FOUNDED ON ICE AND TRADITION
A Comparative Examination of the Development and Effectiveness of the Inuit Circumpolar and Saami Councils
D. Luke J. Laframboise Supervisor: Per Jansson Examiner: Bo Persson Department of Political Science Master Thesis in International and European Relations ISRN: LIU-IEI-FIL-A--19/03129--SE Word Count: 23999 May 27, 2019
Abstract
There has been a great deal of interest in the Arctic governance in recent years, but little of the interest has been in the indigenous peoples that populate it and the political structures they use to make themselves heard. In this thesis, these political structures, and the peoples that form them, are studied in a historical context in order to determine how these structures were developed, how their cultures have been effected by their relationship with non-indigenous governments and what affect both people and structure have had in their political environment. This was done through a qualitative comparative case study between the Sami of Scandinavia and the Inuit of northern Canada and Alaska. From this study, it was determined that the level of relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous governments determined the degree to which political bodies would occur and their ability affect their political environment. Following this relationship each case example developed a body for their own advocacy as a result of sudden political pressure placed upon them. Overall, this thesis determines that the development of institutions is not fixed, but rather contingent to past events.
Keywords: Inuit, Sami, Arctic, Indigenous, Institutions
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank my mother, Elizabeth Laframboise, who has supported me throughout this adventure. I know you will always have my back, even when I say I’m moving to Europe with only a few months notice.
Second, to Nina Delling, my adopted German Aunt, who inspired me to return to where I’m happiest. I never thought I’d find family at an interview I was a half hour late for.
Third, to the John and Marie Fhager who have been better than family to me. I owe you both more than I can ever repay. Though, I imagine a speedboat would be a good start.
Finally, I would like to thank Per Jansson, my thesis supervisor, who provided much support and good insight into the thesis process, and Stephanie Grimm, my thesis opponent, who provided much needed editing for the final draft. Without either of you this thesis would not have been as good as it is.
This thesis is dedicated to
Ron Laframboise
My father
You left too soon
Table of Contents Part 1: Foundation ...... 0 Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 1 Images of the Arctic ...... 1 A changing landscape ...... 2 Indigenous peoples and opportunities ...... 3 Questions and Structure ...... 4 Chapter 2: Relevance ...... 7 Arctic Relations ...... 7 Indigenous Rights ...... 8 Climate Change...... 9 Chapter 3: Theory ...... 10 History of Institutionalism ...... 10 Theory and Practice ...... 11 Mechanisms of Historical Institutionalism...... 13 Chapter 4: Literature Review ...... 16 Arctic Literature Generally...... 16 Arctic Literature: A Scholarly Balance ...... 17 Cooperative Literature ...... 18 Indigenous Politics ...... 19 Chapter 5: Research Methods ...... 22 The Historical Institutional Approach to Research ...... 22 A presentation of the Cases ...... 23 A Note on Indigenous Research ...... 25 Part 2: Case Research ...... 27 Chapter 6: The Inuit of North America and Eastern Russia ...... 28 The People of the Ice ...... 28 First and Second Contact ...... 30 A History of Ambivalence ...... 31 Political Developments ...... 32 The creation of a Council ...... 34
Changing Times ...... 35 Chapter 7: The Sámi of Fenno-Scandia and Western Russia ...... 38 The People of the Herd...... 38 Early History...... 39 Contact with the South ...... 40 Alta Controversy ...... 41 Developing Solutions ...... 42 A Plurality of Parliaments ...... 43 Changing Priorities ...... 44 The Fall of the Curtain ...... 45 Chapter 8: Analysis ...... 47 History Repeats ...... 47 Critical Junctures ...... 50 Decisions Impact ...... 52 What is to be Learned ...... 55 Chapter 9: Conclusion ...... 57 Images Revised ...... 57 Questions and Tools ...... 57 Answers and Conclusions ...... 58 Bibliography ...... 61
Part 1: Foundation
“From antiquity onward, our stories about the poles have themselves been polar: either the ends of the earth are precious, glorious and ours for the taking or they are desolated, unattainable and deadly.”
Kathryn Schulz, Literature’s Arctic Obsession
Founded on Ice and Tradition - 1
Chapter 1: Introduction Images of the Arctic The Arctic is not a well understood region of the world. For as much as the advances of technology and engineering has made it a more accessible place, interests remain stubbornly southward, for reasons practical and political. Yet, there has always been an interest in a place beyond the north wind since the time of the ancient Greeks (Byers, 2013). Lack of experience though has never been much of an impediment to speculation and few regions are as curious or of popular interest as the northern polar region. Certainly, there is certain allure to the Arctic, a land of untamed beauty, of polar majesty and, fittingly, carefree polar bears. This interest has not waned, but now it is of a different character. The image of a northern gold rush has become popular as of late, as many in the south to wonder of what sort of hydrocarbon riches must exist in such an isolated place. Even with a changing climate and a slowing market for such things, others speculated about reviving an old dream, of creating viable trade rights across the crown of the world through the northwest and, perhaps more viably, the northeast passages. Where there is change, there is opportunity after all. In contrast, a greener, more progressive image of the region is one of untouched and untouchable nature, of desolate tundra and rare animals (GreenPeace, 2019). A place uncorrupted by humanity but inexorably damaged by the changing climate. This is a popular image for a reason.
And yet, these polar images, romantic and enticing as they are, are quite misleading. The Arctic rim is not as desolate as it is often portrayed, nor are its politics quite as binary or as simple. What is often forgotten is that there are people who live beyond the polar circle and have done so for millennia. With a population nearly three million inhabitants spread across eight nations and two continents it is easy to forget that what happens in the south often severely effects the lives of those living north (Fondahl, 2015, p. 8). This is a complex place that does not often fall into the neat political binaries of preservation or exploitation. Where one sees a frozen wilderness, many northerners see a homeland. Where energy companies see opportunity, others know that there are riches to be found, but on their terms, not that of companies from down south. And yet, these competing images have dominated discussions about the region, a place remains beyond the reach for most policymakers, let alone ordinary citizens. Thus, often events Founded on Ice and Tradition - 2 and decisions that impact the north, and those who it inhabits it, are made by those who know the images rather than the reality. That is changing but slowly, perhaps too slowly.
A changing landscape This process of change began gradually, starting with the end of the Cold War. Following changes on the political landscape of such a charged event, the Arctic both gained and lost its place in the world’s imagination. During the war this was a region of strategic importance, with the understanding that if nuclear war was the waged, the Arctic would be the most likely crossover point for intercontinental missiles aimed by NATO and the Warsaw Pact (Emmerson, 2010; Grant, 2010, p. 285). For Russians and Americans this meant a high level of constant vigilance in far flung monitoring stations, built through near zealous desire to avert such a possibility. The impacts of such constructions would not be considered for decades later, as such a focus would see the lives of the inhabitants of such places change inexorability, particularly the indigenous population (Grant, 2010). Yet, the war ended in 1991 and the need for such vigilance was no longer needed, at least at first. The Arctic would not be the battleground that was supposed to be, and monitoring posts would not be needed. All signs pointed to a future of obscurity for the ice-touched region, with political interest turning to other matters as a victorious world power looked forward to better world. Yet, the Arctic has since become the sight of a different sort of war, as the dangers of a changing climate came into prominence with the turn of the 21st century. What should have become a silent Arctic because the battleground for worries over a silent spring (Byers, 2009). And as the effects of such changes began to clearer to those in the south, in the north it was clear that these changes would affect them first. For perhaps the first time in the history of the north, the world was listening and the potential for a greater political relevance was higher than it ever had been. This was an opportunity, though one based one of the distorted images held up by those who have had little interest in the north previously. If anything, the interest in the Arctic has coalesced around these images and have created an environment that demanded their involvement in consideration about the region (Dodds, 2013). It is clear though that these opportunities will not be wasted, but there is need to discuss the role of more than simply these images. In the field of international relations, there is often little attention paid to the role of people. Yet, in the Arctic, people are what make the greatest impact. Thus, there is an opportunity to provide some small contribution the literature about both the Arctic and those who inhabit it. To understand the Arctic is to understand people, Founded on Ice and Tradition - 3 and to understand the effects of these image-based opportunities on people. Yet, before getting there, and understanding the councils they are represented by, it is best to understand who is being talked about.
Indigenous peoples and opportunities With a population spread across three continents, eight nations and countless ethnicities, the Arctic has a diversity of voices, but perhaps the most vocal are those that are considered indigenous. The Inuit of Northern Canada Alaska and Greenland as well as the Sámi of the Fenno-Scandia are perhaps the best known and most successful groups in capitalising on the increased interest in the region (Fondahl, 2015). Both cultures are considered indigenous according to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) a categorisation that is notoriously difficult to judge and fraught with political difficulty (Fondahl, 2015; Greaves, 2016; UN, 2007). UNDRIP is a document that is as close as can be to authoritative on the rights and understanding of indigenous peoples, despite not being ratified by every nation that indigenous groups reside in. As UNDRIP defines it, what connects each group that is considered indigenous, beyond the understanding that they are the original peoples of their land, is that they have faced systemic discrimination and governmental interference in their lives and general neglect by the nations that they are part of (UN, 2007, p. 3). There a myriad of reasons such for such marginalisation, most of which are historical and are foundational to understanding how each group approaches decisions in the north. Yet despite such hardship, when one looks more closely at the Inuit and Sámi, one finds that they are not politically helpless. Rather, they have turned to quite novel solutions to tackle to the challenges they face in their home region. Unlike many other groups in the world they have harnessed their particular interests and turned them towards international ends (Berg-Nordlie, Saglie, & Sullivan, 2015). Through this harnessing they have created their own transnational organisations that stand on equal footing as other such non-governmental political groups.
The first of these structures was founded in the post war era by the Sámi of Fenno- Scandia. Then it was termed Sámi Nordic Council, owing to the Nordic basis of their representation. The name itself was changed after the fall of the Iron Curtain and the reuniting of Russian Sámi. The result was a dropped ‘Nordic’ that created the modern Sámi Council (Berg- Nordlie, 2015). Yet, despite this early start, they Sámi have since focused on individual nation- Founded on Ice and Tradition - 4 building through the establishment of individual Sámi parliaments. These sub-national political structures have been developed in their home nations of Sweden, Norway, Finland and, to a lesser degree, Russia (Berg-Nordlie, 2011; Aikio & Åhren, 2014). The second, and perhaps well known, organisation came about in 1977 by the Inuit of northern Canada, originally called the Inuit Circumpolar Conference referring to the initial gathering of Inuit groups across northern America and Greenland (Wilson & Smith, 2011). The name was then amended to the Circumpolar Council as it became more of a political fixature. As the first of its kind, it has remained perhaps the most influential and served as a template for the creation of the non- indigenous Arctic Council years later (Greaves, 2016; Dodds, 2013). Founded around the same time as the Inuit circumpolar council it has also found itself involved in international matters.
Particular to both has been their inclusion in the Arctic Council, the premiere forum for Arctic decision-making that brings together the eight Arctic nations to better handle governance in the northern polar region (Wilson P. , 2015). As mentioned, it was through the work of these indigenous organizations that the Arctic Council was brought about and remain a key component of the decision-making process. Impact of such organizations is considerable yet there has been little study granted towards understanding such groups in a political systems-based context. What is more, for however integral to the region these groups may to be, they are generally perceived as less important in their regional context, tending towards footnotes rather than principle actors (Shadian, 2006). In general, nations are considered the primary unit of measurement of decision-making and for good reason. Yet these indigenous organizations clearly punch above their weight politically based on the influence they provide for typically marginalised groups.
Questions and Structure There are several questions that arise when one takes a good look at the origins of the Sámi and Inuit Circumpolar Councils, particularly related to the role of more intangible factors, such as history, culture and their historical place as marginalised groups. This is an area ripe for inquiry particularly in the context of Historical Institutionalism, a theory that places great interest in so-called ‘soft’ factors. This will be discussed further in a later chapter though. Thus, this thesis then attempts to look at these questions in a manner that will shed some light on issues that are not often discussed in the context of the Arctic. To this end, the author proposes three Founded on Ice and Tradition - 5 research questions that will be used as the basis for the research presented in this work. They are as follows:
1. In what manner have historical interactions with non-indigenous groups shaped the development of current indigenous policy and organisation? 2. What critical junctures, if any, have arisen in the creation of the indigenous organisations under consideration and how have they impacted their development? 3. To what degree have the indigenous non-governmental organisations been successful in impact decision-making, both on a domestic and international level?
The overall aim of this research is to illustrate the manner in which past conflicts result in present policy priorities, particularly in indigenous context. As uniquely situated NGOs, the Councils have close access to the international Arctic Council, the primary political forum in the region. Thus, it would be of interest to determine how effective they have been in influencing decisions that impact them more than any other group. As this introduction has discussed, images impact decision-making, particularly when related to regions far from typical political centres. Based on the research presented by the author, the answer to the questions presented above come down simply to this. Negative interactions between indigenous groups and their non-indigenous counterparts resulted in the drive toward forming political organisations of their own. Yet, the impetus for such a creation did not come gradually, but rather as a result of a concentrated series of events unique to each group, serving as a catalyst for mobilisation. Finally, the impact of political structures founded by the two indigenous cultures have been mixed, with the Inuit making some gains internationally, while being of limited effect domestically, while the Sámi have had the opposite effect. Overall, this thesis determines that the development of institutions is not fixed, but rather contingent to past events.
