Birger Poppel

Arctic Societies, Cultures, and Peoples in a Changing Cryosphere

Changes in sea ice, snow cover, lake and river ice, and permafrost will affect economy, infrastructure, health, and indigenous and non-indigenous livelihoods, culture, and identity. Local residents are resilient and highly adaptive, but the rate and magnitude of change challenges the current adaptive capacity. Cryospheric changes create both challenges and opportunities, and occur along local, regional, and international dimensions. Such changes will provide better access to the Arctic and its resources thereby increasing human activities such as shipping and tourism. Cryospheric changes pose a number of challenges for international governance, human rights, safety, and search and rescue efforts. In addition to the direct effects of a changing cryosphere, human society is affected by indirect factors, including industrial developments, globalization, and societal changes, which contribute to shaping vulnerability and adaptation options. Combined with non-cryospheric drivers of change, this will result in multifaceted and cascading effects within and beyond the Arctic.

Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA)

Major findings of the Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA) are: (1) A combination of traditional activities and cash employment is the prevailing lifestyle of Arctic indigenous peoples; (2) family ties, social support of each other, and traditional activities have a lot to do with why indigenous people choose to remain in Arctic communities; (3) well-being is closely related to job opportunities, locally available fish and game, and a sense of local control. Well-being and depression (and related problems like suicide) are flip sides of the same coin. Improving well-being may reduce social problems; and, (4) health conditions vary widely in the Arctic: three-in-four Greenlandic Inuit self-rate their health as at least very good compared with one-in-two Canadian and Alaska Inuit and one-in-five Chukotka indigenous people. Findings are based on 7,200 interviews in a probability sample of Inupiat settlement regions of Alaska, the four Inuit settlement regions of Canada, all of Greenland, and the Anadyrskij, Anadyr, Shmidtovs, Beringovskij, Chukotskij, Iujl’tinskij, Bilibinskij, Chaunskij, Providenskij, Uel’Kal’ districts of Chukotka. Indigenous people and researchers from Greenland, Russia, Canada, the United States, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland collaborated on all phases of the study.

Living Conditions in the Arctic

This paper introduces a model for conducting research on living conditions among peoples that have experienced rapid social, cultural and economic change in countries where a non-parallel development has occurred. This model was developed by the researchers of SLICA, A Survey of Living Conditions in the Artic; Inuit, Saami and the Indigenous Peoples of Chukotka, which was initiated by Statistics Greenland in 1997. The point of departure for this model is a critique of contemporary living conditions surveys carried out by national statistical bureaus in economically, technologically and culturally segmented areas. The point of view is that these studies erroneously assume that the populations they investigate are homogeneous, and that consensus concerning individual social and economic objectives exists. This usually leads to research designs and indicators of individual well-being that reflect the dominant culture, or the prevalent way of living and thinking in these countries. The focus of this paper is on the research design of SLICA. The implementation of two important methodological challenges is discussed. Namely, (1) how to secure a contextspecific concept of well-being which also mirrors the life forms and the priorities of the respondents and (2) how to measure impacts of structural change on individual well-being.

The Importance of a Mixed Cash- and Harvest Herding Based Economy to Living in the Arctic – An Analysis on the Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA)

Subsistence” is both a highly disputed theoretical concept within several social sciences’ disciplines, an often used term in international debates and conventions on indigenous peoples’ traditional hunting rights, and an integral part of indigenous peoples’, communities’ and organisations’ campaigns for their rights to maintain traditional lifestyles. The domestic and cash economies of the north are highly interrelated. As Wolfe and Walker (1987) reported, “a family’s subsistence production is augmented and supported by cash employment of family members. The money generated in the commercial-wage sector of the economy enables families to capitalize in the subsistence sector. The combination of subsistence and commercial-wage activities provides the economic basis for the way of life so highly valued in rural communities.” The international core questionnaire applied in the Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic, SliCA, offers opportunities to examine the importance of a mixed cashand harvest herding based economy to living in the Arctic, relationships between traditional hunting, fishing and herding activities and activities in the market economy sector, the respondents’ satisfaction with the actual composition of the various activities as well as the preferred composition and the relationship to the overall well-being and the individual. This theme the importance of a mixed cashand harvest herding based economy to living in the Arctic is one of five international analysis themes suggested by the indigenous peoples’ representatives participating in SLiCA. The analysis is based on more than 7,000 personal interviews with Inuit adults in Greenland, Canada, Chukotka, and Alaska. B. Poppel Ilisimatusarfik, University of Greenland, P.O. Box 1061, 3905 Nuussuaq , Greenland J. Kruse Institute of Social & Economic Research , University of Alaska Anchorage , 117 N Leverett Rd , Leverett , MA 01054 , USA E-mail: bipo@uni.gl E-mail: afjak@uaa.alaska.edu V. Møller and D. Huschka (eds.) Quality of Life and the Millennium Challenge, 27

Design and methods in a survey of living conditions in the Arctic – the SLiCA study

