Inuit

Since the late 20th century the Inuit have become more assertive, forming organizations to represent their interests, such as the Alaska Federation of Natives (1966). The organizations have been instrumental in resolving land claims since 1971 (see Native Americans of North America: Post-Contact History). In Greenland the 1970s and 1980s were marked by a campaign for home rule from Denmark; a referendum passed in 2008 gave the local Greenlanders greater autonomy and made Greenlandic the official language. In 1991 the Canadian government, yielding to ongoing Inuit pressure, agreed to the creation of a new territory known as Nunavut (Inuktitut for “our land”) in eastern Northwest Territories. Approved by referendum in 1992, Nunavut came into being in 1999. The Inuit have political control and broad economic rights over the territory.

The international Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), founded in 1977, meets every three to four years. It provides a forum for Greenland, Siberian (Chukotka), and North American Inuit to discuss common problems, lobby for an Inuit voice in the planning of economic development, protect indigenous rights, and promote the preservation of the environment. The ICC is concerned as well with questions of international sovereignty and rights to resources in the Arctic region. Representatives of Inuit populations also regularly attend international meetings on the effects of global warming and climate change, and have joined with indigenous peoples living on islands that are threatened by sea level rise.

In the past few decades, average temperatures in the Arctic have risen nearly 1°C (2°F), almost twice the rate as in the rest of the world. The effects of global warming in the Arctic include the thinning or loss of sea ice and the melting of glaciers and permafrost. Sea ice that was present for much of the year once protected shorelines from erosion by strong wave action and storms. When the sea ice melts early or forms later in the year, the ocean can seriously erode coastal land areas where populations have traditionally lived, forcing people to move. Melting permafrost, sea level rise, and stronger storms have also led to loss of land. Animals such as seals, walrus, and polar bears that are traditionally hunted by Arctic peoples also need sea ice as places to rest, give birth, and hunt. In addition, increasing numbers of Inuit hunters have reportedly fallen through abnormally thin sea ice and died while riding on snowmobiles or sleds.

The Inuit populations of the Arctic have also been adversely affected by pollution. Pollutants from distant countries are concentrated in the Arctic by global circulation patterns, or carried by fish, birds, and marine mammals that migrate into the Arctic. Fish and marine mammals at the top of the food chain in the Arctic can accumulate heavy metals and industrial chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Arctic peoples who eat large amounts of fish and marine mammals can ingest potentially harmful levels of mercury and PCBs. Nursing mothers can pass these chemicals to their babies in breast milk. Other health issues include high rates of diabetes and obesity associated with eating sugar and other carbohydrates in commercially produced foods not in the traditional diet.