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Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress
products.181 Indigenous peoples' interaction with and knowledge of Arctic wildlife and
environments has developed over millennia and is the foundation of their cultures.182
The length of time that Arctic indigenous peoples were in contact with Europeans varied across
the Arctic. As recorded by Europeans, contact began as early as the 9th century CE, if not before,
in Fennoscandia83 and northwestern Russia, chiefly for reasons of commerce (especially furs); it
progressed mostly west-to-east across northern Asia, reaching northeastern Arctic Asia by the 17th
century.184 North American Arctic indigenous peoples' contact with Europeans started in Labrador
in the 16th century and in Alaska in the 18th century, and was not completed until the early 20th
century.185 Greenland's indigenous peoples first saw European-origin peoples in the late 10th
century, but those Europeans died out during the 15th or 16th century and Europeans did not return
permanently until the 18th century.186
Contact led to significant changes in Arctic indigenous economies, political structures, foods,
cultures, and populations, starting especially in the 20th century. For example, life expectancy
among Alaska Natives has increased from 47 years in 1950 to over 69 years in 2000 (though it
still lags behind that of U.S. residents overall, at 77 years).187
Also, at present, most Arctic indigenous peoples have become minorities in their countries' Arctic
areas, except in Greenland and Canada. (One source estimates that, around 2003, about 10% of an
estimated 3.7 million people in the Arctic were indigenous.188) While many Arctic indigenous
communities remain heavily dependent on hunting, fishing, and herding and are more likely to
depend on traditional foods than nonindigenous Arctic inhabitants,189 there is much variation.
Most Arctic indigenous people may no longer consume traditional foods as their chief sources of
181 Jim Berner et al., Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), chapter 12;
this report is subsequently cited in this section as ACIA.
182 ACIA, pp. 654-655.
183 Fennoscandia refers to the Scandinavian Peninsula, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and certain parts of
Russia bordering on Finland.
184 Janet Martin, Treasure in the Land of Darkness: The Fur Trade and Its Significance for Medieval Russia
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), pp. 41-42; James Forsyth, A History of the Peoples of Siberia:
Russia's North Asian Colony, 1581-1990 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 69-83, 102; Lassi K.
Heininen, "Different Images of the Arctic and the Circumpolar North in World Politics," in Knowledge and Power in
the Arctic, Proceedings at a Conference in Rovaniemi, April 16-18, 2007, Arctic Centre Reports 48, ed. Paula
Kankaanpaa et al. (Rovaniemi, Finland: University of Lapland, Arctic Centre, 2007), p. 125.
185 James W. VanStone, "Exploration and Contact History of Western Alaska," and David Damas, "Copper Eskimo,"
and J. Garth Taylor, "Historical Ethnography of the Labrador Coast," in Handbook of North American Indian: Vol. 5,
Arctic, vol. ed. David Damas, gen. ed. William C. Sturtevant (Washington: Smithsonian, 1984), pp. 149-155, 408, 509-
510.
186 Inge Kleivan, "History of Norse Greenland," in Handbook, Vol. 5, Arctic, op. cit., pp. 549-555; Finn Gad, "Danish
Greenland Policies," in Handbook of North American Indians: Vol. 4, History of Indian-White Relations, vol. ed.
Wilcomb E. Washburn, gen. ed. William C. Sturtevant (Washington: Smithsonian, 1988), p. 110.
187 Parkinson, Alan J. The Arctic Human Health Initiative. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, 2006.
188 AHDR, pp. 19, 29. Estimates of Arctic indigenous populations are complicated by varying definitions not only of the
Arctic but also of indigenous peoples; for instance, Russia does not count some non-European Arctic ethnic groups,
such as the Yakut, as "indigenous minorities" (see "Peoples of the Arctic: Characteristics of Human Populations
Relevant to Pollution Issues," in AMAP Assessment Report: Arctic Pollution Issues, ed. Simon J. Wilson et al. (Oslo:
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, 1998), pp. 167-169; this report is subsequently cited in this section as
AMAP 1998.
189 AMAP 1998, chapter 5; see also Birger Poppel et al., SLiCA Results, Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic
(Anchorage: Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage, 2007), pp. 4-7,
http://www.arcticlivingconditions.org.Congressional Research Service 42
Congressional Research Service
42
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O'Rourke, Ronald. Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, report, August 1, 2018; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248258/m1/47/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.