Tuesday, September 4, 2007

The Sami Indigenous People and Climate Change

Climate change is in the news a lot these days, especially since it is all but accepted wisdom that the rate of change (but not the change itself) is a result of human actions. Well, we know that the climate change is causing certain impacts to people here in the U.S., from more frequent and stronger hurricanes, to more flooding in the Midwest, to an erosion of beach front land, to a drought in the West that has been going on for close to 5 years now. But how about in other parts of the world?

Well, here is a little news from up north on the Sami indigenous people. Ole Henrik Magga, former leader for the UN Permanent Forum of Indigenous Peoples is concerned that climate change adds a further weight to existing threats to indigenous peoples. “It is like pushing a sinking person even deeper”, he says in an interview with the Norwegian broadcasting association (NRK). Reindeer herding is one of the principal industries for Sami peoples. As temperatures increase on Finnmarksvidda as result of climate change, forest cover increases, encroaching on reindeer pastures (not to mention that the permafrost is reduced, an essential component to reindeer ecology). The Norwegian government has warned Sami peoples that they will need to adapt to climate change. But Magga is concerned. “The Indigenous peoples themselves cannot stop the pollution. We also have a responsibility, but to push the entire responsibility on the poorest and most vulnerable and with the least power is wrong. The main responsibility must lie with the governments” says Magga.

I agree with Magga, the Sami have little they can do other than change how they have been for hundreds and even thousands of years. Not an easy thing to do. And sure, the governments need to step up and begin taking action (especially the U.S. and now China). However, I really think the action needs to begin on the individual level. Governments, however corrupt they are, are still generally following the will of the people. If people keep consuming at the rate they do, then the governments will not stop climate change for they do not want to jeopardize their economies. Consumption drives the U.S. economy. It drives the Chinese economy, and most others. What needs to happen is that individuals need to learn that having the newest toy (i.e., i-phone) is only causing things to get worse. Sure, with the i-phone you can listen to music, watch videos, and make calls, but pretty soon you are going to have to do all of that from a underground cave as Mother Earth rears her powers up and causes some severe destruction.

The Sami, Inuit, Eskimo, and other indigenous peoples of the Arctic region are feeling the brunt of climate change right now. Do we need to wait until it hits us down here in the mid-latitudes before we do anything? That would be too late. I personally don't need the new i-phone or any other superficial gadgets (besides, who wants a bunch of stuff hanging off their belt?). My phone that I have had for the past 8 years works just fine. Indigenous people's teach us a lot these days, and here is another fine example. Let's begin to listen before it becomes too late.

Related Indigenous People's Issues by Keywords



Use the Search Function at the Top to Find More Articles, Fellowships, Conferences, Indigenous Issues, Book Reviews, and Resources

No comments:

Post a Comment

Contribute to Indigenous People's Issues Today

Do you have a resource on indigenous peoples that you would like to share? Indigenous People's Issues is always looking for great new information, news, articles, book reviews, movies, stories, or resources.

Please send it along and we will do a feature. Email it to the Editor, Peter N. Jones: pnj "at" bauuinstitute.com.

Indigenous Peoples Issues and Resources

Privacy Policy for Indigenous Peoples Issues Today (http://indigenousissuestoday.blogspot.com)

The privacy of our visitors to Indigenous Peoples Issues Today is important to us.

At Indigenous Peoples Issues Today, we recognize that privacy of your personal information is important. Here is information on what types of personal information we receive and collect when you use visit Indigenous Peoples Issues Today, and how we safeguard your information. We never sell your personal information to third parties.

Log Files

As with most other websites, we collect and use the data contained in log files. The information in the log files include your IP (internet protocol) address, your ISP (internet service provider, such as AOL or Shaw Cable), the browser you used to visit our site (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox), the time you visited our site and which pages you visited throughout our site.

Cookies and Web Beacons

We do use cookies to store information, such as your personal preferences when you visit our site. This could include only showing you a pop-up once in your visit, or the ability to login to some of our features, such as forums.

We also use third party advertisements on Indigenous Peoples Issues Today to support our site. Some of these advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers (such as Google through the Google AdSense program) information including your IP address, your ISP, the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have Flash installed. This is generally used for geotargeting purposes (showing New York real estate ads to someone in New York, for example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited (such as showing cooking ads to someone who frequents cooking sites). Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on this site. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to sites on the Internet. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

You can chose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs such as Norton Internet Security. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.

Thank you for understanding and supporting Indigenous Peoples Issues Today. We understand that some viewers may be concerned that ads are sometimes served for companies that negatively depict indigenous peoples and their cultures. We understand this concern. However, there are many legitimate companies that utilize Google Adwords and other programs to attract visitors. Currently, we have no way of deciphering between the two - we leave it up to the viewer to decide whether the companies serving ads are honest or not.