All Things Polar Indigenous Regions: first nation arctic peoples

Roughly one in eight inhabitants of the Arctic regions are First Nation peoples.  The largest groups include the permanent members of the Arctic Council: the Aleuts, the Athabascans, the Gwich'in, the Inuit, and the Sami.  In addition, the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) contains an additional 40 groups.  Several of these groups, the Inuits for example, have multiple definable subgroups. Depending on how indigenous is defined, peoples in these regions comprise about a half a million in total. Amongst these groups there are significant cultural and lifestyle differences, however all have had their ways infringed upon and modified by settlement and development from outside forces.  Though many areas have seen increases in indigenous populations, numbers have been decreasing in the far north of Russia, Finland, and Sweden.  Only Iceland does not have a history of indigenous inhabitants. 
Historically, First Nation peoples have been inextricably linked to the land, accompanying ecosystems, and the associated animal and plant life living above and below the water.  Their ways of life, their cultures, their spiritual beliefs, and their values all stem in large part from these relationships.  Reindeer herding, seal hunting, and fishing have been their way of life for centuries. Since at least the mid-20th century forces have been brought to bear on their populations, some intentional some not, with profound effects:

  • Climate change-the single largest factor altering northern indigenous ways. Transportation (winter ice highways), food supplies (declining fish and game populations coupled with increasing invasive species), water availability (changing meltwater patterns), and more are all affected by warming temperatures, melting sea ice, and thawing permafrost

  • Influences from mainstream cultures and media-Increasingly rapid social change over the last 50 years has altered all aspects of family dynamics, parent-child relationships, marriage traditions, diet and more. Increasingly, family units are moving to population centers.

  • Changing educational opportunities-government and corporate infrastructure have brought about increased educational and vocational opportunities for indigenous populations. Though certainly a positive, this has fundamentally altered the traditional nomadic lifestyle and brought about other societal changes.

  • Resource development-oil, gas, and mineral resource explorations have offered economic opportunities to indigenous and non-indigenous peoples alike. The sustainability of these activities is unclear, but the lasting effects of these activities on indigenous’ way of life is unmistakable.

A few truths: Indigenous peoples in the arctic face unique pressures not found in more temperate climates; this reality requires both tolerance and innovative solutions not required elsewhere.  First nation peoples have been and continue to be masters of adaptation to the forces listed above.  Hopefully, their ability to emerge on the other side of these seismic changes with positive outcomes will continue.

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