Climate Change In The Arctic

In this essay, the articles ‘Listen to the north’ by John Ralston Saul and ‘Which ‘Native’ History? By Whom? For Whom?’ by J.R. Miller will be analyzed, specifically looking at each authors argument and his appeal to ethos, logos and pathos. In the first article, ‘Listen to the North’, author John Ralston Saul argues that current Canadian policy when it comes to our north, and the people that reside there, is out of date and based on southern ideals that hold little bearing on the realities that face northern populations. He suggests instead that the policies and regulations should be shaped by people who know the territory and it’s needs, namely people who live there. In the second

“Most nations consider the notion of land to be an important one. But to Canada 's aboriginal people, it is also a strong cultural symbol. Native identity is drawn from the land: It has been a form of subsistence, and an integral part of creation myths.

One of Canada’s priorities in regards to Arctic Sovereignty should be to protect the Inuit people not only because they are experiencing a loss in culture, but the Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Arctic Sovereignty also declares that the Inuit have rights to the resources and the land upon which they live on.

Protection, civilization, assimilation: An outline history of Canada’s Indian policy by John L. Tobias, 1991.

It has been argued that Canadian environmentalism occurred in a series of waves throughout the countries growth and development. Upon colonization the Canadian landscape was abundant in resources, the opportunities limitless. Over the course of a century industrialization had swept the nation. The rapid depletion of resources initiated the development of numerous private organizations that sought to control, maintain, and ensure longevity of such resources. This force would continue to reshape along with the industrial demands and ever-changing landscape. It is imperative to provide context regarding the evolution of the environmental movement that took place in Canada, in order to comprehend the role non-governmental organizations played

There is often the misconception by many non-Indigenous and even some Indigenous Canadian citizens that Indigenous people have somehow been given preferential treatment because of their rights to free education, medical service, and hunting and fishing rights (Mclean, 2017.) The history however has been largely stacked against this inaccurate notion, from the establishment of treaties in the interest of European trading benefit to the acts governing the apparent validity of Indigenous peoples' very identity, the case could not be made further to the contrary that the Indigenous population has somehow received an unfair advantage over the rest of the Canadian population. So what has led to the attitude that Indigenous people are somehow not

When looking at the role of regionalism in forming Canada’s national identity, it plays an important role in the formation of Canada’s architectural and written history. For example, from coast to coast, the architecture of each region varies widely from each other, which exhibits how each landscape has shaped the way that region was formed (Thorsteinson, 2016). Additionally, regionalism is seen as a strategy used to define being Canadian, and in the words of Northrop Frye, “the question of Canadian identity… is not a ‘Canadian’ question at all, but a regional question” (Thorsteinson, 2016). Another role of regional identity in the formation of Canada is the symbolism of the Canadian flag, which presents a leaf from a maple tree as the national symbol of Canada (Dirks, 2017). Also, companies such as roots uses parts of Canadas landscape to present their products, such as beavers and landmarks like the Hudson’s Bay. However, Canada is also seen as having an identity crisis, and the differences encompassed within each region in Canada makes it difficult to be wholly inclusive when it comes to presenting Canada’s national identity (Dirks, Class 10, 2017). And yet, there seems to be several solid statements when it comes to portraying Canada’s identity through regionalism, such as Canada’s symbiotic relationship with nature as a whole. Subsequently, regionalism has emphasized Canada’s national identity as a landscape and region oriented nation, in comparison to the modern

This heritage which they regard very highly is stripped away by the government to force an inclusion into Canadian Society. Canada’s ethnic groups are forced to separate into “isolated islands’ or else they are coerced into assimilation. Ever since white settlers landed on Canadian shores in the 1600’s, there have been conflicts with the First Nations. From driving them off their land to exterminating them with European diseases, the First Nation population has been struggling to keep their lineage and history from being erased. With the struggle to keep themselves from being “cut [off] close to the floor” (Page 2) the First Nation society has been confined to a small patch of land called a “reservation”, a small downsize from all of Canada.

