Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic: Re-taking Control of the Far North

Coates, Ken; Broderstad, Else Grete

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-20557-7_2

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The judicialization of reindeer husbandry and, in particular, the setting of fixed boundaries resulted in 'stiffer [administrative] structures and less room for the solutions that the situation at all times requires' (Government of Norway, 2017, p. 20). A third Reindeer Husbandry Act (2007), more sympathetic to the traditions, aspirations and methods of pastoralists-and, in this respect, considerably more in harmony with contemporary empowering of indigenous peoples of the North (Coates and Broderstad, 2020)-therefore relaxed the role of central administration and awarded herders greater self-determination (Government of Norway, 2017, p. 39). The principle of use since time immemorial was elevated to a 'central place in reindeer husbandry law .…”

Section: Withdrawal Of the Right To Grazementioning

confidence: 99%

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

Tyler

Hanssen-Bauer

Førland

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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The productive performance of large ungulates in extensive pastoral grazing systems is modulated simultaneously by the effects of climate change and human intervention independent of climate change. The latter includes the expansion of private, civil and military activity and infrastructure and the erosion of land rights. We used Saami reindeer husbandry in Norway as a model in which to examine trends in, and to compare the influence of, both effects on a pastoral grazing system. Downscaled projections of mean annual temperature over the principal winter pasture area (Finnmarksvidda) closely matched empirical observations across 34 years to 2018. The area, therefore, is not only warming but seems likely to continue to do so. Warming notwithstanding, 50-year (1969–2018) records of local weather (temperature, precipitation and characteristics of the snowpack) demonstrate considerable annual and decadal variation which also seems likely to continue and alternately to amplify and to counter net warming. Warming, moreover, has both positive and negative effects on ecosystem services that influence reindeer. The effects of climate change on reindeer pastoralism are evidently neither temporally nor spatially uniform, nor indeed is the role of climate change as a driver of change in pastoralism even clear. The effects of human intervention on the system, by contrast, are clear and largely negative. Gradual liberalization of grazing rights from the 18th Century has been countered by extensive loss of reindeer pasture. Access to ~50% of traditional winter pasture was lost in the 19th Century owing to the closure of international borders to the passage of herders and their reindeer. Subsequent to this the area of undisturbed pasture within Norway has decreased by 71%. Loss of pasture due to piecemeal development of infrastructure and to administrative encroachment that erodes herders' freedom of action on the land that remains to them, are the principal threats to reindeer husbandry in Norway today. These tangible effects far exceed the putative effects of current climate change on the system. The situation confronting Saami reindeer pastoralism is not unique: loss of pasture and administrative, economic, legal and social constraints bedevil extensive pastoral grazing systems across the globe.

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Section: Withdrawal Of the Right To Grazementioning

confidence: 99%

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

Tyler

Hanssen-Bauer

Førland

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…Concerning the various responses to change, we have to keep in mind that Arctic Indigenous Peoples have a history of adaptation from long before the current environmental changes they are facing (Krupnik, 1993). Indigenous Peoples have inhabited these regions for thousands of years (Coates and Broderstad, 2020). For example, the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort region has been inhabited for more than 10,000 years (e.g., Anderson, 1988).…”

Section: Responding To Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Untold Stories: Indigenous Knowledge Beyond the Changing Arctic Cryosphere

Eerkes-Medrano

Huntington

2021

Front. Clim.

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Scientific attention to climate change in the Arctic has spurred extensive research, including many studies of Indigenous knowledge and the effects of climate change on Indigenous peoples. These topics have been reported in many scientific papers, books, and in the IPCC's 2019 Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC), as well as attracting considerable interest in the popular media. We assembled a set of peer-reviewed publications concerning Arctic Indigenous peoples and climate change for the SROCC, to which we have added additional papers discovered through a subsequent literature search. A closer look at the 76 papers in our sample reveals additional emphases on economics, culture, health and mental health, policy and governance, and other topics. While these emphases reflect to some degree the perspectives of the Indigenous peoples involved in the studies, they are also subject to bias from the interests and abilities of the researchers involved, compounded by a lack of comparative research. Our review shows first that climate change does not occur in isolation or even as the primary threat to Indigenous well-being in the Arctic, but the lack of systematic investigation hampers any effort to assess the role of other factors in a comprehensive manner; and second that the common and perhaps prevailing narrative that climate change spells inevitable doom for Arctic Indigenous peoples is contrary to their own narratives of response and resilience. We suggest that there should be a systematic effort in partnership with Indigenous peoples to identify thematic and regional gaps in coverage, supported by targeted funding to fill such gaps. Such an effort may also require recruiting additional researchers with the necessary expertise and providing opportunities for inter-regional information sharing by Arctic Indigenous peoples. As researchers who are visitors to the Arctic, we do not claim that our findings are representative of Indigenous perspectives, only that a more accurate and comprehensive picture of Arctic Indigenous peoples' knowledge of and experiences with climate change is needed. Our analysis also reflects some of the SROCC knowledge gaps and the conclusions provide suggestions for future research.

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“…It has continued through the establishment of the Arctic Council in 1996, which has since provided a forum for circumpolar planning, policy making, and agreements without formal legislative or binding authority. Th e growing importance and role of international accords in the region have included the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (which came into force in 1994), and the Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement amongst Arctic states (which came into force in 2013) among many other agreements, which have led to the emergence of the Circumpolar North as perhaps the most signifi cant and successful region in the world in terms of intra-regional legal collaboration and problem solving (Coates and Broderstad, 2019;Sidorova, 2019;Wilson, 2019;Bankes, 2019Bankes, , 1980English, 2013;Shadian, 2018;Byers, 2013;Coates et al, 2010;Rothwell, 1996;Sanders, 1983).…”

Section: Arctic International Law and Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflections on the Evolution of Legal Systems in the Canadian North

Coates

2020

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Th ere is a tendency, perhaps primarily among non-lawyers and the general public, to see the law-and justice, its apparent near synonym-as fi xed and unchanging concepts. Th ere is a general belief that certain actions, such as murder and robbery, are inherently wrong and are unacceptable in all societies at all times. We know that laws, legal processes, and punitive systems are created to provide structure for the regulation, control, and sanctioning of human behaviour, and, in the process, to keep a society safe, secure, and untroubled. Th is seems relatively straightforward. Th e reality, of course, is far more complicated. As societies change and become more diverse, the law morphs into something much more intricate.Working with my colleagues on this special issue of the Northern Review focused on law in the Canadian North brought home the importance of understanding the broader contexts of the law and legal processes. For practitioners, the nature of the law has true immediacy and signifi cant real-world consequences, and must be understood in terms of existing processes, effi ciencies, strengths, and weaknesses. For academics immersed in the theory and concepts such as crosscultural equity, fairness, and eff ectiveness, the law and legal systems are to be investigated and challenged. Both exercises are valuable, for the system must be managed and adjusted appropriately while the larger questions are explored.

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Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic: Re-taking Control of the Far North

Cited by 7 publications

References 20 publications

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

Untold Stories: Indigenous Knowledge Beyond the Changing Arctic Cryosphere

Reflections on the Evolution of Legal Systems in the Canadian North

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