Impacts on Indigenous Populations

Abstract

Major industrial development plans are currently being implemented in many Arctic regions. There is therefore an urgent need to evaluate the impacts produced by such developments, not only on the ecosystem but also on native populations and cultures, from both retrospective and prospective points of view. Personal observation and analysis of the change processes in different Arctic areas allow us to identify several relevant indicators of consequences of industrial development on local communities: on habitats and ways of life, on traditional economy and social structures, on physical and mental health, on local traditions and languages. Methods for the evaluation of interactions will be suggested and discussed in this paper with regard to what can effectively be measured and quantified, and to what is instead more appropriate for qualitative analysis. First of all, it is essential to note that as far as the Arctic is concerned, development programs (mining exploration and exploitation, industrial fisheries, opening of the Northern sea route, etc.) are designed a priori not for the benefit of local population but rather to serve other economic and financial interests considered to be of prime importance by decision-makers who, most of the time, live far from the areas concerned. Although a few beneficial effects for the indigenous populations can be observed, such as the development of infrastructures and communications, the creation of a few jobs and access to some outlets for local produce, when the time comes for evaluation it is obvious that negative effects are predominant. There is an abundant literature on the impact of accelerated change on Arctic populations. I will not refer to each one of theses studies, but only to those which seemed to me the most significant and specifically linked to situations I have myself observed during field work in Greenland, Alaska and Siberia.