Crossroads of Continents and Modern Boundaries: An Introduction to Inuit and Chukchi Experiences in the Bering Strait, Beaufort Sea, and Baffin Bay

• Published in: Water
• Main Authors: Henry P. Huntington, Richard Binder Sr., Robert Comeau, Lene Kielsen Holm, Vera Metcalf, Toku Oshima, Carla SimsKayotuk, Eduard Zdor
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020
• Subjects: Inuit; Chukchi; Arctic; maritime waters; sovereignty; mobility; Hydraulic engineering; TC1-978; Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes; TD201-500; Bering Sea; Baffin Bay; Bering Strait; Canada; Greenland; Baffin; Beaufort Sea; inuit
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/w12061808; https://doaj.org/article/1c1ffa2fad6b4b05a69a35b76c42b32f

The homeland of Inuit extends from Asia and the Bering Sea to Greenland and the Atlantic Ocean. Inuit and their Chukchi neighbors have always been highly mobile, but the imposition of three international borders in the region constrained travel, trade, hunting, and resource stewardship among neighboring groups. Colonization, assimilation, and enforcement of national laws further separated those even from the same family. In recent decades, Inuit and Chukchi have re-established many ties across those boundaries, making it easier to travel and trade with one another and to create new institutions of environmental management. To introduce Indigenous perspectives into the discussion of transboundary maritime water connections in the Arctic, this paper presents personal descriptions of what those connections mean to people who live and work along and across each of the national frontiers within the region: Russia–U.S., U.S.–Canada, and Canada–Greenland. Some of these connections have been made in cooperation with national governments, some in the absence of government activity, and some despite opposition from national governments. In all cases, the shared culture of the region has provided a common foundation for a shared vision and commitment to cooperation and the resumption of Indigenous self-determination within their homelands.