To answer the questions proposed, this thesis will proceed as follows. Chapter two will begin with a presentation of the relevance of these questions to political discussion with a focus primarily on the historical developments in the region. After this point I will then turn to the literature at large. Here there will be a focus on the orthodox academic view of the Arctic as a strategic region and its place within national considerations. Chapter three will expand on this, with a brief primer on the history of the Arctic from a national perspective before discussing the errors of omission that have arisen from such. Chapter four will shift focus from the Arctic to the Founded on Ice and Tradition - 6 more practical aspects of this paper, being a presentation of the theory that will underline this work. For the purposes of considering the Sámi and Inuit Circumpolar Council, as well as the Sámi Parliaments, as ethnicity based non-governmental organisations, the author has opted to make use of historical institutionalism as the primary basis for his research. As will be discussed, as the indigenous organisations and their cultures are nearly inseparable, the history of both culture and institution are equally as difficult to fully disentangle. Historical Institutionalism, a theory that focuses on such things, serves as the best framework to understand how both history and change work to create institutions as they stand today. In, chapter five, there will be a further exposition on the methods of this thesis, which will take the form of a comparative case study between the two indigenous councils previously mentioned with a keen interest placed in the manner in which a history has impacted their development and methods, as well as the impact they have had on decision-making both on a national and international level. Chapter five will also include a brief discussion on the special circumstances that face research in regard to indigenous subjects by non-indigenous researchers, a point that I would be remise not to include considering the ever-present impact of colonialism on such groups. Chapter six and seven will then present the case studies of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and the Sámi Council. Both chapters will begin with the history of each people and the development of their respective organisation in their national contexts. From there, there will be an illustration of each organisation from a theoretical perspective as well as an investigation of their impact on political decision-making, both from a sub-national and national level. Chapter eight will then conclude with an analysis of what can be learned from each indigenous organisation and their place within the international ecosystem. As these bodies exist as somewhat unique organisms, it is difficult to classify them as simply non-governmental organisations due to the ethnic and transnational nature of them. This question, as well as the research questions of this thesis more broadly will be answered here. This thesis then will conclude in chapter nine with an overall summation of the topics discussed as well as the findings and the lessons learned throughout.
Founded on Ice and Tradition - 7
Chapter 2: Relevance As brought up in the introduction, political interest in either Arctic issues or those facing indigenous peoples tend not to garner the same sort of interest as other, seemingly more important, problems facing the world. This is slowly changing, particularly as the environmental change facing the world becomes more pronounced. Still, in the interests of providing an incentive for readers, it may be of some use to discuss the relevance of this thesis to current political discourse and how it might better bring into focus the issues faced by both the peoples studied by this work. To this end, this chapter will be devoted to providing said relevance, with a discussion focusing on three important topics that provide this relevance, specifically: Arctic relations, indigenous issues and, of course, climate change.
Arctic Relations As discussed in the introduction, the modern interest in the Arctic can be traced back broadly to the early modern period, but its zenith from the mid 19th to early 20th century (Grant, 2010). The stories of expeditions to the polar regions are well-known the names of Arctic explorers becoming the stuff of national legends. Roald Amundsen, Shackleton and many others are examples of this enduring interest (Bloomfield, 1981). The expeditions first attempted to simply explore, but quickly shifted towards scientific discovery, something still topical today. Yet, this age of curiosity soon gave way to strategic consideration as the 20th century wore on. Certainly, during the Second World War there was some concern over the use of the Arctic as a staging ground to invade the United States, but these considerations were niche at best. It was during the Cold War that the Arctic became rose to prominence, as it was the shortest route through which missiles and aeroplanes could be sent, making it both a risk and a prime location for radar stations (Grant, 2010). This consideration meant a small boom in interest is both economically and politically in the region. In the Canadian context, for example. the Northern Territories, which comprised then of the northern most directly governed regions in the nation, went from a relatively unspoiled simple frontier to, if not booming, then at least developed in a western sense (Greaves, 2016). As will be discussed later this boom in the region of Canada, among all other Arctic territories, continues to resonate to this day, particularly in the indigenous context. Beyond this the Cold War highlighted the importance of a region that up until then had simply been an unknown quantity (Emmerson, 2010). By the end of the Cold War the importance of the Arctic completed the transition from first curiosity, then strategic border and, Founded on Ice and Tradition - 8 in its current form, one of the most well-known examples of the effects of climate change. As a region that is disproportionately affected by the warming trends brought on by a changing climate the Arctic has generated monumental amount of interest from environmental organizations (Grant, 2010). In the context of this thesis, what this the topic under consideration provided is a more nuanced view of the region, as often the image of a frozen land untouched by man is difficult to let go of. History does show that the region has been affected by southern governments, but it is difficult to fully comprehend how this has occurred. Thus, through this thesis, this history and the people that populate it might be better appreciated.
Indigenous Rights Turn towards the subjects of this thesis, rights and history of indigenous people are some of the less understood principles within political science. As a field that primarily focuses actors that are already powerful, there tends to be less attention paid to those on the margins. Yet, this is also changing, particularly in the nations of the Americas, which have a significant population of people who can be termed indigenous. In the Canadian context, for example, indigenous issues have increasingly become mainstream, as governments on both a national and a sub-national level are forced to confront checkered past with indigenous groups. Perhaps the most well known example of this was an even known as Idle No More in 2012, which served as a jumping off point for indigenous issues more generally in the nation (Robbins, 2015). More directly to this thesis, the establishment of the territory of Nunavut serves as the greatest material achievement of this increased mainstreaming, as it was through Inuit initiative and was set aside for a viable homeland (Byers, 2009). It also cannot be understated though how much such an achievement has been tied into indigenous self-organisation, of which the Inuit Circumpolar Council stands as a potent example (Wilson & Smith, 2011). Outside of Canada the Sámi of Scandinavia, have also pushed for greater political say, both in domestic and international affairs. Through their effort, they have perhaps the most developed domestic indigenous organizations in the world due to the establishment of the Sámi parliaments in the early 1970s (Berg-Nordlie, 2015). In the international context there has been the establishment of the Sámi council, which united the five Sámi groups across five borders, further solidifying their transnational character (Lantto & Mörkenstam, 2015). Overall, there is clearly an increased need and desire for study regarding indigenous issues, particularly as the environment continues to change. As peoples with lifestyles Founded on Ice and Tradition - 9 more closely tied to the environment, paying some attention to their struggles may provide an insight into the true cost of what is to come.
Climate Change The final point of relevance for this thesis comes from perhaps the most important issue of our time, which is the changing climate and how indigenous groups themselves are both being affected and how they are affecting policy as a result. Based on current estimates, the world is set to see a rise in temperatures of about 2 to 3 degrees Celsius, which will have a dramatic effect on everything weather related (IPCC, 2018). Nowhere is this more relevant than in the north, which is already seeing temperatures unheard of and a mass melting of ice never seen before in history. This, of course, has led to some debate of how this will affect most nations, as though this warming is dramatically changing the world, some argue this to the benefit of us all. One side effect of the globe warming trend as been renewed interest in the pursuit of new trade routes though newly created gaps in the northern ice sheet (Keil, 2013). Though not within the scope of this thesis, these routes would potentially cut travel time in half by ship. Currently such considerations focus on three routes: the northeast passage, which has seen trade in Soviet times, the Northwest Passage, which remains only partially useable at time of writing, and a yet-to-be- named route that would take ships directly across the top of the north pole (Emmerson, 2010; Economist, 2014). Though these have practical applications, the sense that we would focus on trade to the detriment of world is troubling, to say the least. As second effect has been on the shifting climate of areas inhabited by indigenous groups, the focus of this thesis. As historically marginalised groups, the effects of a changing climate have already hit them disproportionately, particularly those who live in the north, who see the world they inhabit shift dramatically in only a few years. The Inuit are seeing their settlements sink into earth once considered permanently frozen (Greaves, 2016). Taken as a whole, the climate is a point of interest that will only become more relevant, particularly in the indigenous context.
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Chapter 3: Theory In this chapter, there will be a discussion of the theory that underlines this thesis. As discussed in the introduction, the choice of theory came down to a question of what allowed for a greater degree of understanding to be gleaned from the study of the political bodies considered by this thesis and the culture that backs them. As such, the choice of theory was somewhat difficult, as a discussion of history, which is inherent to any discussion around indigenous issues, is not often considered in the subfield of international relations. The main theories, such as realism, Liberalism and Constructivism tend not to include history when forming their worldviews, while smaller theirs, such as English School, only discuss it tangentially. This is a point that will be returned to later in this chapter, but this need for history is one of the most important reasons for the use of Historical Institutionalism, sometimes known by the abbreviation HI. The structure of this chapter then will begin with a history of the theory itself, before turning towards outlining its main tenets, specifically the role of the actor, critical junctures and the use of ideas. This chapter will then conclude with a further discussion on the choice of theory.
History of Institutionalism The history of the study of institutions and institutionalism as such stretches back to the dawn of western philosophical thought, with great thinkers such as Socrates and Aristotle pursuing the question of how groups of people should be best governed. Plato’s Republic is one of the great examples of this, with multiple chapters grappling with such a question. Yet, for the practical political study of institutions, one must look to earlier times. In the mid-to-late 19th century, the creation of political structures was beginning to pick up theoretical steam. It was believed by certain academics and political planners at the time that human interaction could and must be structured into order to create a more civil and just society (Steinmo, 2008, p. 119). This was an idea that owes as much to philosophy as it does to politics, with thinks such as Locke, Rosseau and Hobbes having been foundational for such thinking. This idea perhaps reached its zenith in the post-war period, which provided fertile ground to test this theory through the founding of the Weimar Republic and the League of Nations. Both bodies, in theory, would be engineered in such a way to excel at being political institutions (Steinmo, 2008, p. 119). As history would show though, this attempt at creating perfect institutions failed rather spectacularly and, with it, the study of institutions in general for many decades. Instead, institutions Founded on Ice and Tradition - 11 increasingly were considered simply vessels through which politics occurred, with the units of politics themselves becoming the primary consideration within the field, with Realism being perhaps the most well known. This, in tandem with a field wide shift towards a scientific model of understanding put the study of institutionalism a bit on ice. This changed with in the late 1980s and early 1990s which heralded a new age of theory borne on the back of the collapse of the Soviet Union (Steinmo, 2008, p. 120; Fioretos, 2011, p. 368). The field became somewhat fragmented with this, as new theories such as Constructivism, Feminism and Critical Theory came into vogue. With this came new considerations of the merits of Institutionalism and, with it, Historical Institutionalism was termed and considered.
Theory and Practice As Sven Steinmo, has noted, one cannot neatly describe Historical Institutionalism as simply a theory or a method (Steinmo, 2008, p. 118). Rather, it is an approach to understanding the role and place of institutions in a manner than transcends both definitions as it combines both to form something of a fusion. Before discussing the theory itself, it would be of some use to define a few key terms, starting with the titular institutions as generally understood in the literature. As Steinmo and others have defined them, Institutions in a Historical Institutional context are bodies that allow for and facilitate politics as undertaken by actors, whomever they may be (Thelen & Steinmo, 1992; Hall & Taylor, 1996; Fioretos, 2011). More broadly institutions are frameworks through which actions are facilitated and, in turn, provide the basis for politics to occur at a level that may otherwise be impossible. This is key as it allows for not just nations to interact, but also groups of individuals and, in some cases, groups of organisations (Thelen & Steinmo, 1992, p. 375). A second, and often connected, definition for institutions are commonly agreed standards and norms that are agreed upon by equals (Hall & Taylor, 1996, p. 6). Often cited examples of institutions are such things as the United Nations or the American constitution, institutions that both structure politics in some way. If these examples seem a rather broad mix, that is because it generally is. As institutions relate a broadly defined bunch, one can only look at certain commonalities. One of the most prominent is the shared importance of rules and the creation thereof (Steinmo, 2008, p. 124). This provides more questions than answers, but this is part of the study of institutions, often the truth of what they are defy simple definition. Founded on Ice and Tradition - 12
Turning toward the structure of the theory itself, Historical Institutionalism is that is what one might call a middle range theory. This means that it finds it theoretical niche between the giants of grand theory, such as Realism and Liberalism, and the minute studies of the behaviouralists, as seen by more granular methods (Steinmo, 2008, p. 119). One practical method of understanding the difference between the two, and where Historical Institutionalism fits, is to consider the answers each type seeks. Grand theories attempt to provide a framework to answer every political action. Behaviorists, by contrast, attempt to apply the scientific approach to politics, with the hope of providing a broad categorisation of phenomena. Historical Institutionalism straddles both considerations, with the practical result of this middle of the road approach means that it tackles both theory and method in equal measure.
Historical Institutionalism is principally interested in understanding how institutions form, how they affect the actors that make them up and, in turn, are affected by them (Steinmo, 2008, p. 124). This makes the theory very much an agent-based theory, which interaction between man, state and sub-state being very much within its theoretical wheelhouse. Yet what is interesting for the purposes of this thesis and is one of the primary reasons for its inclusion, is that this is not the only factor that is considered. As Stenmo notes, institutions in this understanding are as much history-based as they are agent-based, which is where the historical part of the historical institutionalism originates (p. 127). Perhaps unsurprising in such an understanding, history is a key component to how HI scholars view political events in general. As this theory posits, politics is a web of highly interconnected events and actors that difficult, if not impossible, to fully separate. Events and individuals can be understood though, if given the proper attention. This proper attention requires certain assumptions though, such as understanding that history matters on a fundamental level. In the context of agents, this means that actors will make mistakes or face external pressure. From this, they will learn from their experience and shape how their politics are pursued moving forward. What is more, they learn to expect different things as experiences change, making history as much a factor in institution making as sheer interest. The problem with such assumptions though, is that HI does not often provide the falsifiable conclusions that would make a quantitative scientist, or neorealist, happy (Steinmo, 2008, p. 134). With that said, this makes such a theory quite useful for the purposes of studying institutions from a qualitative perspective, as this thesis intends to do. Founded on Ice and Tradition - 13
Mechanisms of Historical Institutionalism One of the fundamental problems for Historical Institutionalism is one that faces many theories, and that is the question of change, both how it occurs and how it impacts actors. For HI, there are three mechanisms that they believe help explain how it both does and does not happen. First, it is posited by Historical Institutionalists that humans as agents are not value maximisers but rather value satisfiers (Jönsson & Tallberg, 2001). In the academic jargon this means that instead of always being rational in their interests, as such theories as neorealism and modern economics argue, HI posits that agents simply do as much as is needed to fulfill what is expected of them. That is not to say that individuals are not rational, but rather that their self-interest impacts them in rather different ways than are generally assumed (Hall & Taylor, 1996). This makes them rather difficult units to study on a technical level, as there is no a priori way of knowing how actors will react. What this does provide is an explanation for why institutions remain relatively stable over time, as the cost of change rises the longer they continue to exist. That is not to say that change is not impossible, but that is where the second and third assumptions come in.
