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Arctic Yearbook 2014
The final factor that makes it challenging to reflect accurately the experiences of indigenous women
in gender impact analysis is that while considerable domestic-level and some comparative data on
the status and needs of indigenous women do exist, much of it is ungendered, subsuming indigenous
women’s experiences in seemingly gender-neutral concepts undifferentiated by women’s realities.
The largest project being carried out in the Arctic region, the Social Indicators project following on
after publication of the 2004 AHDR, has produced a small set of final indicators that do not appear
to call for gender-disaggregated data. Nor do enough of these proposed indicators link into existing
UN-level gender data that would be of assistance in establishing more comprehensive baselines and
sharper issues for further inquiry (Nymand Larsen 2010: 153-54).
Key Gender Issues in Northern/Arctic Regions
The concentration of attention on Arctic/northern economic potential has meant that human
development and gender equality issues have received relatively little consideration from domestic
governments or transnational organizations. Even indigenous communities that may have
experienced some degree of self-definition are now experiencing the pervasive effects of ‘economic
growth first’ thinking.
Population Balances, Migration Patterns, and Education
Interest in industrial development and northern shipping routes have grown rapidly as Arctic
climates have changed. While some circumpolar states such as Sweden have relatively small nonrenewable resource industries, many have described the economic changes taking place in the Arctic
as a ‘boom.’ Sectoral changes have resulted in rapid changes to population balances with the influx
of virtually all-male work forces in some regions, accompanied by population displacement from
extraction zones, changes in location of indigenous communities, and the effects of women’s outmigration have resulted in changes that had become observable nearly two decades ago (Hamilton et
al. 1997).
While the relative proportion of indigenous populations in circumpolar regions vary widely, from
very small in Russia to virtually all in Greenland, indigenous migration may be markedly different
from non-indigenous migrations. Some groups have used broad ranges of territory for traditional
seasonal activities, while others have moved or been moved to protect sovereignty, make way for
defence installations, provide industrial labour, or promote resource development. Both indigenous
and non-indigenous relocations have been carried out in Russia, while many circumpolar states have
used Inuit as ‘human flagpoles’ (Krupnik & Chlenov 2007; Stern 2013: 164-66). Depending on the
specific location, migration itself can affect the viability of entire communities, or can have disparate
impact on some community members when personal security, levels of violence, or subsistence are
affected.
Education has been implicated in these demographic changes. Increasingly, both women and men
migrate into and out of established communities for educational purposes, but for different reasons.
In some areas, indigenous women out-migrate for educational and income-earning purposes that are
integral to sustaining home communities (O’Donnell & Wallace 2011: 30-33) or because they remain
Lahey, Svensson, & Gunnarsson