and publications relating to the Indigenous Peoples.

Links — by Kris Molle — last modified Feb 17, 2009 01:37 PM

Links to other organisations dealing with indigenous issues that aren't necessarily related to the Arctic region.