The second assumption is the belief that ideas matter. As Sven Steinmo quipped, it would surprise most non-political scientists to discover that political science does not actually run off ideas. Yet, Historicism Institutionalism attempts to bring ideas back in, as it where. According to this theory ideas are creative solutions to collective problems and, in turn, push institutions to change as needed (Steinmo, 2008, p. 131). In this conceptualisation, ideas become a currency for both change and the establishment of new institutions in themselves. An example that Steinmo raises is the creation of the welfare state in the post World War era, while another could be the refinement of the United Nations after the failure of the League of Nations. Though, this latter serves to illustrate a third mechanism that is brought up by Historical Institutionalism and is one that has been brought up previously in the introduction to this thesis, which is the concept of Critical Junctures.
If ideas serve as tools to answer difficult questions, then critical junctures serve as the impetus for change more generally and serve as the third notable mechanism. Put briefly, Critical Junctures are events that serve as shocks that push institutions to come up with new ideas to solve problems that arise. This is alternatively termed punctuated equilibrium, as it assumes that Founded on Ice and Tradition - 14 institutions remain relatively stable until such time as they need to change due to some sort of exogenous shock (Capoccia & Keleman, 2007, p. 341). This follows the logic that, as individuals are value satisfiers rather than maximizers, once an institution is established, the cost of change rises. It simply is easier to keep things the same. A critical juncture then is a point at which the cost is lowered due to existential problems that only new ideas can solve (Capoccia & Keleman, 2007, p. 342). It should be noted that some scholars argue against such a model of change, such as Kathleen Thelen and Wolfgang Streeck, with the argument that this appears quite simplistic and limits the degree of agency provided to the individual (Steinmo, 2008, p. 129). Still, it does provide a quite useful framework from which to understand change. What is more, such exogenous shocks do provide examples of areas where history can and will change decision- making, as previous shocks will result in different reactions from different groups of individuals. This point will be returned to in the second half of this thesis, but suffice to say, this idea of critical junctures can be readily seen not in the organisations, but in the foundation of the organisations themselves.
Taken as a whole, Historical Institutionalism takes these assumptions as well as the dogged use of historical study and creates a framework through which one might understand how events and institutions unfold from a surprisingly human angle. Institutions arise because decisions were made that were impacted by a history that is both complex and intersect with other issues that are not readily visible. This makes for fiendishly complex explanations to often simple-seeming issues, but one can quickly see that they might be perhaps closer to the real issues at hand. What is more, the three mechanisms that expand change do serve as quite useful tools when one attempts to consider problems of individual choice and historical impact (Steinmo, 2008, p. 136). It is based on these things that the author has opted to make use of Historical Institutionalism, as it provides a framework through which one can better view the developments of the Sámi and the Inuit through a historical lens. As many of the actions that were made by the Inuit and Sámi were made in the context of historic marginalisation, to ignore this history would now allow one to proving realistic answers to why they developed as they have. As will be discussed in the second half of this text, many of the decisions made by both groups could have turned out differently if they had not faced a history as difficult as their own. Beyond this, there is the consideration of critical junctures which, though somewhat limited, does provide an interesting explanation for the creation of the respective indigenous Founded on Ice and Tradition - 15 organisations, as each group developed their own organisation after the occurrence of exogenous shocks (Capoccia & Keleman, 2007, p. 342). Still, this is will be a discussion for a further section. It should be noted though, that there might be other theories that might have been made use of by this thesis. For example, paradiplomacy may well have provided the tools to expand the decision-making process of each organisation, but it would have been limited in explaining how the organisations both chose their interests and developed more generally. Other, more grand theories, such as Liberalism or Realism might also have been useful, but they would have been too broad to truly provide much insight into groups that are not directly tied into the major political interests of nations. Another microlevel though might have been useful also, but in the end, it is of the belief of the author that Historical Institutionalism simply provides the best insight in the research questions provided in the introduction. As well, and perhaps more practically, it also provides a framework for research that is quite helpful when studying non- state entities, as will be discussed further in the methods chapter.
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Chapter 4: Literature Review With the foundational knowledge required more or less established in the previous chapters, it is time then to turn towards the academic world more generally. In this chapter, there will be a focus on a review of the literature that has been written on the twin topics of Arctic relations and indigenous affairs. Doing this will perhaps better situate the research questions presented in the introduction as well as demonstrate how this research will, in some small way, contribute to the sum total of current research. This chapter will then proceed as follows. In the first section, I will present a broad overview of the sub-field of Arctic relations before highlighting the two commonly discussed topics of conflict and environment and how they tie together. In the second section I will provide an equally broad survey of indigenous studies with two subsections devoted the Sámi and the Inuit peoples. I will then conclude with a brief statement on the generally held assumptions that arise from these studies and how the impact research more broadly.
Arctic Literature Generally The study of the Arctic in a political science, or even more broadly social science, angle is one that is relatively new. As discussed in the introduction, the Arctic as a region of concern has been a waxing idea since the end of the Cold War, but during that time and even before it was a place that best left to the imagination. Certainly, there were considerations around the use of the area north of the 60th parallel, particularly in Russia and to a lesser extent the US and Canada, but generally it was left to alone. Two of the early scholars that made a point of studying the Arctic in any meaningful ways were TM Tynan, in 1979 who focused on American/Canadian relations in the region and LP Bloomfield in his article in Foreign Affairs titled The Arctic: Last Unmanaged Frontier (1981). These authors remained outliers for the most part though. This of course changed in the late 80s and early nineties as, perhaps might appear rote at this point, the Cold War changed much, and other issues came to the fore (Rowe, 2013). Issues over sovereignty and the role of governance in the high north would increasingly come into vogue during the late 2000s as the peace of the 1990s was well as truly shattered in the wake of 9/11 and the renewed soft rivalry between the United States and Canada (Byers, 2009; Grant, 2010; Chater, 2012). The next subsection will cover this more in detail, but this shifting strategic focus was in many ways late the party, as many academics had already begun to look at the region in a context quite different from the typical study of political science. The environmental movement Founded on Ice and Tradition - 17 had become a force in itself and began to influence thinking on the northern polar region, in part due to its acute vulnerability to the effects of human caused climate change. The second subsection will talk about this more in depth, but in general environmental considerations have in themselves become synonymous with the study of the Arctic, at least from a laymen’s perspective. While this is not necessarily true, the image of a starved polar bear is compelling for a reason.
Arctic Literature: A Scholarly Balance According to the certain perspectives on Arctic research there is a split between academics (Economist, 2014). First, there are those who are of the opinion that the Arctic will become a region of conflict for a variety of different reasons (Dodds, 2013; Isted, 2009). The second group are those who believe that it will remain at a sort of status quo owing to the cooperative structures in place in the Arctic, as well as the generally held belief that the region is not really worth fighting over (Rowe, 2014). This is how it appears in a general sense, but it is not quite accurate, at least once one begins to delve into the literature. In reality, it is quite difficult to find many authors endorsing conflict in the region. Many authors do endeavour to investigate issues relating to conflict in the region, but near uniformly the come to similar conclusions: that the Arctic is, and will remain, a region of peace. Thus, it can be judged, that the political academic community have, for the most part come to a sort of consensus over the possibility of conflict in the region. While the possibility of conflict is a compelling one, fuelled by speculation over the influence of material gain, either through hydro-carbon accumulation or high Arctic shipping, or simple border disputes, there is little evidence to show that such clashes will occur (Keil, 2013). Certainly, the possibility is always there, but it is generally understood that the Arctic Council and the general disposition of the eight Arctic nations are such that any sort of dispute will end peacefully. Furthermore, and perhaps relevant to the case at hand, what few border disputes that have arisen have been dealt with civilly, as the Barents Sea disagreement has shown (Kolvurova, 2011; Rowe, 2014). The only major disagreement is between Russia, Canada and Denmark over a subsea formation called the Lomonosov ridge that remains under legal arbitration by the United Nations and will remain there for another decade or so (Emmerson, 2010). Authors such as Oren Young, Elena Rowe and Michael Bayers are perhaps the most well-known scholars who have argued in favour of this view, but it is perhaps more germane to list academics who do not hold this view. Where debate does arise though, is Founded on Ice and Tradition - 18 over the particulars, specifically how the regions cooperative architecture is maintained, how the regions manage to interact peacefully and, perhaps most illustratively, how the Arctic Council is holding up in a political sense. What tends to be lost in these discussions though, are the role of indigenous groups, as will be shown below.
Cooperative Literature Moving into the specific aspects of the literature regarding Arctic Relations, one cannot ignore the role of cooperation amongst the eight nations that encircle the polar rim, as it is through these relationships that peace is maintained. As discussed, there has been a consensus raised amongst scholars over the relationship between the individual nations and the rise of conflict, but cooperation in itself is of some interest. A connected interest is that of the Arctic Council, the primary forum of diplomacy in the region is of continual debate amongst scholars. In this section I will discuss the broad discourse around both such cooperation and the role of the Arctic Council more generally.
Cooperation in the Arctic tends to follow along national lines, for the most part, with researchers falling back on issues of interest in geopolitical terms to the Arctic. This is not too surprising, as the Arctic is a region of politic interest, but also one that is relatively little considered. The result is an area that is an ideal testbed for ideas, but it does not make for terribly unorthodox writing. The focus tends to be on the potential for conflict, with the results of such research mentioned already(Byers, 2009; Dodds, 2013). There are other interests in the region of course, such as the cases for cooperation in mining and oceanic rights, as well other interests as the next few examples with show, but a great deal of research does tend to tend conservative. In Carolyn James and Patrick James’ article on North American relations, Canada, the United States and Arctic Sovereignty: Architecture Without Building , for example the discussion focuses on the characteristically unstructured relationship between the United States and its neighbour to the north, with the conclusion that this formulation does neither nation any favourites particularly in regards to outstanding disputes (2014). Another example of this thinking can be seen in Moe et al, and their work Space and Timing. Through this work, the authors present a survey of the relationship of Norway and Russia in the aftermath of the Barents Sea Accord (2011). This agreement, which formally delineated the border between the two nations along the disputed Barents Sea route was a landmark agreement considering the often- Founded on Ice and Tradition - 19 aloof nature of one of the parties. Despite this the author remained within the typical interests generally discussed in Nordic strategic literature, rather than tying it into the broader discussion of Arctic Relations. These are but two works that illustrate the general conceptualisation of Arctic Cooperation; an orthodox approach to geopolitics rather than any special considerations for the region itself.
Where cooperation is held in a slightly different light is in regard to the Arctic Council. As the main vehicle for cooperation in the region, it should surprise few that the organisation tends to take up the bulk of research on the region outside of the previously discussed conflict potential. The body, which is nearly twenty-two years old at time of writing, has been a central facilitatory body for agreement in the region as well as serving as a forum for all sorts of scientific and ecological cooperation in the north. This in itself is rather noteworthy, considering the nations at the table, particularly the United States and Russia. Much like any other major international forum though, there has been quite a bit of room for critique by academics, with a particular focus on issues relating to representation, political ability and its role in influencing international action.
Indigenous Politics In this third and final section of the literature review, I wish to expand a bit on what has been writing in regards to indigenous politics and how they are generally studied throughout IR. Owing to the fact that this study has focused primarily on Arctic indigenous issues, it is difficult not to bring up authors that have focused on just that, so there will be little mention of groups outside of the north. There are several authors who have made a practice of focusing on such things, but I will leave that to other, such focused, works.
With that said, I wish to begin with a look at the literature written about indigenous groups in the north more generally before turning towards the specific cases that focus on the Sámi and the Inuit more specifically. Speaking of these groups generally, there is only a relatively few authors that have done a survey of indigenous groups, let alone specifically in the north. Yet there are a few that have been quite useful for this paper. The most foundational one was the book Perspectives on Indigenous Politics¸ a compilation piece edited by Mikkel Berg- Nordlie, Saglie and Sullivan, that brought fifteen different authors together to look at indigenous international interactions broadly, with a focus on northern issues. This work provides a Founded on Ice and Tradition - 20 foundation to much of the research done in this thesis, with Berg-Nordlie being fairly prolific in this regard (Berg-Nordlie, 2011, 2015). Another work that is notable is Wilfrid Greaves’ Arctic (in)security and indigenous peoples, which compared the security policy of both the Inuit and Sámi peoples. It is from this survey that the initial idea for this thesis began. Other authors that take this broad-based approach include Natalia Louhacheva’s Arctic Indigenous Internationalism and any number of Hossain Kamrul’s work on indigenous groups and representation (Hossain, 2013, 2016; Loukacheva, 2009).
Moving into the authors that have provided more specific studies on the indigenous peoples considered by this thesis, there is a surprising among written focusing on the Inuit of Northern America, specifically those in the Canadian high Arctic. The first book that has been is some use is Our Ice is Melting or Skuvut Nunguliqtuq by Shelley Wright. Though not a strictly academic work, it provides an exhaustive overview of the history of the Inuit, both from an outsider’s perspective and from the Inuit themselves. Other works that have helped fill history out include Abele and Rodon’s Inuit diplomacy in an Global Era, which focuses on the Inuit’s history of international action as well as Maria Ackren’s chapter in Security and Sovereignty in the North Atlantic, Greenland Paradiplomatic Relations, which provides all one might need on the titular topic. Overall, the topic of Inuit diplomacy and international action is quite well documented, but it is not often studied from a historical/political perspective outside the titles mentioned. This means the study that this thesis proposes rather unique in its approach.
Concluding this chapter focusing on the review of the literature, I will then turn to the works done focusing on the Sámi, both as a culture and as a political group. As a culture that is primarily in Scandinavia, there is quite a bit of work done in the native languages of the region, so it can be quite difficult to know if you have found everything. Still, there are a few good references that this thesis has made use of. Perhaps the best to understand the Sámi as a people is Neil Kent’s The Sámi Peoples of the North which, while not strictly political, gives one of the best accounts of the Sámi themselves. More political works include Rauna Kuokkanen’s article Achievements of Indigenous Self Determination and John Hensen’s The Continuous Process of recognition and Implementation, both works that provide great insight into both the history and function of both Sámi Council and Parliaments. There are, of course, many other works made Founded on Ice and Tradition - 21 use of by this thesis, but these three are perhaps the most representative of the research done on the Sámi in the English.
