Arctic Athabaskan Council

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1 Arctic Athabaskan Council Fostering a greater understanding of Athabaskan peoples and heritage in Arctic North America Summer 2014 In this Issue AAC and the Commission on Environmental Cooperation Arctic Council vs Arctic Economic Council? Arctic Indigenous Peoples and ACCESS- EU Project Results People of the Land and the Water - The Dene Nation Arctic Council Activity Updates Recent and Upcoming Events We want to hear from you! If you would like to receive AAC newsletters, additional information on AAC activities or if you would like us to include information on community projects in your area, please contact us at +1 (867) or us at ColleenAHenry@me.com. AAC and the Commission on Environmental Cooperation 21st Regular Session of the CEC Council and Meetings of the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) Yellowknife, Northwest Territories - July 16-17, 2014 The Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was established under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The 20th anniversary of NAAEC and the CEC was held in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories from July 16-17, It was the first such meeting to be held in northern Canada. The Commission on Environmental Cooperation s Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) hosted a public forum on July 16th in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The forum focused on transboundary natural resource management with an emphasis on waters, climate and the importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Camilia Zoe-Chocolate, the Director of Lands and Environment for Dene Nation, attended on behalf of the Arctic Athabaskan Council. Ms. Zoe-Chocolate delivered a presentation entitled, Climate Change, Traditional Knowledge and the Well-Being of Arctic Athabaskan Peoples. The presentation highlighted AAC s contributions to international assessments, research and policy recommendations with respect to climate change, biodiversity, traditional knowlege, transboundary issues, capacity development, community based projects and circumpolar collaboration. The public forum was followed by the 21st (continued on page 5)

2 Arctic Athabaskan Council 300 Range Rd PO Box 39 Whitehorse STN C S C Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 5X9 +1 (867) AAC Member Communities and Organizations: Alaska Allakaket Tribal Council Chickaloon Village Dot Lake Traditional Council Eagle Tribal Council Native Village of Eklutna Healy Lake Traditional Council Huslia Tribal Council Native Village of Kluti- kaah Louden Tribal Council Mentasta Tribal Council Northway Tribal Council Nulato Traditional Council Stevens Village Tribal Government Native Village of Tanana Tetlin Tribal Council Yukon Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) Kaska Tribal Council Northwest Territories Dene Nation International Chair Michael Stickman President Nulato Traditional Council P.O. Box Nulato, Alaska Phone: (907) Fax: (907) International Vice- Chair Bill Erasmus National Chief Dene Nation th Street, 1st Floor P.O. Box 2338 Yellowknife, NWT X1A 2P2 Phone: (867) Fax: (867) Executive Director Cindy Dickson Arctic Athabaskan Council 300 Range Rd, PO Box 39 Whitehorse STN C S C Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 5X9 Phone: Website: Inside the AAC The Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC) is an international treaty organization established to defend the rights and further the interests internationally of American and Canadian Athabaskan members and First Nation governments in the eight-nation Arctic Council and other international fora. AAC is an authorized "Permanent Participant" in the Arctic Council. To carry out its vast work, representatives from member organizations participate in various Arctic Council Working Groups, Expert Groups, Task Forces and projects. Here are a few of our representatives and the activities in which they participate. Chief Gary Harrison - Chickaloon, Alaska Senior Arctic Officials and Ministerial meetings of the Arctic Council Lori Duncan, Director of Health and Social Development, Council of Yukon First Nations Arctic Human Health Expert Group Camilia Zoe-Chocolate, Director of Lands and Environment Secretariat, Dene Nation Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna Erika Rosenthal, Attorney, EarthJustice Task Force on Black Carbon and Methane Bob Van Dijken, Director of Circumpolar Relations, Council of Yukon First Nations Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme Terry Fenge, Senior Policy Advisor, AAC Senior Arctic Officials and Ministerial Meetings of the Arctic Council Colleen Henry, Project Coordinator, AAC Traditional Knowledge Implementation Arctic Council Communications Group Arctic Resilience Report Summer 2014 Arctic Athabaskan Council 2 of 6

