Alert – a Canadian Forces Station (CFS Alert) situated at the northeast tip of Ellesmere Island at the Lincoln Sea (82.31N, 62.05W). Alert is the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world, though the population is less than ten.
Aleut – or the Unangan are the Indigenous inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands and of certain parts of the Alaska mainland. It is believed that their culture is more than 8,000 years old. The Aleuts are closely related to the Eskimos, but separated when they moved away from the Alaska mainland. When the Russian explorers landed in 1741, it was estimated that there were about 20,000 Aleut people living in hundreds of small villages throughout islands. Their homes were called “barabaras” which were semi-subterranean homes covered by earth and grass with entries through the roof. To day the Aleut are citizens of the U.S.A. (State of Alaska) and the Russian Federation (Kamchatka Region). The Aleut people count around 6,000 individuals, where of around 500 are Russian citizens.
Aleut – the language of the Aleut people. The language is in the family called Eskimo-Aleut languages. It is related to the Inuit and Yupik languages spoken by the Eskimo. Eskimo-Aleut languages.
Aleut International Association (AIA) – an association established in 1998. AIA represents the Indigenous peoples of the Aleutian Islands, South Western Alaska and Kommandorskiye Ostrova (the Russian Commander Islands). The aim of AIA is to protect the natural resources and the environment of the region surrounding the Aleut homelands, which is threatened by the impact of the pollution, climate change and commercial fishing. AIA has Permanent Participants status at the Arctic Council.
Aleutian Islands – a chain or range of more than 300 volcanic islands curving 1,200 miles (1,900 km) west from the tip of the Alaska Peninsula towards the Russian peninsula Kamchatka. The islands separate the Bering Sea from the Pacific Ocean. The American Aleutian Islands comprise four main groups: the Fox Islands, nearest to the Alaska mainland, including Unimak, Unalaska, Umnak, and Akutan; the Andreanof Islands, including Amlia, Atka, Adak, Kanaga, and Tanaga; the Rat Islands, including Amchitka and Kiska; and the Near Islands, which are the smallest and westernmost group, including Agattu and Attu. The Semichi Islands, of which Shemya is the largest, are nearby. Among the active volcanoes is Mt. Shishaldin, on Unimak. Most of the American islands are within the Aleutian National Wildlife Reserve. The two Russian islands are together called Kommandorskiye Ostrova (Commander Islands) and consists of Ostrov Beringa (Bering Island) and Ostrov Mednyy. Vitus Bering, a Danish explorer employed by the Russian tsar Peter the Great, visited the then unnamed island Ostrov Beringa in 1741 where he died of scurvy. Most of the islands were included in the Alaska purchase in 1867.
Aleutian Range – an about 1,000/600 km/miles long mountain range of southwest Alaska, extending from southwest of Anchorage to Unimak Island, at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula. It is well known for its large number of active volcanoes. Geologically the Aleutian Islands are a western extension of the range, but officially the Aleutian Range only includes the peaks on the mainland and on Unimak Island.
Aleuty – or Aleutskiy are the Aleut Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Aleutian Islands. Estimated population is 500. Aleut. Eskimo-Aleut languages.
ALF Animal Liberation Front (ALF).
Álgoálbmot – the Saami word for indigenous peoples.
Alienation – an individual’s feelings of estrangement from a situation, group or culture etc.
Alpine zone – any region that occurs above the tree line and below the snow line on temperate and tropical mountains. Extreme weather conditions make survival impossible for tall trees. If trees do exist, they grow no higher than a few feet high and tend to sprawl across the ground. Alpine plants usually have adaptations for minimizing the effects of wind, cold temperatures, short growing seasons, dry conditions and ultraviolet radiation.
ALS Arctic Leaders’ Summit (ALS).
Alternative substances – according to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer: the “substances, which reduce, eliminate or avoid adverse effects on the ozone layer.”
Alternative technologies or equipment – according to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer: the “technologies or equipment the use of which makes it possible to reduce or effectively eliminate emissions of substances which have or are likely to have adverse effects on the ozone layer.”
AlyeskaAlákshak. Alaska.
AMAP Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP).