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Chapter 5: Research Methods In this short chapter, I will describe the methods that will be used in the second half of this thesis. To this I will first begin with an overview of the primary method I will make use of and a justification for its use in the context of the units of study chosen. From there an exposition of the structure will be presented, outlining how this second section of the thesis will be laid out and the specific questions that will asked. This brief chapter will then conclude on a note on the subject of researching and discussing indigenous voices in the context of both post-colonial and non-indigenous academic work.
The Historical Institutional Approach to Research To begin, the method that has been chosen to best answer the three questions presented in the introduction is that of a comparative case study. To briefly summarise, comparative case studies make use of specific issues or examples to study in qualitative manner that are then compared to best illustrate a point or answer questions of particular note related to the examples at hand. Cases tend to be of some significance in the broader discourse, but also can be drawn simply for their inherent interest to social science at large (Steinmo, 2008). The cases studied in themselves provide the basis for deep dives into instances that may be difficult to break down into a quantitative manner. In the political science context, examples of this as important political decisions or complex geopolitical situations. While it can be argued that case studies in themselves tend to be overly narrow and difficult to generalisation in any meaningful sense, this is not necessarily true. Through focusing qualitatively on single or, in the case of comparative studies such as this, a small number of cases, one may draw out a number of interesting or unusual understandings from cases that are, by their nature, difficult to fully understand. Historical Institutionalism, the primary theory of this paper, is known to make use of such cases, with a focus placed on understanding the decisions that lead up to such cases and the role history has played in their development more generally (Steinmo, 2008). Though this theory, the method of case study takes on a slightly different role than usually considered, as the story of development tends to be more of a focus than simply understanding the case as such. This shifts the researcher into the role of a sort of storyteller rather than a scientist, which does come with its own drawbacks. Still, this provides one with a rather unique toolset that is not often found in the social science context. Yet, as will discussed later in this chapter, this sort of storytelling does complement emerging understandings of the role of research in indigenous understandings Founded on Ice and Tradition - 23 which, while was not initially the purpose of such methods, is a welcome coincidence that I believe will provide a solid basis for the study being done.
As discussed in Chapter three, the choice of Historical Institutionalism arose for three reasons. First, is provides a uniquely historical framework through which to answer the questions presented by this paper, something that is not often found in other theories. In particular, the role of critical junctures in the occurrence of change can be readily seen in the cases that this thesis has chosen. The second reason is that Historical Institutionalism provides a space for the kind of storytelling that, I believe, is amenable to the study of indigenous groups and the Inuit and Sámi more generally. Certainly, Constructivism could have been able to provide a similar framework, but the conceptual underpinning of social construction would not fit as well as could have been hoped Finally, the third reason that this thesis has made use of Historical Institutionalism is the mid-range nature of it. As a theory that fits neatly between grand theories such as Realism and behaviouralist theories, HI provides a platform through which the cases chosen might best be analysed. It should be mentioned that other theories have been considered. Paradiplomacy, for example, had been made use of in earlier drafts, but it was found to be too limited for what has found through the research process. So, overall, Historical Institutionalism has been chosen as the theory of best fit.
A presentation of the Cases Of course, as discussed, case studies are the studies of instances, institutions or events that hold a particular interest to the questions at hand. In the case of this thesis, the cases that will be considered are two. The first case study that will be considered will be the Inuit Circumpolar Council and the second will be the Sámi Council. As discussed in the introduction, the two Councils are indigenous organisations that arose during the early 1970s, well before Arctic, let along indigenous, issues were commonly discussed outside of academic circles. These two cases were chosen in order to best answer the research questions presented by this thesis, those being, once again:
4. In what manner have historical interactions with non-indigenous groups shaped the development of current indigenous policy and organisation? 5. What critical junctures, if any, have arisen in the creation of the indigenous organisations under consideration and how have they impacted their development? Founded on Ice and Tradition - 24
6. To what degree have the indigenous non-governmental organisations been successful in impact decision-making, both on a domestic and international level? While clearly tailored to the organisations themselves, the implicit interest in these organisations is understanding such groups through an institutional lens. As will be discussed in a moment, issues of framing are endemic to the understanding of indigenous groups and, while it is difficult to fully remain unbiased, I believe focusing on them through this lens will allow them to be understood as legitimate actors in themselves.
Of course, there should be some discussion on why these case subjects have been chosen and how these research questions came about. Starting in order, the case subjects were chosen on the basis of previous research. Often when discussing the politics of the Arctic, the conversation, or study, often turns towards the nation states in the north and, if particularly in-depth, the Arctic Council that each of these nations are a part of. As Chapter four demonstrates, there is quite a bit of research that is put forward on these ideas. Justifiably. Still, it does make one wonder to what degree the other actors in the north are considered. Certainly, nations such as China are increasingly becoming relevant in research circles, but there is comparably little attention paid to the indigenous groups in the north. Talking more specifically of the case subjects themselves, there are certainly other indigenous cultures in the north, as evidenced by indigenous observers of the Arctic Council. Yet the Sámi and the Inuit are perhaps the most well known and, inevitably, the most approachable from a research perspective. Thus, the choice of the Sámi and the Inuit become quite clear then, as this thesis, fundamentally, is attempting to understand these indigenous groups as stakeholders in the north, both from a historical and political perspective. With this understood, one may understand how the research questions themselves feed into this, as focus on both the history of each indigenous group, their interactions with their non- indigenous counterparts and their impact on Arctic decision-making.
This will not be a freeform study of these indigenous organisations, as there are specific considerations that must be understood to come to any sort of meaningful conclusion, with guidance provided by Historical Institutionalism. To this end, each of the two cases will be structured as follows. First, there will a brief introduction to the Councils themselves through the lens of who they are as a people, before discussing where the organisations fit both on a national and international level. From there, their histories will be investigated, with a focus placed on the Founded on Ice and Tradition - 25 development of their modern-day political structures and the development of the Councils themselves. It should be noted that it is near impossible to fully separate the indigenous groups themselves from the international organisations themselves, so cross-discussion on both people and organisation is inevitable. The Sámi in particular are quite difficult in this regard, as much of the research that has been done focuses not on the Sámi Council, but on the Samediggis/Sametingets or Sámi Parliaments, thus their chapter will discuss all three. Still, this is perhaps fitting in the context of Historical Institutionalism, but that is neither here nor there. The respective case studies will then conclude with an overview of their political achievements to date and what plans, if any, they have for the future. Following these case studies, there will be a penultimate chapter devoted to answering the research questions posed by this thesis. This thesis will then conclude with a recap of the research and a brief discussion of further questions that will arise from this research.
A Note on Indigenous Research Before turning towards the first case study though, there is an unspoken question that should be addressed. One of the issues that has arisen through the research of this thesis is a question of indigenous representation, study and the right of non-indigenous research to be conducted on historically disenfranchised groups (Drawson, Toombs, & Mushquash, 2017). These are issues that have primarily shown up in academic circles in Canada but are relevant to the indigenous issues more broadly. Put more simply, what right, as a non-indigenous researcher, do I have to tell the story of indigenous peoples? It is argued by some indigenous researchers, and even the Grand Chief of the Canadian Inuit, that the study of such groups without their consent is an inherently violative act (Nickels & Knotsch, 2011; ITK, 2018b). I do not share such sentiment, but my opinion can be considered somewhat limited in this regard. Still, I do have some answers to these questions, though perhaps nothing that will satisfy all arguments. In the view of the researcher, the study of indigenous groups and the political organisations they have created are subjects that demand to be studied, so long as this is done in a respectful manner. In the context of these comparative case studies, this endeavour is founded on treating such organisations as valid as any other NGO. Yet, this is not the only consideration, as the histories that both indigenous groups have faced have both influenced and hindered through development. This is something that will be considered, as using the Historical Institutionalism perspective provides a useful framework to study the role history and its impact on political development. Founded on Ice and Tradition - 26
Furthermore, though focusing this thesis on this development, I believe it provides a novel solution to understanding the creation of semi-unique political organisations such as the Inuit Circumpolar and Sámi Councils, being as much ethnic as political. Finally, as discussed by Drawson, Toombs & Mushquash in Indigenous Research Methods: A Systematic Review one of the preferred methods of integrating indigenous voices is to incorporate storytelling into the research (p. 8, 2017). While I worry that such simple solutions may veer into methodological tokenism, it cannot be understated in the importance of such an idea in the development of this thesis. The stories of the Inuit and the Sámi are very much the stories of the creation of their respective political bodies. Thus, it would be wrong of me not to consider this research to be as much theoretical as a history of political development in an indigenous context. While I will fully acknowledge that as a researcher of non-indigenous background, I believe that such storytelling is well within the scope of academic research.
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Part 2: Case Research
“The unpredictable nature of the environment, the desire for knowledge, and the quest for adventure led people to explore far distance regions, to extend their network of relationships beyond their group.”
- Simon Anviapik, Inuit Elder
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Chapter 6: The Inuit of North America and Eastern Russia
In this Chapter there will be focus on the Inuit of Northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland and their internationally facing organisation the Inuit Circumpolar Council. This case study will be split across three chapters, the first of which will focus on the history and development of the Inuit as an ethnic group both within and without their respective nations. Due to the high degree of research that the author has found on the group, the Inuit of northern Canada will be the primary focus, but this does not mean those of Alaska and Greenland will be left out. Far from it, as each has played just as an important role in the development of Inuit diplomacy as they other two. Once the history and development chapter has been concluded, I will then turn towards the development of the Inuit Circumpolar Council itself, both in its creation and its goals. From there, the case study will then turn towards the transnational aspect of its foundation and its influence on later indigenous organisations. The third and final section of this case study will then finish with the decision-making capabilities of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, its influence on the Arctic Council and the International Politics more generally and its impact on political decisions in the region.
The People of the Ice To begin with the basics, the question of who the Inuit1 of Northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia are should be addressed. The Inuit are an indigenous people who populate the northern most reaches of the North America and East Eurasia and have done so since at least the last Ice Age (Daigle, 2016). Once based on a nomadic and semi-nomadic lifestyle that placed emphasis on the hunt of Arctic and sub-Arctic animals such as caribou and whale. As such, the Inuit have been heavily affected by a combination of factors, including climate change and the solidification modern borders, creating an ethnic group of less than 200 000 spread across the four nations and two continents. As these borders have solidified, so too has their way of life, as the majority of Inuit groups have become sedentary rather than nomadic as they have been traditionally. This major shift in lifestyle has come with many hardships included, but not limited
1 A note on the term Inuit: Generally considered applicable to the indigenous peoples of Northern Canada, this term is somewhat controversial among those of the same ethnic group across borders. The indigenous Alaskans prefer one term while indigenous Greenlanders are content to be referred to as Greenlanders while remaining ambivalent to the term ‘Inuit’. What is agreed upon though is the older term ‘Eskimo’ is generally considered outdated at best and a slur at worst. For the purposes of this thesis though, I will refer to the group as a whole as ‘Inuit’ unless speaking about one group in particular. Founded on Ice and Tradition - 29 to, a reduction in nutrition, a spike in disease and a lack of proper housing exacerbated by the sheer distance from capital control or notice.
The history of the people known as the Inuit before the coming of Europe to the Americas is one that is difficult to fully piece together, owing the reliance on oral and folk knowledge. What is generally understood is the early ancestors of the Inuit came across to what is now northern Canada and Alaska more than 3000 years ago, with some estimates placing their arrival somewhere between 2000 and 7000 BCE (Abele & Rodon, 2007, p. 47; Wright, 2014, p. 25). Though there are many theories as the exact nature of this settlement, it is thought that the peoples that would become the Inuit, sometimes referred as the proto-Inuit or Thule people, first settled along the Bering Strait area. Perhaps owing to a changing climate and animal patterns, the proto-Inuit slowly swept across the northern rim of North America, going so far as the western coast of Greenland, with some remaining in along the Bering Strait, becoming the modern Inupiat and Yupik peoples of Alaska and Russia. There has been a great deal of speculation though over whether the Inuit were the first group to settle in the region. Some archaeological evidence points to another group being the first the claim the northern parts of Canada for their own, known as the Dorset people. What little is known about them is that they were said to be displaced by the coming of the Thule people (Abele & Rodon, 2007, p. 47). Whether this displacement was due to conflict or simple intermingling between groups is a question that remains elusive, though it does provide an image of a people that have had a history of interaction with others outside their culture, something not often considered in the popular image of the Inuit.
As mentioned previously, the lifestyle of the Inuit has traditionally been based on semi- nomadic hunting and gathering which brought them into contact with non-Inuit somewhat regularly. These meetings were generally peaceful, at least according to oral records. As one elder noted in Bennett and Rowley’s book Uqalurait, An Oral History of Nunavut, this state of affairs continues even today, at least according to one elder (Bennett & Rowley, 2004, pp. 139- 140). Of course, that is not to say that they were a wholly peaceful people across their history, as their oral histories also tell of conflict between Inuit and non-Inuit Indigenous groups below the Canadian treeline. The Treeline, an unofficial term that describes the point at which trees stop growing and frost settles more or less permanently below the ground, served as the general Founded on Ice and Tradition - 30 border between the Inuit and other pre-colonial cultures (Abele & Rodon, 2007). Incidentally this border remains relatively fixed, with few Inuit groups below this line to this day. This is hardly surprising, as the Inuit have, up until very recently, lived a lifestyle well adapted to a difficult climate, with ample evidence of a rich culture that thrived for thousands of years (Bennett & Rowley, 2004; Wright, 2014). What is more, they themselves would argue that they were able to create a political culture that was foundational to their survival, one based less on grand scale decision-making but rather on a micro or family-based level (Wright, 2014). As some scholars have noted, the family unit is and continues to be the defining factor with the Inuit culture, as large scale decision-making was simply unfeasible for a population that rarely condensed into groups larger than a few families (Abele & Rodon, 2009). This has had an impact on the political development of the Inuit, in a manner similar to the theory proposed by Historical Institutionalism. As a culture based on small family groupings rather than large scale nations, their political institutions, as Europeans generally understand them, were designed in a similar way.