3 Arctic Council vs Arctic Economic Council? By Terry Fenge In Spring 2013, Senior Arctic Officials (SAOs) to the Arctic Council recommended to ministers that a task force be established to facilitate the creation of a Circumpolar Business Forum (CBF). Focusing initially on responsible resource development the CBF was conceived to provide a venue for industries, and indigenous businesses operating in the Arctic to advance Arctic-oriented business interests, share best practices, forge partnerships, and engage in deeper cooperation. The task force was duly established through a political declaration signed by ministers in Kiruna, Sweden and reported in March 2014 to SAOs and aboriginal organizations which enjoy Permanent Participant status to the Council at their meeting in Yellowknife. A two-page report was endorsed at this meeting and as a result an Arctic Economic Council is to be established in the near future. Canada chaired the task force and continues to inject much political capital to get the Arctic Economic Council up and running. This is an important step for the Arctic Council which historically has stressed environmental protection and sustainable development and has not reached out to business, either small firms or large corporations. Be that as it may, there was a significant degree of consensus in the Council in 2003 that a CBF was a good idea. AAC supported the concept and conceived the CBF as a referral network to promote business and business contacts and, in particular, to open doors for northern and aboriginal businesses. But as a result of its name and proposed mandate, the Arctic Economic Council may in time overshadow and perhaps even displace the Arctic Council established in 1996 primarily as a result of Canadian diplomacy initiated in the late 1980s. AAC wrote to Patrick Borbey, Chair of the SAOs, on April 10, 2014 outlining concerns: With the approval by SAOs in Yellowknife of the document Facilitating the Creation of the Arctic Economic Council an institution is to be established that promises to be far more than a business forum and may in the long term compete with the Arctic Council itself. At the very least the public will be confused between the mandate and activities of the similarly named Arctic Council and Arctic Economic Council. You will recollect that in response to a question from AAC, Mitch Bloom said the task force of which he was Chair felt that a circumpolar business forum was too narrow in scope hence the adoption in the report to SAOs of the title Arctic Economic Council. The document approved by SAOs characterizes the overall aim of the Arctic Economic Council as Fostering sustainable development, including economic growth, environmental protection and social development in the Arctic region. The final sentence of the document proposes that it address responsible resource development. This is precisely the role and mandate of the Arctic Council pursuant to the 1996 Ottawa Declaration. We invite you to read, in particular, the third preambular and first operative paragraphs of the Ottawa Declaration to judge for yourself. Most of the state observers to the Arctic Council have or are gaining economic interests in the circumpolar world. Assuming the Arctic Economic Council lives up to its ambitious mandate it seems plausible that they will seek a relationship with the Arctic Economic Council potentially in preference to the Arctic Council. Of course, only time will tell. The breadth of the Arctic Economic Council as articulated in the document approved by SAOs leaves us with the sense that the task force and the SAOs have departed from the expectations of ministers and instructions of the Kiruna Declaration and in so doing have failed to protect the Arctic Council s domain and domain name. The response from Mr. Borbey did not address AAC s analysis but anticipated that the Arctic Economic Council would remain closely aligned with the original objectives outlined by the task force and included in the report by SAOs to ministers in Kiruna. This is where things stand. In May 2014, the Arctic Council Secretariat accepted nominations for AEC representatives from Arctic States and Permanent Partcipants. AAC nominated one representative, Mr. Ed Schultz, Executive Director of Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation. Space is available for two additional representatives. Contact Cindy Dickson, cdickson@me.com, for further information. Summer 2014 Arctic Athabaskan Council 3 of 6

4 Arctic Indigenous Peoples and ACCESS- EU Project Results By Bob Van Dijken On July 9th and 10th I attended a two-day meeting in Paris sponsored by the Arctic Climate Change, Economy and Society (ACCESS) research team to discuss how to communicate the results of their work and engage with Indigenous Peoples. ACCESS is a European project supported within the Ocean of Tomorrow call of the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme. Its main objective is to assess climatic change impacts on marine transportation (including tourism), fisheries, marine mammals and the extraction of oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean. ACCESS is also focusing on Arctic governance and strategic policy options. It s a four year project that is working on its 3rd year. The meeting was a small (20 person) meeting involving representatives from the six Arctic Council Permanent Participant organizations and representatives of the five working groups making up the research project. Most of the research is ocean based but one of the working groups is looking at Arctic governance options emerging from the findings of the other groups. We received overview briefings on the research being done by five working groups, and then spent some time discussing how Indigenous groups and northern communities should be engaged, the role of Traditional Knowledge and what communications approaches work best to inform and educate northern communities. The ACCESS group admitted that they were late to discuss this project with the PP s but stated that both this project and the European Union want to foster further dialogue and work. The coordinator of a follow-up EU project, ICE ARC (Ice, Climate, Economics-Arctic Research on Change), which is just starting its work, was also in attendance and seemed keen to engage the PP s. While the research project s current focus is not directly relevant to Arctic Athabaskan communities I took the time to urge the group to consider expanding its focus, pointing out the MacKenzie River is a major source of fresh water to the Arctic Ocean system and that melting permafrost was providing inputs of carbon, mercury, sediments and nutrients to the system through the Mackenzie. We also discussed how decreasing ice coverage and increasing ocean temperatures were providing more energy to drive atmospheric circulation at a continental scale. Although ACCESS itself may not be conducting research in Arctic Athabaskan Council members territory it seems that the larger European Union scientific community is eager to explore methods to engage with Indigenous communities. The ACCESS project head, Jean-Claude Gascard, is eager for the dialogue to continue. Another way of communicating is to make the best use of several adhoc Arctic meetings already scheduled in Brussels. Arctic Future was mentioned around Mid October There will also be a meeting organized by the EU Arctic Information Center led by the Arctic Centre in Rovaniemi, Finland (PI Paula Kaakaanpaa) on September 11, 2014 in Brussels. ACCESS together with ICE ARC are preparing a joint meeting with Parliamentaries and EU Commission representatives in Brussels sometime during next Spring That meeting would be very convenient to include a large contribution from Arctic Indigenous Peoples. There was even talk of coordinating an Arctic Day at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP21 to be held in Paris in December Further information on the ACCESS project is available at: Thank you to the ACCESS and ICE-ARC programs for hosting and funding the meeting, Alona Yefimenko of the Indigenous Peoples Secretariat for facilitating the Permanent Participants involvement and Thomas Bonnin of ACCESS for dealing with travel, accommodation and logistics co-ordination. Summer 2014 Arctic Athabaskan Council 4 of 6

