Our Ice Is Vanishing / Sikuvut Nunguliqtuq : A History of Inuit, Newcomers, and Climate Change

A remarkable and moving journey through Arctic history into an uncertain future, highlighting Inuit as well as European and Canadian perspectives. A remarkable and moving journey through Arctic history into an uncertain future, highlighting Inuit as well as European and Canadian perspectives. The Arctic is ruled by ice. For Inuit, it is a highway, a hunting ground, and the platform on which life is lived. While the international community argues about sovereignty, security, and resource development at the top of the world, the Inuit remind us that they are the original inhabitants of this magnificent place - and that it is undergoing a dangerous transformation. The Arctic ice is melting at an alarming rate and Inuit have become the direct witnesses and messengers of climate change. Through an examination of Inuit history and culture, alongside the experiences of newcomers to the Arctic seeking land, wealth, adventure, and power, Our Ice Is Vanishing describes the legacies of exploration, intervention, and resilience. Combining scientific and legal information with political and individual perspectives, Shelley Wright follows the history of the Canadian presence in the Arctic and shares her own journey in recollections and photographs, presenting the far North as few people have seen it. Climate change is redrawing the boundaries of what Inuit and non-Inuit have learned to expect from our world. Our Ice Is Vanishing demonstrates that we must engage with the knowledge of the Inuit in order to understand and negotiate issues of climate change and sovereignty claims in the region. Cover Contents Figures Note on Terminology Colour plates 1 Sikuvut: Our Ice 2 Iglulik: The Place Where There Is a House 3 The Northwest Passage 4 Inuit Odysseys 5 Canada’s Arctic Dominion 6 Human Flagpoles 7 Nunavut: Our Land 8 Silaup Aulaninga: Climate Change 9 Is the Arctic Safe for Polar Bears? 10 Tusaqtittijiit: Messengers Appendices 1 Inuit Circumpolar Council, A Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Sovereignty in the Arctic 2 Inuit Circumpolar Council, A Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Resource Development Principles in Inuit Nunaat 3 United Nations, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Examines Inuit history and culture and the experiences of new arrivals in the Arctic. In addition, the effect that climate change is having on the Arctic is explored