First and Second Contact The first interactions between the Inuit and Europe are difficult to pin down, as some scholars argue that fishermen have found their way to the northern Atlantic since the Dark Ages. Others posit that the Inuit were the Skraelings mentioned in the Greenland and Vinland Sagas within the larger Prose Edda compiled by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century (Wright, 2014). Be that as it may, such early interactions, if they did occur were minimal, with little evidence of long term habitation in northern Canada by Europeans until the 15th century as the establishment of fishing and fur trading outposts became more profitable. Unlike the interactions between First Nations and European traders, the Inuit were generally left alone, owing to the inhospitable nature of their home region (Wright, 2014). This minimal interaction was to the benefit of the Inuit if one is any judge of the history that befell the indigenous groups south of the treeline. Certainly, there was some interest in the Arctic from those of the eastern continent, but this interest would be for naught until well into the late 18th and early 19th century and the technological advances that came with the industrial revolution. Still, as the failed expeditions to find the Northwest Passage attest, even these advances did not allow for Europeans to come north for very long, with few returning from such adventurers. The Inuit were not ignorant of such attempts, far from it. Perhaps the best example of this awareness was the ill-fated Franklin Founded on Ice and Tradition - 31
Expedition for the Northwest Passage and the subsequent search rescue effort. Nearly forty years after Franklin and his crew vanished, a Scotsman by the name John Rae made contact with Inuit in the region and inquired after the sailors (Wright, 2014, pp. 70-71; Gopnik, 2014). As he recounted on his return to England, the Inuit had seen what was left of the expedition trudging across the barren north and tried to help, but to no avail. As was representative of the era though, Rae was declared a liar by London society and the Inuit branded as nothing more than ignorant savages (Wright, 2014, p. 71) The Inuit and, by extension, Rae would be vindicated more than a century later, but this serves as a good example of the relationship in the early years of Inuit/European relations, such as it was.
A History of Ambivalence Despite these semi-frequent interactions between Inuit and European, the relationship between these two peoples would remain distant for decades, even through the two world wars that would shape the European psyche. Yet, with advances in technology making Arctic voyages more practical the Inuit would deal with the Europeans more and more often. For the most part they remained visitors and researchers in a land that clearly did not want them there. Yet, this isolation would be forever shattered with the end of the Second World War and the beginning of a new, Cold War. As it increasingly became clear that war would be a distinct possibility in the north of the Americas, the United States devised of a strategy of creating a northern wall against Communism in their neighbour to the North, Canada (Greaves, 2016). During the twilight of the Second World War, this meant the establishment of the Alaska Highway that connected Alaska with the lower 48 states, built and paid for by Americans but cutting through the Canadian province of British Columbia and the territory of Yukon (Grant, 2010, p. 285). As allies these two colonial nations would continue this development in the years following the war, with the development of increasingly sophisticated, and increasingly northern, missile warning systems in the Canadian high Arctic. Military bases and airfields would follow, creating a permanent sense of occupation in the region (Emmerson, 2010). The goal was to turn the Arctic into a region that would be as secure as any land border and would provide all the North American states needed to defend against the threat of Communism.
This development had an effect on the region that went beyond defense. As the fortification of the region came into full swing, the Canadian government became increasingly Founded on Ice and Tradition - 32 aware of an indigenous people that they had not often thought about in the years since confederation; the Inuit (Abele & Rodon, 2009). Though they were known to reside in the region, they were generally ignored by the governments of the south for practical reasons. Yet, this post-war period was the height of government interest in the actions of its citizens, be they colonial or indigenous, and the government of Canada saw fit to begin a process of civilizing the Inuit, often by force if necessary (Greaves, 2016). Where once they were semi-nomadic people, the Inuit were forced to settle. Where once they were independent family groups, the government saw fit to unify them. Where their children were taught the old ways by their elders, the children were soon sent south to be educated in residential schools, an appalling institution that still lingers in the indigenous Canadian psyche (Wright, 2014). The 1940s and one would be considered the nadir of Inuit culture and its relationship with a government that saw them less as human and more as resources to be exploited, a belief that was not limited to Canada (Abele & Rodon, 2007). Greenland experienced much the same during this time, though to a lesser degree due to the distance from the Danish mainland (Ackren, 2014). One well known story of this sort of cynical use, one that has tied into national discussions on sovereignty in the north, is the forced relocation of whole villages to more northerly climes of the Canadian high Arctic (Wright, 2014). The results were tragically predictable, as most did not survive a latitude that even the most adaptable would find inhospitable. The reasoning behind such a plan was to demonstrate ownership over the most northern islands of Canada, an issue that still resonates to this day. This, as one can imagine, did not put the Canadian government in good standing with the Inuit of its most remote territory.
Political Developments This brings us them to the development of the organisation under consideration by this thesis: the Inuit Circumpolar Council or ICC. The creation of the ICC was not a linear action, but rather one that came about as a sort of culmination of issues that hand been boiling below the surface of northern politics since the end of the Second World War, but more specifically the early sixties. To understand this culmination though, one needs to look at four interconnected key events that shaped the political structure of North American Inuit: the discovery of oil in northern Alaska, the OCS Program, the Neville-Robitaille Commission and the Berger Commission (Shadian, 2010, 489). These events, in many ways, serve as the primary points of change that brought about the creation of the ICC and serve as rather intriguing examples of pre- Founded on Ice and Tradition - 33 establishment critical junctures, the kind that Historical Institutionalism consider part of the process of true change within institutions (Capoccia & Keleman, 2007). In this case, it is the creation of institutions themselves. In this section I will discuss the importance of each and how they culminated in the formation of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference and its eventual transition to the Inuit Circumpolar Council.
Since the early years of the 20th century, it was known that there was oil to be found in the high Arctic. Yet, the sheer hostility of the climate to non-Inuit made the prospect of striking it rich off Arctic oil unpalatable to most oil companies, save for a select few. Moving into the late 1950s though, and a gulf of technological distance that is difficult to fully grasp, the discovery of oil in the American Arctic sparked a mining frenzy unseen in the region since the Yukon Gold Rush (Shadian, 2006, p. 251-252). Suddenly all industrial eyes were on Alaska, at the time an incorporated territory of the United States (Wright, 2014). This economic speculation soon paved the way for Alaska to become a full state in the Union, which came with all the powers and responsibilities that this entailed. In conjunction with this ascension was a desire to fully clarify the situation of Inupiat land claims in the newly created state. This opened the door for a degree of political influence previously unknown to the Inuit peoples of Alaska, who took fully advantage of this opportunity. Through leveraging this situation, a political group made of Inupiat in the northern part of Alaska lobbied for, and was granted, land around Purdue Bay that was termed the Northern Slope Borough, with powers that would allow for greater say in the development in the State.
The development of the Northern Borough was not the only such development in the region though, as concurrent to this was an attempt by the Canadian federal government to manage the Inuit claims to land in northern Quebec, known as Nunavik. At the time this region was under the jurisdiction of the federal government. Yet, plans were soon drawn up by a government created body called the Neville-Robitaille Commission to hand the land over to the province of Quebec (Shadian, 2010, p.252-253). The Inuit inhabitants did not have a preference for either option, rather they argued for greater autonomy over their own affairs. In an attempt to defend this preference, a prototypical political organisation was created called the Northern Quebec Inuit Association. Soon a second organisation was created to represent national issues, called the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, or the ITC, later the ITK (Shadian, 2010, p. 252). This body Founded on Ice and Tradition - 34 would become the primary intranational organisation for the Inuit in Canada and would serve as a foundation for the creation of the ICC. As for the initial Nunavik question, self-governance was eventually provided for by the Canadian government, but not the degree that the movement had hoped for.
If the Alaskan and Nunavik land claims set the board for political representation, then two other events solidified the desire for Inuit international influence. The 1970s would see a heightened interest in the Arctic as the then current Oil Crisis spurred development in resource rich areas then neglected (Shadian, 2010). This resulted in an oil boom different in magnitude to the previous interest in the late 1950s. This created a perfect platform for the Inuit to push their political will into reality. In Canada, concerns around an oil development in the Mackenzie Valley spurred the creation of a Commission into determining the effects of this development on the social wellbeing of those dwelling near it (Shadian, 2006, p. 254). In a landmark ruling, it was determined that the creation of an oil development in the Mackenzie Valley would be detrimental to its inhabitants, with a moratorium placed on any sort of industry there for ten years. This was a win for Canadian Inuit that was paralleled a similar ruling in regard to the bounds of federal power in Alaska, known as the OSC affair (Shadian, 2006, p. 254). What these twin events did was demonstrate to the Inuit of northern America that there was a need for an international body to interact with and manage a relationship with both national governments and private corporations.
The creation of a Council The first meeting of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference held in June 22, 1977 at Barrow Alaska, the regional capital for the North Slope Bourgh, a fitting location from which the Inuit would begin to become involved in international politics. This conference was comprised of eighteen delegates from across the Northern American rim, with more than three hundred Inuit and other, non-indigenous, observers. There were two goals placed before the eighteen delegates in Barrow. The first was the creation of a charter that would guide the Inuit Circumpolar Council and shape the policies that they would propose. First among the points in this charter was “To strengthen Unity among the Inuit of the Circumpolar Region” and “To promote Inuit rights and interests on an international level”, two points that would define the Council moving forward (ICC, 1977; Shadian, 2006). The second goal of the conference was to establish the objectives of Founded on Ice and Tradition - 35 the Council. While there were many stated goals, some of the most important were to preserve the Arctic environment along side the promotion of indigenous rights and recognition both within and without of member nations as to the Inuit consultation. The final goal was the election of the first Council President, which went to Eben Hopson, a former legislator and mayor of Barrow. As a staunch democrat and promoter of Inuit rights, Hopson had spent much of his political career devoted to creating a new vision of the Arctic, built on the promotion of Inuit interests and the erasure of the ‘Barren Arctic’ narrative that is still so prevalent (EHMA, 2019). Hopson then was a key figure in the development of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and helped drive the early debates towards an internationally facing Arctic policy (Shadian, 2010). To this end, the ICC would be instrumental in shaping the early policy around the Arctic, such as the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS), one of the first international policies signed into action by Arctic nations (Abele & Rodon, 2007). What is perhaps key to understanding the importance of this organisation is the understanding that such an organised and Arctic facing body was unheard of at the time, with the ICC predating the Arctic Council by nearly twenty years.
Changing Times By the turn of the new millennium, The Inuit Circumpolar Council found itself in a rather advantageous position, as it was one of rare number of ethnic non-governmental organisations that found itself not just listened to, but also included in the international forums that it was most relevant to. As discussed, the Arctic Council itself was built on the foundations laid out by the ICC and provided the Inuit not just a seat at the table, but additional seats to other indigenous groups, including the Sámi Council, which will be discussed in the next section and a total of six other groups. At its founding, the Inuit Circumpolar Council had a number of goals that it sought to achieve through its organisation of the Inuit across the north. This list included such things, as increasing access to human rights in the north, preserving Inuit culture and language and, of course, bringing the Inuit across the north together (Wilson & Smith, 2011, p. 912). These goals have been met and, in many ways, exceeded as the ICC has served as one of the major voices for international cooperation in the north. Certainly, the seat on the Arctic Council has been of some use in this regard, but the unity between the Inuit of the north on political issues speaks for itself. One of the major accomplishments of the Council was perhaps its most ambitious, which was the creation of a permanent committee at the United Nations pertaining to indigenous issues. Founded on Ice and Tradition - 36
Since it has been argued by a number of people within and without of the Inuit community that the ICC has been at something of a crossroads. As a news writer in Nunavut argued in 2010, the Council has fulfilled the goals its initial founder Eben Hopson laid out in 1973 (Krarup, 2010). The Inuit were more connected than ever, interest in the Arctic had increased and its culture was, if not thriving, than at least protected. After thirty years of accomplishment, the ICC could have simply integrated into its host sub-national units and become a part of the international flora. This was not the path taken though, as other issues have arisen in the past two decades that have made the Inuit Circumpolar Council remain relevant. The issue of environmental change has become a central issue to the Inuit of the Arctic Rim and the Council has become a primary actor in advocating for environmental regulation. For example, in the mid-2000s the Council led the charge on reducing and eliminating certain substances such as POPs or persistent organic pesticides that have had a direct negative effect on Arctic wildlife (Fenge, 2003).
Yet, the Inuit Circumpolar Council has aged and with it has come a degree of difficulties that are difficult to square with its policy achievements. On a domestic level, across the Arctic, Inuit communities struggle with high rates of rare, deadly diseases such as tuberculosis and low levels of education attainment (ITK, 2018a). The cost of essential goods remains incredibly high owing to the distances between northern communities and distribution centres to the south (CBC, 2019). These are not issues that are unique to the Inuit of Northern America, for they are problems shared by other indigenous groups in the north. Though one can certainly argue these are issues within the domain of low politics, in contrast to the high politics pursued by the ICC, there are some who have argued that the ICC has drifted away from its core values of promoting Inuit values and wellbeing. This remains a hotly debated subject among the Inuit all along the Arctic rim with little consensus in any meaningful regard (Wilson & Smith, 2011). If anything, it does highlight a trend in most NGOs, be they indigenous or otherwise, to find controversy eventually. Certainly, the events that led to its creation and the goals it has met in its thirty years of existence are things worthy of praise, but it does speak to a need for a possible re-evaluation of its core goals. As Steinmo argues in his chapter on Historical Institutionalism, as organisations mature and age, the cost of changing becomes higher (p.129). Yet, to survive in a region beset by change, this cost should and must become lower in order to tackle the issues that face the modern Council. Founded on Ice and Tradition - 37
The Arctic is warming and with it comes increased interest, for better or for worse, in the region. The Inuit Circumpolar Council stands as one of the first and, perhaps, the most successful indigenous transnational organisation and it is one that has been well situated to tackle the changing world in the region. As an organisation, it has channelled much of what it meant to be Inuit to create an organisation that has influence in a region that is made up of rich industrial nations, a feat not often seen from small nations, let alone historically marginalised indigenous groups. As the same writer from Nunatsiaq News once put it, most NGOs have barely put on their pants at 30 years of existence (NunatsiaqNews, 2002). Yet the Inuit Circumpolar Council has done more than that and remains an important voice for northern indigenous activism. What remains to be seen is what effect climate change will ultimately have, but with a bit of luck, the ICC and the Inuit themselves will be well situated to adapt and endure, as they always have.