5 People of the Land and the Water - The Dene Nation By Colleen Henry Earth Magic Media, of Edmonton, Alberta, is set to develop and produce a six hour - six part international television documentary series entitled, People of the Land and the Water - The Dene Nation. This series will tell the story o fthe five major Dene groups in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Russia. This series will trace the history of the Dene back to the earliest recorded memories of historian elders and will focus on the history of the Dene and their migration routes. The documentary series will try to answer important questions such as: - Before Siberia, where did our People come from? - What route did they take to North America and what challenges did they encounter? - What was the influence of neighboring non-dene tribes? - What routes did our People take to their lands AAC and the CEC Regular Session of the CEC Council on July 17th which was hosted by Canadian Minister of Environment, Leona Aglukkaq. Mexico s Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Juan José Guerra Abud and US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy were also in attendance. Three priority areas were identified for the CEC Strategic Plan: 1) Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation; 2) Green Growth; and 3) Sustainable Communities and Ecosystems. Projects and actions under these priorities will be guided by three important cross-cutting themes: learning from and assisting vulnerable groups and local and indigenous communities; enhancing the alignment of environmental standards and regulations, enforcement, and compliance to promote environmental protection and facilitate trade in North America; and which they occupy today? - Which tribes did they fight and ally themselves with? International Map of the Dene People of the World - Provided by Earth Magic Media - Did they have any influence on Dene artistic expression, music, dance, craft-works, etc.? - What is the relationship between the Tilcho Dene of the NWT and the Navajo? - What is the relationship between the Denesuline (Chipewyan) Dene and the Apache? AAC will participate to further develop its relationship and work with the Kets people near the Yenisei River in Siberia, Russia. For further information on the Dene-Yeniseian Connection see a special publication of the University of Alaska at: (continued from front page) enhancing information sharing, transparency, capacity building, and communication. The CEC Council highlighted traditional ecological knowledge as a valuable and integral contribution to environmental management activities in local and indigenous communities. The council intends to work with local and indigenous communities across North Amercia to enhance our understanding of the environment and make effective environmental management decision. The Council also recognized the importance of preserving indigenous traditional knowledge and practices that address effects of climate change, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and biological diversity. For further information and for a copy of the AAC presentation please visit Summer 2014 Arctic Athabaskan Council 5 of 6

6 Arctic Council Activity Updates Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP): AAC continues to track the various projects and activities undertaken by the AMAP working group. Due to scheduling conflicts, an AAC representative was unable to attend the working group meetings in Finland in February Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG): One of the projects that Canada brought forward as a priority for its Chairmanship of the Arctic Council was the development of a Climate Change Adaptation web portal through the Sustainable Development Working Group. This project was discussed at the SDWG working group meetings held in September 2013 in Whitehorse. Subsequently AAC was asked to participate in a Canadian steering committee for the project. The project is being directed by Natural Resources Canada with the funding to develop the web portal flowing through the Yukon Government s Climate Change Secretariat to a contractor. To date there has been one conference call with the Canadian steering committee as well as a couple of telephone conversations with the project team leader. In By Bob Van Dijken February there was a two and a half day scoping workshop held in Anchorage to discuss the intent, direction, layout and content of the site. Given the limited funding and tight timelines this will be very much a work in progress when it is revealed at the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting in the spring of Further work needs to be done to ensure that there is funding to maintain, update and improve the portal once Canada s term as chair ends. Upcoming Activity: SDWG: At some point this fall, a Beta version of the SDWG climate change adaptation web portal should be available for review and comment. There may also be a call for content to populate the site once final details have been worked out. AMAP: The Arctic Council Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) and Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) working groups will be meeting in Whitehorse September 16th to 18th. Because of the links between AMAP and Canada s Northern Contaminants Program the Yukon Contaminants Committee has been asked to help with logistics for the meetings which will take place in the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre. Recent and Upcoming Meetings of the Arctic Council EPPR: Regular meeting June in Ottawa, Canada PAME: Fourth Ecosystem Approach Workshop June in Vancouver, Canada Traditional Knowledge Workshop June in Ottawa, Canada CAFF: Board meeting August in Cambridge Bay, Canada ACAP: Regular meeting 9-11 September in Gdansk, Poland Task Force on Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Prevention September in Nuuk, Greenland with PAME September in Whitehorse, Canada Task Force on Black Carbon and Methane (TFBCM) 29 September - 1 October in Iqaluit, Canada Social Economic, Cultural Expert Group 17 October in Yellowknife, Canada Arctic Human Health Expert Group SDWG 17 October in Yellowknife, Canada SDWG Working Group Meeting October in Yellowknife, Canada Senior Arctic Officials Meeting October in Yellowknife, Canada AMAP Working Group meeting and Joint meeting Summer 2014 Arctic Athabaskan Council 6 of 6