Founded on Ice and Tradition : A Comparative Examination of the Development and Effectiveness of the Inuit Circumpolar and Saami Councils

Abstract: There has been a great deal of interest in the Arctic governance in recent years, but littleof the interest has been in the indigenous peoples that populate it and the political structures theyuse to make themselves heard. In this thesis, these political structures, and the peoples that formthem, are studied in a historical context in order to determine how these structures weredeveloped, how their cultures have been effected by their relationship with non-indigenousgovernments and what affect both people and structure have had in their political environment.This was done through a qualitative comparative case study between the Sami of Scandinaviaand the Inuit of northern Canada and Alaska. From this study, it was determined that the level ofrelationship between indigenous and non-indigenous governments determined the degree towhich political bodies would occur and their ability affect their political environment. Followingthis relationship each case example developed a body for their own advocacy as a result ofsudden political pressure placed upon them. Overall, this thesis determines that the developmentof institutions is not fixed, but rather contingent to past events.