Indigenous Peoples

With approximately four million inhabitants and a dearth of economic activity, the Arctic nations could help the indigenous tribes they have so often exploited by providing further economic opportunities for them. These peoples’ regional memory is unsurpassed and of tangible value to any regime aimed at sustainable development of the region. Funding indigenous education can raise awareness about Arctic issues and help to generate job growth in native economies. Indigenous tribes, particularly in Greenland, could thus position themselves to receive a piece of the growing regional economic pie. An Arctic Treaty can also mandate that some of the jobs created in the region go to the people who have historically lived there.