Objectives: The main objective of this study is to describe the methods and design of the survey of living conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA), relevant participation rates and the distribution of participants, as applicable to the survey data in Alaska, Greenland and Norway. This article briefly addresses possible selection bias in the data and also the ways to tackle it in future studies. Study design: Population-based cross-sectional survey. Methods: Indigenous individuals aged 16 years and older, living in Greenland, Alaska and in traditional settlement areas in Norway, were invited to participate. Random sampling methods were applied in Alaska and Greenland, while non-probability sampling methods were applied in Norway. Data were collected in 3 periods: in Alaska, from January 2002 to February 2003; in Greenland, from December 2003 to August 2006; and in Norway, in 2003 and from June 2006 to June 2008. The principal method in SLiCA was standardised face-to-face interviews using a questionnaire. Results: A total of 663, 1,197 and 445 individuals were interviewed in Alaska, Greenland and Norway, respectively. Very high overall participation rates of 83% were obtained in Greenland and Alaska, while a more conventional rate of 57% was achieved in Norway. A predominance of female respondents was obtained in Alaska. Overall, the Sami cohort is older than the cohorts from Greenland and Alaska. Conclusions: Preliminary assessments suggest that selection bias in the Sami sample is plausible but not a major threat. Few or no threats to validity are detected in the data from Alaska and Greenland. Despite different sampling and recruitment methods, and sociocultural differences, a unique database has been generated, which shall be used to explore relationships between health and other living conditions variables.OBJECTIVES The main objective of this study is to describe the methods and design of the survey of living conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA), relevant participation rates and the distribution of participants, as applicable to the survey data in Alaska, Greenland and Norway. This article briefly addresses possible selection bias in the data and also the ways to tackle it in future studies. STUDY DESIGN Population-based cross-sectional survey. METHODS Indigenous individuals aged 16 years and older, living in Greenland, Alaska and in traditional settlement areas in Norway, were invited to participate. Random sampling methods were applied in Alaska and Greenland, while non-probability sampling methods were applied in Norway. Data were collected in 3 periods: in Alaska, from January 2002 to February 2003; in Greenland, from December 2003 to August 2006; and in Norway, in 2003 and from June 2006 to June 2008. The principal method in SLiCA was standardised face-to-face interviews using a questionnaire. RESULTS A total of 663, 1,197 and 445 individuals were interviewed in Alaska, Greenland and Norway, respectively. Very high overall participation rates of 83% were obtained in Greenland and Alaska, while a more conventional rate of 57% was achieved in Norway. A predominance of female respondents was obtained in Alaska. Overall, the Sami cohort is older than the cohorts from Greenland and Alaska. CONCLUSIONS Preliminary assessments suggest that selection bias in the Sami sample is plausible but not a major threat. Few or no threats to validity are detected in the data from Alaska and Greenland. Despite different sampling and recruitment methods, and sociocultural differences, a unique database has been generated, which shall be used to explore relationships between health and other living conditions variables.

Alcohol and other drug use among students in Greenland – A comparison between some 1999 and 2003 ESPAD data

Objectives. Smoking and drinking habits among young people are of great concern in Greenland. The Home Rule government has through the Department of Prevention (PAARISA) carried out several campaigns to highlight the risks of smoking and drinking alcohol. To monitor the changes in these habits Greenland has participated in the European Survey Project on Alcohol and Drugs (ESPAD) in 1999 and 2003. The objective of this article is to make some preliminary comparisons between the 1999 and 2003 survey results on smoking and drinking alcohol. Study design/Methods. The survey population in both the 1999 and 2003 surveys are all students in the 9th, 10th and 11th grade (persons between 14 and 16 years old). Hence the surveys include students born in 1982–84 and 1986-88, respectively. The ESPAD questionnaire focuses on alcohol and other drug use, but it also includes questions on lifestyle, relations to family and friends and the students’ perception of their living conditions. Only answers from respondents born in 1983-84 and 1987-88 and only questions on smoking and drinking habits are analysed in this article. Results/Conclusion. Smoking and alcohol drinking among students aged 14-16 years has been decreasing from 1999 to 2003 measured by use during the last 30 days. The same trends cannot be found in students’ use of marijuana/hashish and sniffing different substances.

Living Conditions and Perceived Quality of Life Among Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic

Rapid economic, social, political and cultural changes have characterized societal and human development in the circumpolar north since World War II. The development includes new government structures, devolution of power from southern capitals to northern communities, and the development of self-governing entities. This development has been accelerated by growing self-awareness of indigenous and other Arctic residents. The documentation of large oil, gas and mineral deposits has increased the economic interests in the Arctic, and the indisputable evidence of global warming has resulted in an increased focus on human development, on livelihoods, living conditions, subjective wellbeing and quality of life in Arctic societies.

The Political Economy of Northern Regional Development : Vol. I

“….Taking the structure and functioning of the Arctic regional economies and the degree of economic dependence as a point of departure, these regions self-reliance and comparative ...

Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity

This chapter focuses on well-being in the Arctic. The Arctic encompasses one independent state, Iceland, and the northernmost regions and territories of seven sovereign states: Canada, United States, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. The latter receives its Arctic status from the two self-governing entities within the Danish Realm, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

SLiCA: Arctic living conditions : Living conditions and quality of life among Inuit, Saami and indigenous peoples of Chukotka and the Kola Peninsula

The SLiCA anthology probes into the theoretical and methodological background of the SLiCA project, the research design, the ethical principles applied and introduces examples of the wealth of info ...