S2 - EPISODE 7:

LUNGS OF THE NORTH

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LUNGS OF THE NORTH

The Arctic and it’s melting glaciers are the first images to mind when we think about climate change. But what do we know about the four million indigenous people living in the Arctic who have been fighting back against both human invasions and shifts in climate? Dalee Sambo Dorough, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, guest hosts this week episode with Mary & Maeve, from Anchorage, Alaska.

Episode 7 Notes:

The Arctic’s indigenous peoples have been fighting back against the colonization of their territories, natural landscapes, and communities for centuries. This week we focus on two indigenous voices in the Arctic. Dalee Sambo Dorough of the Iñupiat Inuit, is the chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council living in Anchorage, Alaska. She leads the conversation in the studio to share updates on the great legal battles taking place in the Arctic today, and how they’re playing out national and internationally. And we head to Alberta, Canada, to meet Eriel Tchekwie Deranger who is Athabaska Chipewyan of the Denesuline people. Eriel takes us on a vivid tour of the landscapes she grew up with, and the landscapes colonizing entities are leaving behind.

MOTHERS

MEET THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION

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Dalee is the Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), and formerly Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

In 1982, Dalee began negotiating the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights on behalf of an estimated 400 million people worldwide. The document sought to create a human rights order within the United Nations outlined the views and perspectives of indigenous peoples around the world. Her plight was successful, and after 25 years of discussions the document was adopted by the General Assembly on September 13th, 2007.

Today, Dalee brings her energy and radical optimism for indigenous rights back to her home in Alaska, to continue work for the Inupiat people, whom she is a member of, and all Inuit peoples across the Arctic Circle.

Dalee asks you to: Visit the website of the Inuit Circumpolar Council AND read both the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and also the Utqiagvik Declaration.

Follow the Inuit Circumpolar Council on social media:

Twitter:

@ICC_Alaska

Facebook:

@inuitcircumpolarcouncilalaska

Dalee Sambo Dorough

Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Council

Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A

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Eriel is the Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Network, the only indigenous climate justice organisation in Canada.

Eriel was raised by her parents in the Athabasca Delta. In 1973, they participated in the reoccupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota with thousands of other indigenous peoples from the American Indian Movement, to protest uranium mining in their family territories. Their perseverance to protect the landscapes that fed and supported their community was the inspiration behind her work, fighting back against mineral extraction, above and below the imaginary Arctic line.

As co-founder of Indigenous Climate Action, Eriel has continued the fight against uranium mining, and today, diamond mining and the Alberta tar sands industrial project threatening the survival of life on the land.

Follow Eriel on Social Media:

Twitter:

@indigenous_ca

Instagram:

@indigenousclimateaction

Facebook:

@indigenousclimateaction