Gwich'in Council International

Old Crow, Mary Jane Moses photo

The Gwich'in Council International (GCI) was established as a non-profit organization in 1999 by the Gwich'in Tribal Council in Inuvik, NWT, to ensure all regions of the Gwich'in Nation in the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska are represented at the Arctic Council, as well as to play an active and significant role in the development of policies that relate to the Circumpolar Arctic.

The founding members of GCI includes six Alaskan Gwich'in communities (Arctic Village, Chalkyitsik, Fort Yukon, Birtch, Circle and Venetie) two Gwich'in representative bodies in Canada — Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation representing Vuntut Gwitchin in Old Crow, Yukon, and Gwich'in Tribal Council representing four communities in the Beaufort Delta region in the Northwest Territories. In total, the Gwich'in Council International founding members represent approximately 9,000 indigenous peoples of Gwich'in descent. The GCI Secretariat rotates between the Gwich'in Tribal Council in Inuvik, NWT and the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in Old Crow, Yukon.

GWICH'IN RADIO PLAYS ON NATIONAL CBC

Five radio dramas based on Gwich'in legends will be broadcast nationally on the CBC Radio program Ideas on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. CBC North will also broadcast them locally at a later date.

These radio dramas are the result of a partnership between the Gwich'in Social and Cultural Institute and CBC Radio for the CBC Radio Legacy Project.

For further information or to order a CD of the radio plays, please contact the Gwich'in Social and Cultural Institute at: 867-952-2524 (phone) or 867-952-2238 (fax).

Arctic Report Card 2009 is released

The Arctic Report Card is a timely source for clear, authoritative, and concise environmental information based on input from over 70 international scientists. The research and compilation was sponsored by the Arctic Council.

Here are key findings for 2009:

Warming of the Arctic continues to be widespread, and in some cases, dramatic.

Linkages between air, land, sea, and biology are evident. For example, loss of sea ice is allowing more heat to be stored in the Arctic Ocean, which, in turn, is modifying the large scale atmospheric circulation and heat budget

Although the summer sea ice minimum in 2009 was not as low as 2007 or 2008, there is continued loss of older sea ice compared to five years ago, a indication of a major climate change in the Arctic High Arctic species, such as walrus, polar bears, and Norwegian fisheries, are impacted by continuing loss of sea ice.

Greenland shows continued ice sheet loss.

Young Leaders' Summit on Northern Climate Change,
Inuvik NWT, August 17-21, 2009

In August 2009, sixty young Canadians gathered in Inuvik, Northwest Territories for a summit on climate change. So begins the Declaration of the Young Leaders' Summit on Northern Climate Change which was produced over the four-day session.

The heart-felt declaration outlines their four areas of concern about the progress of climate change issues and negotiations and concludes with a call for action.

The Summit helped to build the capacity of our young leaders to speak on climate change at home, nationally and internationally. 2009 is a critical year, as the international community negotiates what countries' greenhouse gas reductions targets and other commitments will look like after 2012. It is vital that Northern voices are heard during these negotiations, and the Summit and resulting action plans generated by participants will help this to happen.

A pdf file of the Declaration is available for download by clicking on the link.

The Gwich'in Council International, along with Arctic Athabaskan Council , Ecology North, Climate Action Network Canada, and the Pembina Institute were organizers of the event.

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Funding for this web site was provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs Canada. Updated 2009.10.23.