Two years ago on August 9, 2020 we marked the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples by launching our podcast which we call “ᐅᓂᒃᑳᑦ / UNIKKAAT / UNIPKAAT / UNGIPAGHAT / NALLUNAIRUTET / Circumpolar Waves”. In 2022 we are proud to mark this day with a special podcast to discuss the “Circumpolar Inuit Protocols for Equitable and Ethical Engagement” – or EEE Protocols, released in June 2022.
The 2018 ICC Utqiaġvik Declaration mandated ICC to facilitate the development of Equitable and Ethical protocols to aid creating a needed paradigm shift for our equitable involvement, for our Indigenous Knowledge to be involved and treated with trust and respect, and to put an end to top-down approaches often seen within international forums, research, decision and policymaking and many other places. The EEE Protocols are the result of many years of work and specifically over the past three years, Inuit from across Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Chukotka have worked together to create this document.
Across the Arctic there are important discussions about climate change, resource development, research, and wildlife management. At the international level, discussions on these topics and additional issues such as biodiversity, shipping, and food security are taking place that affect our way of life. Yet our communities and Knowledge are often not equitably involved in activities that impact us. The EEE Protocols provide a pathway to success for international organizations, researchers, decision and policy-makers. They are the terms by which Inuit expect to be engaged in.
Our work was done primarily during global pandemic, and so we held many meetings via Zoom and a series of virtual workshops in the fall of 2021 to develop the EEE Protocols.
In this podcast, host Dalee Sambo Dorough – former ICC Chair – speaks with four guests about the EEE Protocols: Kupik Kleist, President of ICC Greenland; Lisa Koperqualuk, President of ICC Canada, Liubov Taian former President of ICC Chukotka (interpretation by Teymur Suleyman); and Nicole Kanayurak Wojciechowski, Executive Council Member for ICC Alaska.
The Circumpolar Inuit Protocols for Equitable and Ethical Engagement are available online here in an English language PDF: https://bit.ly/3zwNkHC
The drumming on this podcast is by the Barrow Dancers, from Utqiaġvik, Alaska.
For more information about ICC, and to access the EEE Protocols check out the ICC websites. You can also go directly to iccalaska.org or find us on Facebook and Twitter.