Climate Change 25
behaviors and events. In doing so, we can begin to hear the contours of potentially
conflictual communicative situations. In the specific case of global climate change and
the Inuit, this approach allows us to understand that debates over global climate change
are not mere political debates. Rather, in this case, global climate change becomes a
“way of life” debate. This debate is made clearer in a larger tension that underlies much
of the data presented here.
This is a tension between modernization and traditional ways of living in the
North. For the Inuit, stationary settlements are relatively recent innovations. For
instance, the town of Iqaluit exists on the site of an old hunting camp, but was not a
formal community until the U.S. established a Strategic Air Command Air Force base
there in the late 1940’s. With the establishment of these stationary settlements came a
shift toward modernization that has far reaching effects. One example is the widespread
use of different foods that has led to increased instances of health problems (Brody,
1987). Another example sees Inuktitut, while still widely used, being supplanted by
English (Dorais & Sammons, 2002). From a broader perspective, though, modernization,
and the frames that privilege this form of living has likely contributed to a rapidly
shifting climate, which, as demonstrated here, is having powerful effects on the peoples
of Nunavut.
This case study represents an attempt to engage deeply meaningful and important
issues for indigenous populations. The ability of indigenous peoples throughout the
world to maintain traditional life practices and language is being impacted by forces
taken for granted by many. One such force is that of modernization and its effects.
There is, in many instances, an unquestioned premise that modernization is ultimately
Convention