Indigenous Rising

nativenews:

Maatalii Okalik is tired of seeing polar bears as the face of climate change. “Make it an Inuit face. We’re the ones that are really affected by it,” she told the Guardian in a phone interview from Paris.

At the Paris climate conference, the bear is a trope on banners and posters. Politicians and activists are taking note of the Arctic’s plight, invoking sprawling vistas and vulnerable wildlife as a cautionary tale. “This summer, I saw the effects of climate change first-hand in our northernmost state, Alaska,” Barack Obama said in his opening remarks at the conference. “Where the sea is already swallowing villages and eroding shorelines; where permafrost thaws and the tundra burns; where glaciers are melting at a pace unprecedented in modern times.”

But Okalik, President of Canada’s National Inuit Youth Council, says the soaring rhetoric of saving the Arctic is not enough. “Inuit continue to be the human barometer of climate change,” she said. “They have been saying to the international community for years that climate change is happening at a rapid pace.” If action if going to be taken on preserving life in the Arctic, she argued, traditional Inuit knowledge and experience needs to be included.

[IMAGE: Iqaluit, the capital of the Canadian Arctic, is the centre of a quickly changing landscape.]

Bound by tundra, rock and frigid waters, Iqaluit is more than 2,700 miles from Paris.

Far removed from the world’s climate deliberations, it’s the centre of a quickly changing landscape. It’s also the Canadian Arctic’s capital and the consummate frontier city, with a rapidly growing population. The median age of the territory is below 25, and one-third of the residents are under the age of 15. The Arctic is young.

For the Arctic’s new generation, the last decade has been one of hollow promises in the face of ongoing crises. The territory is powered on costly diesel fuel, it lacks sufficient housing, and the cost of living is too high for many Inuit residents. Annual pilgrimages of political leaders to the north have been, for the most part, political theatre, accompanied by photo ops and platitudes to the residents asking for more money to alleviate the glut of problems in the region.

One youth leader has grown increasingly frustrated with inaction on both environmental and social issues affecting youth. Two months ago, Okalik used her role as head of the National Inuit Youth Council to question federal candidates before the Canadian election. 

“If elected and as our voice in Ottawa, do you commit to implementing the 94 calls to action put forth by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and what specific measures will you take?” she asked to heavy applause from the crowd. As the moderator pointed out, she was one of the few young people in the crowd.

Two months later, she traveled to Paris for the COP21 conference as an Arctic delegate, representing the Nunavut territory to monitor the talks and to lobby for the inclusion of Indigenous voices in the agreement. With many elders lacking the tools to engage the international community, Okalik sees a clear role in discussions for her generation.

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(via pendoja-deactivated20181117)