Real Voices from Arctic Indigenous Peoples – Review for the 2nd ArCS II Public Lecture
*This article was originally published in ArCS II News Letter No.7 (Aug. 2023).
We held the second ArCS II Public Lecture, titled “Indigenous Peoples’ Lives and Culture in the Arctic – Living in the Era of Global Warming,” on March 11, 2023, at the Hitotsubashi Hall in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo in the presence of invited representatives of indigenous peoples living in Denmark and Norway. Below is an overview of the lecture summarized by Mr. Ryo Kusaka (Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University), who is one of the panelists and working on the ArCS II coastal environments program of elucidating the wisdom of the Greenlandic people’s way of life scientifically, including fur clothing and dog sledding.
In the lecture, we welcomed two speakers: Dr. Navarana K’avigak’ Sørensen, a former Greenland resident now living in Denmark, who is conducting activities to carry on Inuit culture; and Mr. Rune Fjellheim from Norway, who is a senior adviser to the Saami Council. Climate change has a greater impact on indigenous peoples living in high-latitude regions and relying on traditional ways of life closely tied to the natural environment. Inuit, who go hunting on dog sleds across sea ice, and Saami, engaged in reindeer herding, are no exceptions. In recent years, as seen in the idea of purchasing Greenland floated by former U.S. President Donald Trump, they are also being drawn into maneuvering among countries over natural resources. Against that background, it is of great significance that the two indigenous representatives participated in the Public Lecture of ArCS II, which has listed as one of its targets the assessment of effects exerted on our human society by rapid environmental changes in the Arctic region, and talked about the current status of indigenous peoples as a whole. Taking part as panelists from the Japanese side were Dr. Kaori Ishii of Tohoku University, who is a researcher on waste disposal in Alaska, and myself. I am not studying myself climate change and indigenous rights specifically, but I have been invited to speak for my research focus on the folk handicraft of Greenlandic Inuit and my interactions with local people.
At the event, Navarana-san took the rostrum first, speaking of her background and culture of northern Greenland, and then performed traditional drum dance. Next, Rune-san talked about the livelihood of Norwegian Saami and introduced activities of the Saami Council. In the latter part of the lecture, a panel discussion was conducted, where Ishii-san and myself also participated. With Mr. Yuya Nishimura, the founder of NPO MIRA TUKU, acting as a moderator, we discussed ways of handing over indigenous culture, waste disposal and other issues. Then, we answered questions posed from the audience.
Now, allow me to introduce details of the speeches delivered by Navarana-san and Rune-san.
Dr. Navarana K’avigak’ Sørensen
Born in Uummannaq in the Thule district of Greenland in 1947, I moved to Qaanaaq in the northwest in 1953. I had to leave my native village as a U.S. military base was built in Uummannaq. In the old days, people used to go back and forth freely between Qaanaaq and Uummannaq on a dogsled route across a glacier. However, from around 15 to 20 years ago, it became difficult to use this route as the glacier retreated.
We use fur from polar bears, etc. and sealskin for our clothing. The food available in Greenland includes polar cod, seals, narwhal, Greenland halibut, musk oxen, and reindeer. Kiviak is a fermented food made by placing a seabird called appaliarsuk inside a sealskin pouch, and it becomes delicious to eat after fermenting for three months. I began to learn drum dance in 1987. The drumhead is made from the stomach of polar bears or dogs, and the frame is from the ribs of narwhal and walruses.
Inuit living in the far North cannot avoid their livelihood being affected by climate change, but we were able to feel, from Navarana-san’s remarks, their resolve to proactively protect and pass down their culture. When a member of the audience expressed the hope that “the number of people performing drum dance will increase,” I saw Navarana-san’s face smile, leaving a lasting impression.
Mr. Rune Fjellheim
The Saami people live across four countries as a single ethnic group. The Saami language has nine dialects. It is only 5% to 10% of the Saami population that engage in reindeer herding. Their lifestyle is changing due to climate change. When accumulated snow melts, the ground freezes due to the melted water, making it impossible for animals to dig through snow and search for plants. This has led to a situation where reindeer cannot feed themselves to a sufficient extent.
Let me introduce activities of the Saami Council. The first is the issue of wind farms having been constructed on pastures of Saami reindeer herders. We conducted protest campaigns against the Norwegian government, and won its official apology. Another activity involved conclusion of a contract on the production of a Saami-language version of Frozen II between the indigenous people and Walt Disney Animation Studios. The accord allowed our opinions to be reflected in the movie. Saami were once prohibited from speaking their mother tongue under Norway’s assimilation policy.
It was impressive to see Rune-san proudly recount the activities of his ethnic group striving to have their voices reflected even in the midst of their challenging history. On the wind farm issue, there appear to be cases not meaning complete solutions, including the continued operation of existing wind turbines despite the court verdict that found their construction illegal. However, I was impressed by their continued pursuit of a path to coexist with nature.
The panel discussion, conducted with the help of interpreters, may not have allowed sufficient debate due to time constraints. But I think we were able to share positive moves toward addressing challenging issues, as exemplified by Ishii-san’s introduction of a project to ship back batteries and other hazardous waste for treatment from rural to urban areas in Alaska. As for questions posed from the audience that remained to be answered, we made our replies public later on the ArCS II website (only in Japanese). Through the lecture and other opportunities, we not only sought to raise awareness widely about the lifestyles of indigenous peoples in the North but also had a renewed feeling that it is necessary to share their challenges and intensify activities toward their resolution.