Founded on Ice and Tradition - 38
Chapter 7: The Sámi of Fenno-Scandia and Western Russia
As the second of two chapters focusing on the case studies of this thesis, this chapter will focus on the Sámi people of Fenno-Scandia and the political bodies they have created in the past half century that have paved the way towards greater say both domestically and, increasingly, internationally. To present this properly, this chapter will first begin with a section providing an overview of the history of the Sámi and their history both within their historical homeland and their interactions with non-Sámi over the centuries. From this overview, this chapter will then pivot to discuss the historical assimilation policy of the Nordic nations before discussing the role played by the Alta controversy in forming the political bodies that the Sámi use today. From there, an evaluation of the current state of Sámi politics will be presented, with a focus on the shifting power of the Sámi Council to the Sámi parliaments. This chapter will then conclude with a brief discussion on the impact the Sámi have had on political decision-making and their role in northern politics.
The People of the Herd The Sámi, known historically but erroneously as Laps, are an indigenous group native to the northern reaches of Fenno-Scandia and western Russia. As a culture, the Sámi have traditionally been imagined as brightly coloured nomads, herding reindeer across the polar north. Certainly, there is a degree of truth in this image, but there is certainly more to the group than such a stereotype. As one of the last nomadic cultures in modern Europe, the study of the Sámi has been of little interest to most in the south, even those in their own nations. Still, the study of the Sámi reveals a culture just as rich as any other indigenous group, though with a different sort of challenges than those in the Americas or other, more southern climes. One of the most central focus of the Sámi is the reindeer and it is not for nothing that they tend to be portrayed as a culture of one occupation, leading their herds across the polar tundra. Certainly, this has a degree of truth, as the reindeer husbandry is one of the defining occupations of the Sámi, though by no means only. Still, such is the importance of this herding that it serves a requirement to be considered Sámi in at least two of the Nordic nations. As a nomadic culture they have been severely impacted by the solidification of borders and, much like the Inuit presented in the previous chapter, they are a people divided across four nation. Current estimate place the culture with a population that is roughly understood to be around 100,000, though it is difficult to get an Founded on Ice and Tradition - 39 exact number owing to lack of proper census data pertaining to ethnicity in the Nordic nations (Kent, 2014, p. 2; Aikio & Åhren, 2014). This political reality of being a culture separated across four nations, has produced a culture that is both divided in its focus, yet also united in its culture. This is hardly the foundation for unity, but it has resulted in a novel political situation. As will be discussed further later in this chapter, this has resulted in the creation of two kinds of political bodies to represent the Sámi, four domestic parliaments and one overarching international organisation, the Sámi Council. Furthermore, and pertinent to the research questions proposed by this thesis, the Sámi have built and maintained the second most well defined and functioning ethnic non-governmental organisation in the north, in the form of the Sámi Council.
Early History The origins of the Sámi are, similarly to the Inuit discussed earlier, both intriguing, yet also quite ambiguous, making solid claims difficult. With a language that has few living relatives outside of Russia, Finland and, strangely, Hungary, what can be gleaned is that they are an ethnic group that evolved somewhat differently from the Nordics that also call their land home (Kent, 2014, p. 3). As such, there is little consensus as to when the Sámi first came to the northern regions of Scandinavia. The primary debate is the point of origin, with some arguing that those who became the modern Sámi came to the Scandinavian peninsula just after the last ice age, with other academics speculate that they were a more recent addition that arrived around the same time as the people that would become the Finns (Kent, 2014). The northern Germanic people that would one day become the modern Danes, Swedes and Norwegians have an equally murky origin, making the question of who came first to the region just as difficult to answer. What can be established, and is the working understanding of this thesis, is that the Proto-Germanic tribes that were the Scandinavian precursors generally remained to the south of the peninsula while the proto-Sámi remained to the north. The boundaries of which remain somewhat contested, as archaeological evidence has shown evidence of Sámi habitation all along the northern reaches of Finnmark in Norway, all throughout the areas known as Norrland and Lapland in Sweden and Finland respectively and as far south as Medvezhegorsk in Russia (Kent, 2014, p. 6). This region, and its general boundaries, is known as Sapmi in the Sámi language meaning, somewhat self-evidently, “the homeland of the Sámi” (Lantto & Mörkenstam, 2015; Kent, 2014). These issues of origin and range are quite important to understand in the context of establishing ‘indigenous-ness’ and their relevance to UNDRIP, as such considerations help provide basis to Founded on Ice and Tradition - 40 the Sámi’s claims that they are indigenous, despite their outward appearance of being simply another European ethnicity. Thus, this bit of early history helps establish the Sámi have been a part of the region just as long if not longer than the north Germanic groups that have become the modern Nordics.
Contact with the South As mentioned, the line between Nordic and Sámi generally followed a north-south dynamic, though not quite as definitively as those between the Inuit and the first nations. Thus, there is documentation of meetings between Nordic and Sámi throughout the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Despite this, there is little evidence of major trade between the two groups (Kent, 2014). As some of the earliest records of Sámi/Nordic relations show, the Sámi tended to stay inland, while the Nordics remains along the shore (Kent, 2014). Owing to their northerly range, the Sámi remains aloof from southern affairs, with little contact for centuries. It was simply too difficult to settle the north; thus, it was left to those who already made a home there. This would change but gradually as the proto states of the northern Germanics became the kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Nominally the lines between these nations would have divided the Sámi from each other, but in practice there was little enforcement in a region that was not considered habitable by those in the south. Outposts were founded along the coasts, either by missionaries or fishermen, but few considered the regions that were frequented by the Sámi as of much interest. This would change, as it always does. In the early 1700s, the Nordic nations would turn their eyes north for the first time. This was the height of the Swedish Empire and with it came considerations about expanding the hold on regions not yet consolidated. During this time great infrastructure projects were drawn up and with a form of internal colonisation began in the periphery of empire. To the north, this meant that the Swedish and, to a lesser extent, Norway reached further into Sámi territory, with numerous settlements appearing on the map, such as Umeå and Sundsvall in Sweden and the expansion of settlements in Norway. This brought the Sámi of the north into direct conflict with the expanding Nordics, with some accounts speaking to conflict between settler and Sámi that draws some parallels with the colonial conflict that occurred across the world during the same time period. With this, the settlement quickly brought the north into closer alignment with the realities of the south, with little consideration for the Sámi themselves. The Sámi had, for millennia, followed a form of spiritual animism based on their connection with an often-inhospitable region. Yet, as Founded on Ice and Tradition - 41 development occurred and the north was made more useable the spread of Christianity came from the Sámi as well, with the native religion being displaced across successive generations. For a time, this was enough, but as the 18th century became the 19th century, a greater focus on integrating the Sámi into the Nordic populations began (Minde, 2005, p. 13). Universal education began to be introduced, and with it came a demand that Sámi children would attend as well. The language of instruction would be not be language of the home, as the language of the nation would become the language of the classroom. A systemic attempt at bringing the Sámi into the dominant culture would continue well into the 1900s (Minde, 2005, p. 16). The prevailing thought of the time that, though they shared the same skin colour, the Sámi were considered not truly Nordic. They could become so though, but at the cost of language, culture and tradition. The success of such an approach is still debated, but it resulted in a situation not unlike that of the residential schools of the colonial nations across the globe, with a rich culture being subsumed underneath a dominant one. Yet, despite this, the cultural practice of reindeer herding, and traditional animism did not fully die off, and the Sámi would, in some manner, continue despite efforts to fully assimilate them into Nordic culture.
Alta Controversy The impetus for true resistance against the Nordic manner of government would not come until the late 20th century, starting in the late 1970s in Norway. Around this time, there were plans drawn up to build a hydroelectric dam in Finnmark, a northern municipality of Norway and deep within the traditional territory of the Sámi. These plans initially called for the damming of the river Alta with the resultant hydroelectric station providing power to much of the north (Kuokkanen, 2009). There were problems with this initial plan though, as it called for the displacement of a high degree of water into an artificial lake that would inundate and submerge the Sámi village of Maze, Masi in Norwegian. What was more, this inundation would directly interfere with traditional reindeer herding routes, something that would have been, in its own way, more devastating than the loss of the town itself. The result was a political mobilisation of Sámi unlike any that had come before it. What was set to be a simple construction project quickly turned into a political quagmire, as the plans for the dam were scaled back after this initial resistance (Kuokkanen, 2009). The Norwegian Sámi would not stand for a dam, large or small and rallied under the political banner of Aksjonskomiteen mot neddemming av Masi or the Action Committee Against the Damming of Masi (Berg, 2004). Founded on Ice and Tradition - 42
When ground was set to be broken in the building of the smaller dam, Sámi protesters quickly interfered with the work. In Oslo, the capital, hunger strikers installed themselves in front of the Storting, the Norwegian Parliament. These actions did not deter the Norwegian government, as work would continue despite heavy resistance until the completion of the dam in 1987 (Kuokkanen, 2009). Yet, the dam was built and the Sámi movement against was defeated. Yet, in defeat a change occurred, and the Sámi of the north moved to make their voices more heard in political discussions that directly impacted their rights and cultural practices.
Developing Solutions The key to such changes rested on bodies such as the Sámi Council and the Parliaments that proceeded the Alta Mountain protests. The first of these was originally called the Nordic Sámi Council. Formed during the first official meeting of the Sámi Conference, a meeting of 72 delegates from across the north, in Jokkmokk Sweden, the Sámi Nordic Council established a scant twelve years after the end of World War II in 1956, with the talks themselves beginning three years prior (Kuokkanen, 2009). The Conference itself would serve as the main vehicle for discussions between members and continues to be held every three years on locational rotation across the north to this day. This Council had been formed as a cooperative body uniting issues of interest to development of the Sapmi nation across the three nations of the Scandinavian peninsula, as the Nordic in the name indicates. The original focus of the council was on domestic issues faced by Sámi in these nations, with the goal of advancing cultural interests and economic opportunities of the Sámi as well as fighting for the preservation of their native language (Kuokkanen, 2009). Other areas of interest were primarily of an internal nature, such as increasing education rates in their native language, promoting herding rights and other traditional livelihoods, as well as other, less defined goals such as social and health issues. Such broad strokes interests would hamper the Council in its early years, as the scattered nature of its members made focused action difficult, with few of the early meetings of the Council leading to concrete resolutions. This problem, incidentally, was one that faced the Inuit in their early years as well, as discussed in the previous chapter. Beyond this though, the Sámi Nordic Council would serve as the primary means of Sámi activism in the north for two decades, with declarations from the Sámi Nordic Council being one of the only means of political influence for the Sámi. This would change with the Alta Mountain Protests. Founded on Ice and Tradition - 43
As a result of the massive degree of mobilisation shown during the Alta Mountain events, the Sámi of Norway, Sweden and Finland demonstrated to their home nations that they had a political will that would not go away so easily. There was a need for the political representation in each of the three nations that the Sámi Nordic Council could not wholly satisfy. This would begin a period of political experimentation that has yet to be replicated outside of the north, as each of the three nations would provide a space for domestic level policy input through the establishment of sub-national parliaments devoted to Sámi issues.
A Plurality of Parliaments The first of these political bodies was not, as one might assume, established in Norway, but rather Finland in 1973 predating the Alta incident by five years. The development of this parliament began as an experiment proposed by an ad hoc committee on Sámi Affairs within the Finnish Parliament as a means of providing some degree of autonomy for the northern herders (Josefsen, 2010, p. 7). This Sámi parliament, as it was known, was granted few privileges initially, with elections beginning two years later. This would change in the 1990s when the parliament would be granted further powers as well as enshrining Sámi rights into the constitution. The Finnish Sámi Parliament would become the Finnish Sámidiggi as a result of the greater responsibilities.
The Norwegian Sámi Parliament would build on this development as well as the issues raised during the Alta incident. In the wake of the incident, a commission on Sámi rights was formed with the express purpose of preventing such issues occurring again. The early results were the recommendation of forming a parliament for the express purpose of providing political representation of the Sámi and granting further protections in the north for Sámi land use (Josefsen, 2010, p. 9). These recommendations would serve as the basis for the Sámi Act that passed in 1987 and saw a constitutional amendment the year after that enshrined “… the obligation of the State authorities to create the conditions necessary for the Sámi to protect and develop their language, their culture and their society” (Kunokkanen, p. 100-101, Henriksen 1999, p.37). The Norwegian Sámetinget itself was granted the ability to make decisions related to land use in the areas considered part of their homelands as well as other issues related to Sámi culture. Founded on Ice and Tradition - 44
The Swedish Parliament followed similar steps as the Norwegian government. Similar to the Norwegian government, the Alta mountain forced the issue of Sámi representation and, with it, a commission to determine how best to provide representation. The result was the creation of a Sámi Act similar in nature to the one passed in Norway, with its findings published between 1986 and 1990 (Josefsen, 2010, p. 8). Yet, unlike Norway, the Riksdag, the Swedish Parliament, did not proceed with a constitutional amendment enshrining specific rights for the Sámi, arguing adequate protects were already in place. Furthermore, the Swedish Sámetinget would not be a self-determining body, unlike the Norwegian and Finnish Samediggi. Instead it would serve as, essentially, a formal link between the Riksdag and the Swedish Sámi rather than a separate body (Kuokkanen, 2009). To this end, the Swedish Sámi Parliament would be the primary administer of funding Sámi related activities, initiatives and information campaigns, be the funding from the Swedish government or the EU. Elections were allowed, but they served less as parliamentarians and more as bureaucrats, a state of affairs that remains contentious to this day.
