Webinar Announcement
Climate Change Impacts on Indigenous Peoples – A Historical Perspective
IARPC Public Webinar Series
Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee
3 June 2021
9:00-10:00 a.m. AKDT
For more information, go to:
https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/events/21112
For questions, contact:
Liz Weinberg
Email: liz [at] iarpccollaborations.org
Phone: 503-893-8910
The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) announces their upcoming IARPC Public Webinar Series webinar, titled Climate Change Impacts on Indigenous Peoples – A Historical Perspective. This webinar will be held 3 June 2021, 9:00-10:00 a.m. AKDT.
This webinar provides a brief introduction to the historical context of colonialism in the Arctic, focused on Alaska, and its relationship to climate change impacts on Arctic Indigenous Peoples. For researchers working in the Arctic, it will provide insight into the ways that relationships, resource extraction, compensation, and infrastructure building have been predominantly one-sided.
First contact of European colonizers in Alaska were Russian explorers in the 18th century, with the state purchased by the U.S. government in 1867. The discovery of gold and oil led to the rapid influx of settlers; local Indigenous populations were excluded from gold claims due to their lack of recognition as citizens. During these stages of economic development, the U.S. government took steps to assimilate Alaska Indigenous people such as the forced establishment of permanent settlements rather than traditional semi-nomadic camps. Barely less than a generation later, fossil fuel combustion has altered the greenhouse gas composition of the atmosphere and catalyzed climate change, resulting in dramatic changes in Arctic ecosystems and environments noted by both Arctic Indigenous Peoples and western scientists. Manifestations of Arctic climate change include, but are not limited to, diminished shorefast sea ice which acts as a barrier against storm surges and a platform for subsistence hunting. Food security and management practices are some of the most pressing issues that Arctic communities and peoples are currently facing. Current solutions are to transplant entire communities or relocate. This webinar will go into detail about this historical context.
For more information, including Zoom connection information, go to:
https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/events/21112
For questions, contact:
Liz Weinberg
Email: liz [at] iarpccollaborations.org
Phone: 503-893-8910