Cultural and Language Systems

Resolution for Stronger and More Lasting Protection of Tribal Subsistence Resources in the Northern Bering Sea and to Ensure Tribal Self-Determination for Decisions Impacting These Resources

The goals of the Workshop were threefold: (1) to share information gathered through the Arctic Council project with the communities; (2) gain insights that can be shared with the Arctic Council project on best practices emanating from the Gwich’in Settlement Area; and (3) provide an opportunity to build capacity and facilitate discussions amongst those involved in Environmental Impact Assessments.

This report surveys options for Indigenous groups based on three models and case studies from the Canadian experience. This work is intended to assist Indigenous groups throughout the Arctic and beyond in deciding whether and how to establish their own Indigenous-led impact assessment processes over resource development in their homelands.

These fundamental principles on Traditional Knowledge will strengthen the Arctic Council and advance its objectives by supporting the active participation of Permanent Participants. Traditional Knowledge has been formally recognized by the Arctic Council as important to understanding the Arctic in numerous Ministerial Declarations, including the 1996 Ottawa Declaration on the establishment of the Arctic Council.

For the May 2021 workshop, we wanted to hear from all of the Tribal participants about things they think are working and things that are not working with regard to how research is carried out in the Bering Strait region. This includes all types of research - for example, vessel-based research like marine mammal studies or trawl research; tagging of animals; research that involves deploying instruments in the water or air; research that involves interviewing community members or documenting Traditional Knowledge and other community information; and so on.

As part of their broader efforts on Knowledge Sovereignty and Indigenization, partners and project team leads Kawerak Inc. and Sandhill. Culture.Craft organized and facilitated a gathering of Bering Strait region Indigenous language experts on December 17 and 18, 2019 in Nome, Alaska. The gathering was held at the Katirvik Cultural Center, and featured two days of intensive discussion, documentation, and recording of Indigenous terms related to research, science, and policy issues.

This collaborative project between the Saami Council and the German Arctic Office depicts the ways of life Indigenous Peoples lead in the Arctic. As resilient cultures, Arctic Indigenous Peoples hold distinct knowledge on how to respectfully use the environment to co-exist within the ecosystems. Even though resilience is enclosed within these cultures, the challenge of coping with both environmental changes and domestic regulations affects the practice and development of Indigenous Knowledge.