Amendment – to change, modify or improve for the better, especially in relation with laws, agreements, declarations, etc.
American Society for Circumpolar Health (ASCH) – the society has since 1980 sought to improve and maintain the health of the Arctic peoples of the United States, and to promote and support the efforts of all circumpolar peoples in the attainment of better health.
Amerindians – the abbreviation of American Indian. The term relates to all indigenous peoples of America in the South and in the North.
Ammassalik – the Greenlandic name for a place with ammassat, plural of ammasak (capelin). It is a municipality in East Greenland, and the largest in Greenland covering an area of 250.000 km2. The population is approximately 3.000 whereof approx. 1.900 is living in the town of Tasiilaq. The remaining part of the population is living in five villages Kuummiut, Kulusuk, Tineteqilaaq, Sermiligaaq and Isertoq. The main occupation in Ammassalik is hunting and fishing. Established as the Danish colony of Anmagssalik in 1894.
Ammonia – is the chemical substance consisting of hydrogen and nitrogen. Ammonia is found throughout the environment in the air, soil, and water, and in plants and animals including humans. Exposure to high levels of ammonia can cause irritation and serious burns on the skin and in the mouth, throat, lungs, and eyes. At very high levels, ammonia can even cause death. Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).
Amulet – a small object, often from an animal, worn either for spiritual or protective reasons.
Anabatic wind – a wind that is created by air flowing uphill. Valley breezes, produced by local daytime heating, are an example of these winds. Anabatic winds are the opposite of katabatic winds.
Anadyr – a major town and administrative centre, and seat of the government of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. The town is situated at the mouth of the river of Anadyr (64.35 N, 177.20 E). With an estimated population of 12,000 Anadyr is the largest town in Chukotka. The town was founded in 1889.
Anaktuvuk Pass – the last remaining settlement (68.08N, 151.45 W) of the Nunamiut, the northern inland Inupiat in Alaska. Anaktuvuk Pass lies in the Endicott Mountains, which are part of Brooks Range. Nunamiut bands left the Brooks Range due to the collapse of caribou in 1926-27. In 1938 several Nunamiut families left the coast and returned to the mountains at Killik River and Chandler Lake. In 1949, the Chandler Lake group moved to Anaktuvuk Pass, which means ”the place of caribou droppings”. Later the Killik River group, as well as others joined them. The population is estimated to be around 400.
Anarchy – lack of government. Government.
Ancestors – someone’s parents, grandparents, great-grandparents etc., actually all relatives from previous generations. People who are sharing the same ancestors are of common descent. In some cultures, both alive and dead ancestors play an important role. In most Indigenous societies living ancestors, like grandparents are considered as elders, who are transmitting the society’s identity, values, culture and language from one generation to the next. Influence by majority societies, education and new technology have been threatening the role of the elders, because values are changing. The burial place of dead ancestors is in most societies considered as a sacred site. Sacred sites.
Anchorage – the largest city (61.10 N, 149.50 W) in Alaska with around 300,000 inhabitants. The town is located in the south-central part of Alaska at the head of Cook Inlet. The discovery of gold in 1887 and in the Interior in 1922 encouraged the development of the area. Construction of a railroad from the port of Seward, 126 miles south of Anchorage, through the coalfields of Interior Alaska, to the gold fields near Fairbanks, 358 miles to the north began in 1914. The midpoint construction headquarters was Anchorage, and by July of 1915, thousands of job seekers and opportunists had poured into the area, living in a tent city. From 1939 to 1957, major military impacts and government construction of roads, airports and harbours throughout Alaska contributed to the growth of Anchorage. The Port was completed in the early 1960’s. In 1964 an earthquake destroyed a large part of the city. During the 1970’s, the development of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline brought rapid growth to Anchorage. Population, office space and housing tripled within a ten-year period.
ANCSA Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA).
Angakkoq – the Greenlandic word for a shaman. Shamanism.
Animal Liberation – a book from 1975 by Professor Peter Singer (1946-). In his book, he argues that although Man has a long history of mistreating animals, there is no moral justification for doing so. Animal Liberation is considered as the bible of animal rights movements.
