Press Releases

Documenting our Progress

A Renewed ICC at Alaska General Assembly in 2006

Montreal, 4 December 2005

Amidst the UN Climate Change Conference being held here, the Executive Council of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) met to sketch out the details for its 2006 General Assembly, which will be held in Barrow, Alaska.

The executive council will be proposing to the 72 Inuit delegates from Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland a new face for ICC and possibly a new organizational structure. The agenda for the Assembly, which is held every four years, will include an item on ICC renewal and restructuring. ICC Chair, Sheila Watt-Cloutier said ICC has accomplished much since it was established in 1977, but now we all agree it is time to look ahead and determine exactly what Inuit need in an international organization such as this.

The executive council is further proposing to modify the English name of the organization to more closely reflect its meaning in the Inuit language. The new Inuit Circumpolar Council, if approved in Barrow, will also sport a new logo, which was unveiled yesterday. The logo, designed by Greenlander Nina Spore Kreutzmann, includes a stylised Inuit drum, which is common across all parts of the Inuit Arctic homeland, as well as a drum stick. The circular form of the drum, said Aqqaluk Lynge, ICC-Greenland president, symbolizes the circumpolar nature of our land stretching from Russia around to Greenland. The Inuit drum dance was also used to resolve conflicts. In this way, the drum means harmony, added Mr. Lynge, and of course the circle is a universal symbol of unity.

ICC hopes to move forward its new structure through unity and harmony, as symbolized by the Inuit drum.

Chuck Greene, ICC-Alaska president stated that he was pleased with how well advanced the host community of Barrow was in making preparations for the large political and cultural gathering that is expected to attract over a thousand people. ICC was first established here in 1977, and we are very excited to have the Assembly back in Alaska, he added.

The Assembly theme next year will be Inuit: Unity Within Diversity. The dates of the ICC General Assembly are July 9 14, 2006.

For more information, contact: Linda Kirkwood (613) 563-2642

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The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) is an Indigenous Peoples’ Organization (IPO), founded in 1977 to promote and celebrate the unity of 180,000 Inuit from Alaska (USA), Canada, Greenland, and Chukotka (Russia). ICC works to promote Inuit rights, safeguard the Arctic environment, and protect and promote the Inuit way of life. In regard to climate change, we believe that it is crucial for world leaders and governments to recognize, respect and fully implement the human rights of Inuit and all other Indigenous peoples across the globe.