Changing Priorities Yet, the 1980s and 1990s would also see great changes undertake the Sámi Nordic Council as well. With the establishment of formal domestic political bodies, the Council had to begin shifting focus. As the issues facing Sámi were increasingly being handled by the domestic Sámi Parliaments, the Council set about becoming a body akin to the Inuit Circumpolar Council. In 1986, the Sámi Council met for their 13th convention in Åre, Sweden. There, the Sámi Nordic Council set about updating its policies as well as establishing such things as an official flag and anthem (Berg-Nordlie, 2015; Sámi-Council, 2019). The goal was capitalising on the increased cultural interest in the Sámi as a transnational group of people. On the policy front, the Council formulated the Sámi Political Program, a policy framework that would serve as the foundation for the Councils efforts moving forward. In it, two defining guiding principles were established:
1. We, the Sámi, are one people and state borders shall not divide us 2. We have our own history, traditional, culture and language. From out ancestors, we have inherited the right to the land, water and livelihoods (Sámi Council, 1986; Kuokkanen, 2009, p. 102) These principles, and the symbols established during this conference would mark a shift in function for the Sámi Nordic Council. Considering the experiments in devolution of power Founded on Ice and Tradition - 45 experienced by the individual Sámi Parliaments, the Sámi Nordic Council would work to represent the Sámi people abroad. Earlier in the decade the Sámi had become a founding member of the UN’s Working Group on Indigenous Populations and, even further back, had helped found the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, so this transition was nothing new (Kuokkanen, 2009, p. 99). Yet, this renewed focus would distinguish the organisation from the other bodies that increasingly found their place in the north.
The Fall of the Curtain The timing of such a transition could not have been better, as the 1990s would see great change in the political landscape. The Soviet Union would fall, and with it the Nordics would begin to shift their political priorities. In 1995 Sweden and Finland joined the European Union, while Norway, after much political debate and a referendum, decided to remain outside the Union. Though outwardly this did not have an effect on Sámi issues, it did require a degree of negotiation with the EU to guarantee the rights established individually by Sweden and Finland. This would lead to the Protocol No. 3 on the Sámi, established during Sweden and Finland’s entrance, granting the same rights to the Sámi in the European Union as they had in their own nations (Samer, 2019). Further supporting these efforts were the Nordic nations themselves, as they renewed efforts to protect the rights of the Sámi to pursuit their traditional livelihoods. The Nordic Cooperative Body for Sámi Issues and Reindeer Herding had been in existence since the 1960s, but the new state of politics called for a change. Starting in 1995, there was an effort to create a body devoted to coordinate policy between the three parliaments. This effort that would come to fruit in 2000, with the establishment of the Sámi Parliamentary Council (Kuokkanen, 2009, p. 108). Though the goals were noble for this second Council, its achievements thus far have been limited at best, as it primary has been used for occasional joint meetings of the three parliaments and networking events between Sámi Parliament presidents.
Perhaps the most fundamental change in the political landscape for the Sámi was a return of sorts. With perestroika and the fall of the Iron Curtain, Sámi from the Kola Peninsula in Russia were able to interact with their cousins in the Nordic nations for the first time in decades. Though the population in Russia had always been much smaller than the Sámi in the Nordics, they still had a desire for the same rights as their counterparts (Berg-Nordlie, 2011). The difference was, of course, the governmental style of Russia. Under law, the Sámi are categorised Founded on Ice and Tradition - 46 under RAIPON, a Russian convention that provides rights to groups of small number in their northern territories (Berg-Nordlie, 2011, 2015). This convention provides rights on paper, but little in practice. Still, this reunification of sorts was cause for some celebration and shortly after the fall in 1991, The Sámi Conference of the Sámi Nordic Council met to officially introduce the Sámi of the Kola Peninsula to the Council (Henriksen, 2008, p. 29). This called for its own change, as this effectively expanded the mandate of the Sámi Nordic Council to beyond the Scandinavian peninsula. The result was a dropping of the “Nordic” from the name and re- christening of the organisation as simply, the ‘Sámi Council’. This was not a wholly benevolent change though, as it became increasingly clear that the effects of Russification had very much impacted the Russian Sámi. Already small, the Russian herders had a desire to emulate the governmental achievements of their Nordic cousins, but their size and place within a much larger nation has made this difficult (Berg-Nordlie, 2011). What’s more, their place in the Sámi Council has yet to provide much benefit politically. Still, progress is rarely so simple, especially for a people such as the Sámi.
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Chapter 8: Analysis
In this chapter, an analysis will be provided in order to tie together the themes presented in each of the two case studies. This chapter will begin by answering the three research questions proposed in the introduction as well as forwarding what can be gained from the study of the case studies in the previous two chapters and the study of indigenous transnational organisations as political bodies more broadly. To reiterate on the primary questions presented by this thesis, they were as follows:
7. In what manner have historical interactions with non-indigenous groups shaped the development of current indigenous policy and organisation? 8. What critical junctures, if any, have arisen in the creation of the indigenous organisations under consideration and how have they impacted their development? 9. To what degree have the indigenous non-governmental organisations been successful in impact decision-making, both on a domestic and international level? In order to best provide answers to each of these questions, this chapter will be divided up into four sections. The first three sections will be devoted to answering each question separately, starting with the question of regarding history and finishing with the question regarding impact. The fourth and final section will provide a conclusion of sorts as it will tie together the overarching theme underpinning the research provided by this thesis.
History Repeats The first question that was posed by this thesis pertained to history, particularly the history of indigenous groups and their interactions with non-indigenous groups. As both the Sámi and the Inuit are cultures that have, historically, been at the margins of both land and society, these interactions have been, as the previous chapters have shown, been less than equal. Thus, to discuss each culture and their political organisations, one cannot understand their development without understanding the context in which they exist. As is argued by Historical institutionalists, institutions both shape and, in turn, are shaped by the individuals that make it up (Steinmo, 2008). For indigenous groups, this is perhaps more true than for others. Thus, with the focus this thesis has placed on three international indigenous organisations, the Inuit Circumpolar Council, the Sámi Council and, to a lesser extent the Sámi Parliaments, one is given Founded on Ice and Tradition - 48 the opportunity to contextualise the creation of political organisations that have certain quirks that made them stand out from usual non-governmental organisations. As each council was established to serve the voice of two very different ethnic groups, they have differing interests. Moreover, they are organisations that are designed to tackle issues that are both broad and somewhat all encompassing, with a unity of purpose only so far as it pertains to their people and the issues that face them, rather than a united outlook that other organisations generally have. In a manner, one could argue that they are less non-governmental organisations, typified by organisations made-up like-minded people pursuing worthy causes, and more the extension of a domestic government, albeit with fewer responsibilities. This is not totally surprising, as their history shows that these were cultures that ruled themselves independently for centuries before the appearance of their current non-indigenous governments. Furthermore, as ethnic groups, the Inuit and Sámi have the right towards self-determination, as outlined by both the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Rights and legislation through their hard-won recognition by their home nations. Yet, this self-determination has been stifled in a number of different ways, creating a situation where both indigenous cultures are nations of people without a independent territory of their own. Despite this, the desire to create their own self-government has been pushed into an atypical direction. As this thesis has shown, both Inuit and Sámi have sought rights on a domestic rather than international level, though not without a trans dimensional facing. History has played a key part in this development, as the case studies have shown, but briefly they can be outlined thusly.
For the Inuit, interactions within sub-Arctic and, later, non-indigenous groups were sporadic at best during their history of inhabiting the northern reaches of what North America. This asserted itself in a manner than allowed them to live as they saw fit, with little overarching government to speak of. Instead, small kin groups were the norm. Certainly, there was evidence of interaction between the Inuit and those to the south as Chapter six discusses, but this was limited at the best of times, and remained so even in the early 20th century. Unsurprisingly, the creation of Canada, the United States and the recolonization of Greenland initially had little impact on their traditional way of life. It was only with a drastic change in technology and political power that their way of life came into direct conflict with the political powers that ruled their respective nations (Grant, 2010). This history of benevolent neglect and traditional culture of isolation had, in effect, created the ideally marginal group and one that was easily exploited by Founded on Ice and Tradition - 49 the political forces of the time. Such cases as forced relocations and settlements being some of the more well-known demands of nations that were more focused on defending against a war than protecting a people (Wright, 2014). This breed a distrust amongst Inuit against federal power, mirroring that of other indigenous groups of the Americas.
The Sámi of Scandinavia and Russia had a different, abide equally difficult, relationship with their governments. As discussed in Chapter seven, the Sámi are arguably the original the original inhabitants of the Scandinavian north, having inhabited the region since the last Ice Age (Kent, 2014, p. 3). Their relationship with the southern Nordic peoples of Finland, Sweden and Norway was, for the most part, distant if cordial since their first interactions in the early middle Ages. Yet, this changed with a different sort of modernisation, as in the late 1700s settlement to the north began in earnest and, with it, an understanding that borders would become more relevant (Kent, 2014, p. 4). This would solidify two centuries later, with the hardening of borders during the Cold War. There was also an ongoing process of assimilation put in place in the early parts of the 20th century that attempted to bring the Sámi fully into the Nordic culture which very much impacted the culture through marginalisation and slowly removing its language (Josefsen, 2010). Unlike the Inuit though, this process occurred across nearly three hundred years, creating a history of interaction much longer and, in many ways, more fraught than those experienced by their counterparts in the Americas. Thus, the history of failed assimilation remains an difficult subject, with aftereffects, such as the dwindling number of Sámi practicing reindeer husbandry, being felt to this day.
The result of such negative interactions between indigenous group and non-indigenous government have resulted in an environment where rights had to be actively fought for and claimed by indigenous cultures. The Inuit and Sámi are not unique in this, as this has been the situation for most indigenous groups across the world. Owing to their geographical distance from centres of power, they were less impacted by non-indigenous governments for much of their history relative to other indigenous groups across the world (Hossain, 2013). Interestingly, the Inuit have only a recent history of injustice in comparison to the case of the Sámi, though by no means lesser. The result of this shared, if distinct, history of interaction between indigenous and non-indigenous governments is a history that impacted the development of indigenous self- determination and rights. In turn, these events have created an environment where the Founded on Ice and Tradition - 50 development of non-governmental political power was inevitable. The history of indigenous groups and non-indigenous governments is one where non-political power is simply required to maintain any sort of respectable relationship, as without such accountability events such as Alta or the forced relocation of Inuit were bound to happen, owing both to history and geography. Certainly, for both indigenous groups, it was only with the creation of political bodies of their own that they have been demonstrably able to make meaningful gains towards defending their traditional rights. The development of such bodies came about not gradually, but rather through specific events that demanded action.
Critical Junctures According to Historical Institutionalism, institutions as actors are made up of the people that operate on it as much as it operates upon the people within it (Capoccia & Keleman, 2007, p. 342). This pseudo-constructivist take on institutions forms the core of the theory, and places it quite squarely in the middle of any discussion around how institutions themselves develop. Other core principles of this theory, as outlined in Chapter three, posit that history impacts development no matter the organisation, regime or political body, be they international law regimes or non-governmental organisations (Steinmo, 2008). As the previous section of this chapter demonstrated, for indigenous groups, one can see a clear line between history and the need for the creation of political bodies for themselves. Yet, there is another core principle, which is the concept of critical junctures. As Sven Steinmo describes them, critical junctures are points in an organisations development in which events create the impetus for change to occur, be they external interactions or power struggles within the organisation itself (Steinmo, 2008, p. 124). This is how HI deals with the question of change and how it comes about, an issue that remains centrally puzzling within the subfield of International Relations. As noted in Chapter three this not a concept that is completely embraced by HI scholars (Steinmo, 2008, p. 129). Despite this, this concept remains central to this thesis, as it plays a key role in understanding the development of indigenous institutions. As it turned out, critical junctures can be readily seen in the development of each of the two Councils, as well as the development of each culture’s political activities more generally.
Beginning once again with the Inuit, the history of their interactions with the governments of Canada and the United States serve as perhaps the best foundation to understand Founded on Ice and Tradition - 51 how the development of the Inuit Circumpolar Council took place. After decades of moralisation by governments far from the north, there was a point at which the Inuit were forced to consider different options in order to preserve their way of life and the land they inhabit. From the 1950s to the 1970s, there was a degree of economic interest in Alaska and the Canadian territories that increased interaction between Inuit and non-Inuit, to the detriment of the former. The attempts at assimilation by the Canadian and American governments were a part of this, but also the allowance drilling on traditional land, among other issues brought up in the respective chapter, this served as a critical juncture for the culture both in Canada and Alaska (Abele & Rodon, 2007). It became clear that to be able to defend their rights, the Inuit needed to come together to create a political movement of their own. The most notable result of this was creation of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, a body designed to stand on equal footing with other non-governmental organisations. In addition to this, the Inuit began the mobilise on a domestic level, with efforts to create self-governing regions of the nation resulting in the largest land claim in Canadian history, creating the territory of Nunavut in 1999. Such victories serve as foundational developments in the recent history of indigenous self government and demonstrate the ostensible power of critical junctures in the creation of political bodies.
In contrast, the Sámi’s story followed an altogether different path. Owing to a longer period of co-habitation within their Nordic nations, the Sámi underwent assimilation for a longer and protracted period than the Inuit. The result of this was a majority of the culture becoming a part of the dominant culture, with little active mobilisation as a culture within any of the three Nordic nations until well into the post-war era. First inklings of this came in 1956 and the creation of the Sámi Nordic Council which began as an association of Sámi interested in preserving their culture, but with little political influence (Kuokkanen, 2009). The critical juncture for the Sámi came in the late 1970s and the Alta Mountain protests against the development of a massive hydroelectric dam near traditional land. This point in history brought the Sámi together as never before and resulted in demands for greater political say in affairs that affected them. Where they differed from the Inuit was in demands for domestic rather self- deterministic power, resulting in the creation of the Sámi Parliament system in Sweden, Norway and Finland (Josefsen, 2010, pp. 6-10). This event served as a critical juncture for Sámi Nordic Council as well, as it moved from being a general Sámi issue body, to one that focused on international issues facing the culture. This transformation would become complete in the early Founded on Ice and Tradition - 52
2000s with the entrance of the Russian Sámi to the organisation, completing the membership and making it truly encompassing (Berg-Nordlie, 2011, 2015). With that said, the Sámi Parliaments have become the more prominent facilitators of Sámi political power, with the Sámi Council becoming the less prominent in Sámi politics.