In order to solidify the First Nations’ place as “designated outsiders in their own homeland” (8) the press had to show how Indigenous people become the ‘other’ when compared to the white settlers of Canada. In comparison to the white setters presumed racial superiority, the media would use headlines and stories that evoked images of Indians as dependent children. One specific instance of this is the “federal government’s poster campaign to instruct the ‘Eskimo mothers’ about how to use their newly awarded family allowance funds by the Department of National Health and Welfare” (148). This campaign created a standard that, despite being mothers and raising children in this land for generations, the Inuit mothers were not capable of providing

“Increasingly, anthropologists are encountering the local effects and broader social, cultural, economic, and political issues of climate change with their field partners” (Crate and Nuttall 2009). Native Alaskans are already experiencing and seeing the effects of climate change. For Native Alaskans, climate change is not something to happen in the near future, but is an immediate, lived reality impacting daily lives and livelihoods. “Climate change is the result of global processes that were neither caused nor can be mitigated by the inhabitants of the majority of climate-sensitive world regions now experiencing the most unprecedented change” (Crate and Nuttall 2009).

The North of Canada may invoke thoughts of polar bears, penguins, and Eskimos, however this region has a history of exploitation. Since the 1940's, the Inuit people (Eskimo is considered a derogatory term by locals) have been forced to assimilate to Canadian laws and language. Prior to the arrival of the Canadian officials and their economic and law systems and infrastructures, the Inuit lived in small groups off the tundra. Their economic system was one of trade and they spoke Inuktitut, which was only an oral language until about fifty years ago.

One of the most noteworthy effects of the much-debated global climate change is the rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. The year-round sea ice of the past can no longer endure long enough to withstand the warming summer climates, and, as a result, the amount of old, thicker sea ice has dwindled in the last 25 years. The younger, thinner seasonal ice is now superseding these numbers, signifying a great danger to the Arctic’s sensitive ecosystem, as well as the global climate.

Positivist-post-positivist paradigm has been applied to the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline accordingly, to discover an appropriate decision to such social dilemma through the use of logic and objective knowledge. The logical explanations provided throughout the report, manifested from a positivist approach, establish the inevitable economic growth that would spur from the construction of the pipeline. The other side of this explanation examines the adverse impact on the lives of indigenous people that will be jeopardized; those who have called the North “their homeland for years” (Berger, 1988). Berger has applied the paradigm that is deeply rooted in knowledge and scientific proof to both sides of the argument. Post-positivism view of the inquiry further demonstrates that although one of these explanations may appear to be the absolute truth for one person, it may not be the truth for another, and that looking at the inquiry through the post-positivistic lens, we can provide an intuitive, holistic, exploratory explanation, and findings that are qualitative in nature; looking at the Mackenzie Valley both as an opportunity to construct the pipeline, and as a land with rich aboriginal culture, values and lifestyle that need to be

The positivist-post-positivist paradigm is the most appropriate paradigm for research regarding the subject matter of Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland by Thomas Berger (1988). This paradigm states that social science research pushes towards western cultures causing other regions to adapt to western ideas. According to Travers (2010), “[t]he physical and the social sciences are products of western culture in a specific historical moment. [s]cience is a modern phenomenon, emerging in step with capitalism, industrialism, global expansion, and a liberal philosophy” (p. 9). Ingenious people living in the North are being forced to change the way they live if the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline were to be built. According to Berger (1988), “[i]n

Environmental narratives can diverge based on the perspectives from which they are formed, and this can affect the appreciation of a regions ecological complexity. Whether examined from a global or spherical perspective, obtaining an understanding of the world requires careful consideration when undergoing interpretation to prevent a loss of its complexity. Both global and spherical perspectives of the world limit the perception of ecology when applied individually. However, when combined, both perspectives provide a comprehensive view of the “world about us” (Ingold). In this paper, a detailed analysis of the influence of environmental characterization on competing narratives is explored to asses the impact of the hydrocarbon development industry on the ecology of Greenland and the traditional Inuit way of life.