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Arctic indigenous peoples' internationalism: in search of a legal justification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2009

Natalia Loukacheva
Natalia Loukacheva*
Affiliation:
Polar Law Programme, University of Akureyri, Solborg/Nordurslod 600, Akureyri, Iceland and Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, 1 Devonshire Place, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3K7Canada
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Abstract

This paper focuses on the evolution and development of the legal scope of governance and the right to autonomy in the Arctic context by considering contemporary indigenous internationalism through a legal lens and by employing examples from the Arctic indigenous peoples of Greenland and Nunavut. It argues that depending on national policy, partnerships, and relations, there are possibilities for considering direct international representation, and the participation of autonomous sub-national units or indigenous peoples, as a part of the right to autonomy/self-government or internal self-determination. Since indigenous peoples have a limited legal personality and capacity in international law, the states of which they are a part can take special measures to accommodate their needs.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , January 2009 , pp. 51 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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