The role of critical junctures within the theoretical framework of Historical Institutionalism is to explain how organisations change and evolve or, in some cases, lack thereof. Much like the individuals that make them up, organisations are value satisfiers rather than value maximisers, being that bodies will only change if and when they have to (Thelen, 1999). In the context of the two indigenous groups presented, the creation of politically representative bodies only came as a result of political expediency and the need to counter outsider interference in their way of life. What is most interesting in this regard is how it seemingly required a cumulative event for each of the two indigenous groups to push for greater political say. For the Inuit, it was a series of economic developments in their native territory, while for the Sámi with was a single dam in Norway that spurred for the development of a political apparatus that now spans four nations and individual domestic bodies in three. That is not to say that these groups were lax or despondent to previous offences, far from it. Rather, it shows that only through a clear demonstration of potential that each group was able to see the power of these voices unified. The results, as will be discussed in the next section, clearly show that each indigenous group has since presented forward in making their voices heard and claim the rights they are owed, though through differing methods and focuses.
Decisions Impact The current indigenous Arctic regime has been shaped by a history of unkept promises and forced assimilation, these are facts that difficult to ignore in the face of the research shown through this thesis. Furthermore, the creation of the political organisations that the Inuit and Sámi make use of have come as a result of critical junctures in their relationships with their home governments, without which the voice of each indigenous group would have been much quieter. With these conclusions in mind, one should then turn to ask the third and final question of thesis, which is to what degree have the Sámi and Inuit been successful in influencing political decision-making. This is a rather broad question, but cuts to the heart of what this thesis has attempted to investigate, which is the role played by indigenous groups in the governance of the Founded on Ice and Tradition - 53
Arctic, both from a political and cultural perspective. Certainly, this thesis has demonstrated the structure is there for influence, but the reality is somewhat paradoxical.
Starting for a final time with the Inuit of Northern America it is difficult to discuss their achievements without discussing both politics domestically and internationally. With the establishment of the Circumpolar Council in the 1970s the Inuit quickly became integral to understanding the region. Before the Arctic Council, the Inuit served as perhaps the only guiding organization for Arctic issues in North America, indigenous or otherwise. The Arctic Council itself was modeled off of the Inuit’s own organization creating a situation in which the Inuit were introduced to the Council as progenitors rather than associates. It is interesting to note that the Arctic Council formed in a similar manner being the outgrowth of a gathering of concerned nations in the 1990s just after the Cold War. Regardless, Inuit Circumpolar Council has not been idle and has spent its time pushing for greater environmental regulation in the north. Yet, the Council and the Inuit themselves have not been wholly successful in their efforts. As briefly touched in Chapter six, the ICC has in recent years faced a sort tragedy of success. As a political entity found itself increasingly established and included in the international political ecosystem, there has been a popular sentiment that the Council has become detached from issues pertaining to the well-being of its people in the north (Abele & Rodon, 2007). While environmental activism is a worth while endeavour, some wonder if it might be better served in drawing attention to poverty faced by Inuit in the north, among other issues. And yet, one cannot wholly discount the growth seen by the Council in the years since the 1970s. For the Inuit more generally the creation of the territory of Nunavut and other self-rule projects are notable achievements for the culture as a whole. In such it cannot be disputed that the ICC, and the Inuit more generally, have been able to influence policy makers, though perhaps not as much as all might hope.
The Sámi on the other hand have followed a different path as has been shown to previous sections. Where the Inuit have consistently pushed for greater decision-making power through the ICC as a primary vehicle since the 1970s, the Sámi have made more use of their domestic parliaments. Though this is a generalization there has been a greater reliance on focusing on lower-level decision-making. Though the Sámi Council has remained relevant it does not have the same bevy of achievements as the ICC does. Unlike the ICC the Sámi Council remains a Founded on Ice and Tradition - 54 body that is focused on the promotion of indigenous rights across the Nordics. While this is a noble goal, it does not quite reach the same heights as the ICC, though this has less to do with the body itself and more with the power placed in the hands of the Sámi Parliaments. Thus, the Sámi Council’s place as an influential body is somewhat diminished by a lack of coordination between the parliaments. The Parliamentary Council mentioned in Chapter seven was meant to alleviate this, but this has not gone quite to plan. As discussed, the Parliamentary Council has been something of a failure despite its valiant attempt at bringing the Sámi (Kuokkanen, 2009). Even more concerning is the relative lack of political power granted to the domestic parliaments in general despite their seeming importance (Josefsen, 2010, p. 23). This, of course, largely by design, as instead of providing space for true decision-making to occur has it has only been granted a limited amount of powers.
There is a paradox that appears to anyone who looks closely at the Inuit and the Sámi. The Inuit, through their Circumpolar Council, have a greater degree of international influence. The Sámi, in contrast, appear to have less power in comparison, despite the establishment of both a council of their own and domestic parliaments. And yet the situation on the ground for both groups could not be more different. Despite the encroachment of Nordic development in the Northern areas of their country the Sámi are for the most part quite prosperous. They are connected to a modern world and have modern amenities at their disposal. In contrast the Inuit simply do not have the same ready access to modern necessities as their fellow Canadians have. Much like the First Nations and Native Americans of the south, they have faced and continue to face systemic discrimination as well as substandard living conditions. One of the most persistent and ongoing issues of the Inuit in Northern Canada and Alaska is sky high food prices and diseases that are generally considered extinct outside of the north such as tuberculosis (ITK, 2018a). While the simple answer to the question posed in this final section is that the Inuit appear to have greater influence on political decision-making the reality on the ground is perhaps more complex than that. The ICC has certainly given the Inuit a higher degree of political influence than any other similar minority, this cannot be disputed. Yet, the gains they have reaped have translated into to less than one would expect. The Sámi, in contrast, face significantly less difficulty, with only their history and traditional lifestyle being at risk. This makes it difficult to compare the Sámi and the Inuit on quality of life grounds, as the Sámi have a greater access to a better life. This raises a paradox that has been difficult to square with the research done to Founded on Ice and Tradition - 55 produce this thesis, which is though the Inuit have had a greater political impact internationally, the Sámi have perhaps the better outlook as a people.
What is to be Learned The Inuit and the Sámi are uniquely positioned cultures, inhabiting a land that remains beyond the reach of most but the most adventurous or the most hardy. This has created two peoples that are, in many ways, the model marginalised group, owing to both the land they inhabit and their history of being outside of the world of the dominant culture of their homelands. They are, equally, people who have similar histories, yet vastly different cultures and political systems. Together they share a bond of indigeneity, of being the first peoples of their land. For the most part, they wish to live their lives as they have for millennia, though, of course, with the modern amenities that come with people connected to the world. Yet, their history has not allowed this, particularly in the case of the Inuit. They have faced discrimination toleration conflict and attempts to assimilation by the dominant cultures that came to inhabit their land, settlers in a land already claimed. This has occurred across different times for different reasons and by different conquerors. The results have been quite similar. These events have created two peoples that are spread across the borders not of their own creation, facing governments not their own. Still, the results of both histories, and the events that forced them to fight back politically, appear to be quite similar and strikingly different. Both cultures found themselves at the margins of society pushed to the limits of their ability to function as a culture. In turn, they found reason to push back in the 70s. The result was the creation of bodies to protect their rights, though from different angles and on different political planes. Through the Sámi and Inuit created international councils to bring their people together, they have pushed for different things and, in the case of the Sámi, focused on different venues. The Inuit fought for international recognition and domestic self governance, the Sámi reached for unity across their culture and the establishment of domestic political structures. The Inuit received territory, while the Sámi gained a political consultation and rights to land. Both have gained, but the results on the ground, as it where, are quite different. The Inuit remain very margins of an already massive country. Domestically, they are relatively unknown. Little has been done to combat the very real issues they face, such as high costs of living, a rampant disease and a rapidly changing climate that has impacted the Inuit more than any other people on Earth. Though they have political gains, they still face an uphill battle for the most fundamental rights. In contrast the Sámi are for all intents Founded on Ice and Tradition - 56 and purposes Nordics. They may have been discriminated against, but they still have the rights and benefits that come from being both Nordic and European. Though this does not discount their very real struggles, it does is striking how differently each indigenous culture lives. The Sámi of the north can choose to go south, the Inuit cannot. That there is a fundamental difference that, despite the efforts presented in this thesis, cannot be bridged. If there is a takeaway from this thesis it is this: history shapes interaction and interaction shapes policy. As the world warms, it is hard not to wonder how far the margins will be pushed before another critical juncture arises.
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Chapter 9: Conclusion Images Revised In the introduction to this thesis there was a great deal of discussion about images, particularly those held by decision-makers who live outside the bounds of the north. These images are quite well known, as the Arctic tends to conjure up mental pictures of a desolate land filled with snow populated primarily by polar bears and other rare animals that would not be out of place in a nature documentary. These though are false images, with the Arctic being a place quite rich in more than just polar bears. For many cultures, it is home with the rich traditions and ancient histories to match any in the south. It was from this understanding that this thesis attempted to present a more nuanced view of this region particularly in regard to international politics. Often in discussions about Arctic relations it is assumed that there are only eight important players in the north. These players are of course the member nations of the Arctic Council, including Russia, United States, Canada, Norway Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. Yet there are other actors that are not usually considered in the study of the North, as any review of the literature will show and has been shown in earlier chapters. The dominant narrative tends to focus on the attempts by nations to exploit the north, be it for industry or trade. Though these narratives are beginning to fade, as other issues rise to prominence, such as changing views on the environment. Yet, the focus away from indigenous groups persist. They are a people at the margins, but they matter and have a political will that is manifesting itself in a myriad of different ways, something that this thesis makes a corner stone of. Thus, the focus on the north was placed not on nations, but rather the cultures that inhabit the north. As the most recognisable indigenous groups the in the north, the Sámi and the Inuit were natural subjects and remain the more prominent.
Questions and Tools Thus, this work set out to paint a picture of these groups as fully capable political actors in their own right, facilitated by their political structures such as the Sámi Council and the Inuit Circumpolar Council. These structures are non-governmental organisations in their own right but founded on political cultures centuries old. To this end this thesis asked three questions:
1. To what degree did past interactions between the indigenous groups and their non-indigenous governmental counterparts influence their political development? Founded on Ice and Tradition - 58
2. How have critical junctures in these relationships lead to differing political outcomes? 3. How have the Sámi at the Inuit been able to influence political decision-making both internationally and domestically?
These three questions all tied into an overarching theme surrounding the importance of understanding history in the development of policy in the Arctic as well as determining how political structures arise. To end of answering these questions, this thesis made use of a number of tools in order to best represent and understand the case studies selected. The first and most important tools that was made use of were, of course, the cases studies which was a qualitative comparative case study between both the Sámi and the Inuit. As peoples who make up the most prominent political groups in the indigenous north, the choice was made based on the ease of research, though this was by no means the only reason. The history of both the Inuit and the Sámi as political actors is long but also fought, serving as ideal choices to demonstrate the political ability of non-governmental indigenous groups. The second set of tools that were made use of was the theory of Historical Institutionalism, a framework that provided an insight into the development of political bodies through a lens of historical development and political change. This theory provided a number of concepts that were key to answering the research questions proposed, such as idea generation, the mechanics of change and, of course, critical junctures. Based on this set of theoretical lenses, there were a number of interesting implications that were able to be drawn from the cases.
Answers and Conclusions As shown throughout this work, the Inuit and the Sámi are historically marginalized groups in the nations they inhabit. Their interactions with the governments of these nations shaped their history and created a less than ideal relationship that exists to this day. And yet both the Sámi and the Inuit have not raised the desire to separate, unlike other nations or sub-nations in the world. This remains curious aspect of their situation, one that demands further study. What has been made clear through this work is that the history of political conflict between indigenous and non-indigenous government figures has irrevocably changed the approach to politics in each culture. The push towards assimilation in particular served as a particularly critical juncture for each group, at which the need to create their own political structures became quite real to both Founded on Ice and Tradition - 59 the Inuit on the Sámi. Yet the road to these critical junctures and the events surrounding them were quite different, as any series of events in history tend to. Thus, both groups serve as ideal groups to study how political events result in different resultant paths and decisions being made. Their focuses and desires were quite different. For the Inuit, their history meant they focused international and sub-national politics to achieve their goals. The Inuit Circumpolar Council served as one of their primary vehicles for such goals and resulted in the ICC becoming an integral part of northern development in North America. In contrast the Sámi took a domestic approach with bodies such as the Sámi parliaments being established in the nations they inhabit. The Sámi Council, in contrast, has steadily lost importance, as the focus in the world of the Sámi has been on domestic affairs. These different results for similar backgrounds are intriguing and serves as a demonstration of the role of both history and geography in political decision-making.
Three points can be learned from the study of these case studies. First, the development of political bodies such as the Councils and the Sami Parliament system came about after periods of sustained political repression as a result of non-indigenous governments. This created an environment were there was need for political advocacy, but less than ideal conditions for their creation. Second, the development of political bodies came only after sudden political changes occurred. These events served as an igniting agent for the creation of such institutions in political environments that demanded them. Third, and finally, the effect each body has had is related to ability and will of each political group and their continued relationship with their non-indigenous counterparts. The Inuit are doing well politically but less so materially, while the Sami serve as a mirror example. This speaks to a sort of relationship between political need and political will that is not often considered in the creation of institutions. Furthermore, these results of this thesis hint at the idea that political institutions are not developed in a vacuum. Rather, they develop as a direct result of sudden changes of political realities, necessitating the creation of political bodies to advocate on the behalf of their members.
In conclusion, politics is more than simply a game played by large players and strong nations. Rather, it is the interaction between action, history, and the need for change that brings about politics as we know it, particularly for those who are denied voices by governments not of their own making. Through this thesis, it is hoped that has become somewhat clear, as each case has shown how important previous events are shaped by past political decisions and the Founded on Ice and Tradition - 60 relationships that are formed by those ruling and those being ruled. The indigenous groups of the north face a changing world and are not always handed the tools they need to best adapt to what comes in the future. Yet they are not helpless, as they are political actors in their own right with their own political desires, priorities and history and the will to make their voices heard.
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