Animal Liberation Front (ALF) – a British radical and criminal movement, which uses terrorism against the fur industry, against animal physiology labs at universities and hospitals, and against butcher shops. ALF is known to be responsible of the bombing of several British department stores in 1988. A spokesperson from ALF headquarters in London has in public said: “We do not care whether or not people die. Animals come first.”
Animal Rights Activists – any radical movement, organisation or group of people that urges a ban on all trapping activities etc. They believe that using animals in any way is to violate the animals’ rights and stress that animals should not be killed for human advantage. A logical conclusion is that all human beings should be vegetarians.
Animal Welfare Organisations – any organisation concerned about humane treatment of animals. These organisations wish to ensure that animals are not abused. They are often willing to work with governments to conduct animal control programs or to prevent exploitation through better regulation of laboratory research, entertainment or factory farming. They follow a reform route. Some of these organisations have put much effort into improving trapping methods to ensure humane deaths for the animals involved.
Animalia – animals. The animal kingdom is usually divided into about 30 phyla (divisions). Biological classification. Birds. Fish. Mammals.
Animism – the belief that natural phenomena, mountains, trees etc., have their own spirits. The word animism derives from the Latin word anima, which means “breath” or “soul”. Animism is probably man’s oldest belief, originating most likely in the Palaeolithic age.
Anisa – the Greenlandic word for “let us get out”. The slogan used by a group consisting of political parties and organisations that wanted Greenland to the European Community (EC). Greenland left the EC in 1985, after a referendum in 1982.
Ankalyn – the Chukchi word for their neighbouring people, the Yupik, Yupigut or Yugyt (Eskimos). The word means the maritime people.
ANLC Alaska Native Language Center (ANLC).
Annual snow line Firn line.
Anorak – a jacket wit a hood as worn by the Inuit. The word derives from the Greenlandic word Annoraaq or the Inuktitut word Annuraaq.
Anthropocentric – is regarding the human beings as the central figure of the universe.
Anthropogenic – something man made, or produced by human beings.
Anthropogeography – a branch of anthropology that describes the varieties of mankind and their geographical distribution.
Anthropology – the study of human beings. Anthropos is the Greek word for “human being”, and logos mean “knowledge”. Anthropology is a science with roots to the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities.
Archaeology – the scientific or systematic analysis of the material and physical remains by past societies and cultures. The study of the material traces of the human past. Archae is the Latin word for “ancient”, and logos mean “knowledge”.
Archipelago – a group of islands that forms a geographical unit or a chain of islands.
ARCSS Arctic System Science (ARCSS).
Arctic – the circumpolar region around the North Pole (90N). Usually, the Arctic is being defined by not having an average temperature more than 10º Celsius or 50º Fahrenheit in the warmest month of the year. Other criteria, such as the Northern Tree Line and the Arctic Circle (66.33N) may also be used. Most of the Arctic consists of the ice-covered Mediterranean Arctic Ocean and the surrounding northern parts of the three continents, Asia, Europe and North America. Both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean reaches into the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic includes eight states: Alaska (U.S.A.), the northern territories of Canada and Finland, Greenland (Denmark), Iceland, and the northern territories of Norway, Russia and Sweden. In Arctic Council regime, also the Faroe Islands (Denmark) are included. The word Arctic derives from arktos, the Greek word for bear, which is referring to the star constellations of the Great Bear and the Little Bear. The North Star or Polaris is the star at the end of the “handle” of the Little Dipper asterism in the Little Bear constellation.
Arctic air mass – an air mass that develops around the Arctic, it is characterized by being cold from surface to great heights. The boundary of this air mass is often defined by the Arctic front, a semi-permanent, semi-continuous feature. When this air mass moves from its source region, it may become shallower in height as it spreads southward. A very cold air mass generally formed north of the Arctic Circle. Polar front.
Arctic Anthropology – a journal from the University of Wisconsin Press founded in 1962 dealing with the study of Arctic cultures and peoples, past and present.
Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC) – an organisation representing Athabaskans in Canada and U.S.A. The founding members of AAC include four Alaskan Athabaskan communities (Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, Healy Lake Traditional Council, Steven Village Tribal Government, Council, Northway Tribal Council) and three Athabaskan representative bodies on the Canadian side, the Council of Yukon First Nations, representing eleven Yukon First Nations, the Dene Nation, representing 30 First Nations in the Northwest Territories and northern Manitoba, and Métis Nation Northwest Territories, representing 13 communities in the Northwest Territories. In total, Arctic Athabaskan founding member governments represent approximately 32,000 indigenous peoples of Athabaskan descent residing in Arctic and Sub-Arctic North America. The Permanent Office of the Arctic Athabaskan Council is located in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada.
Arctic Bulletin – a quarterly magazine published by the WWF. WWF International Arctic Programme.
Arctic Centre – a centre at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. The centre was founded in 1970 with the purpose to stimulate the study of languages and cultures of the Arctic Indigenous peoples. In the 1970’s archaeologists, biologists and geographers joined, and the scope of the Centre widened to become the platform for polar research in the Netherlands. It also operates the Netherlands Arctic Field Station in Ny-Ålesund (Spitsbergen).
Arctic Centre – a centre at the University of Lapland in the city of Rovaniemi, close to the Arctic Circle in Finland. The centre conducts research in culture, economics, technology and natural conditions.
Arctic Circle – also referred to as the Polar Circle lies at 66.33 N.
Arctic Circle – an electronic library for knowledge of the Circumpolar North at the Internet. The University of Connecticut, U.S.A hosts the web site.
Arctic Circle Race – an annual event since 2005 close to Sisimiut in Greenland. The event is a 160 km ski race 65 km north of the Arctic Circle.
Arctic Circumpolar Route (ACR) - a UNESCO and Arctic Institute of North America sponsored project. ACR forms partnerships with community-based projects in the eight Arctic Council member states to create wider awareness and to disseminate information about Arctic peoples, their traditions and priorities, from their own perspectives and in their own words.
Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) – an international project of the Arctic Council and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), to evaluate and synthesize knowledge on climate variability, climate change, and increased ultraviolet radiation and their consequences. The results of the assessment were released at the ACIA International Scientific Symposium held in Reykjavik, Iceland in November 2004.
Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP) – established in 2006 as a working group under AC. Prior to that, ACAP had operated as a steering committee called the Arctic Council Action Plan to Eliminate Pollution in the Arctic (ACAP) with a mandate to increase efforts to limit and reduce emissions of pollutants into the environment and promote international cooperation. The goal of ACAP is to reduce emissions of pollutants into the environment in order to reduce the identified pollution risks. ACAP also encourages national actions for Arctic State governments to take remedial and preventive actions relating to contaminants and other releases of pollutants. Arctic Council (AC).
Arctic Council(AC) – the council was formally established in Ottawa in 1996, and inaugurated in 1998. Originally it was a Canadian proposal from 1991 on the founding of an institutional body, which purpose should be to strengthen the already established circumpolar co-operation within the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS) framework. The establishment of AC was strongly recommended by the indigenous peoples organisations at the second Arctic Leaders’ Summit in Tromsø in 1995. The member states are Canada, Denmark (Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the U.S.A. Since 1996 AC has operated with the terminology “Permanent Participants” (PP), which is the name given to the six Arctic indigenous organisations that take part in the work of the AC. Some, such as the Saami Council (SC), the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) and the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) already existed when AC was formed. Aleut International Association (AIA), Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC), and the Gwich’in Council International (GCI) joined AC later. The Chair of AC is rotating between the member states on a biannual basis, and at the end of the period the Chair is hosting a ministerial meeting. The political coordination is taken care of by the Senior Arctic Officials (SAO). The various expert groups of AC are meeting at regular intervals. At present there are six working groups 1) Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP), 2) Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), 3) Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) 4) Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR), 5) Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME), and 6) Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG). The working groups operate with each their specific mandate. AC has also established programs, such as the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), and the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR). An Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat (IPS) was established in 1993, and is mainly financed by Denmark and housed by the Greenland Representation in Denmark. It co-ordinates and facilitates the PP’s participation in AC and the working groups.
Arctic desert – an eco-region in the High Arctic that refers to a number of islands north of 75N. This eco-region is one of the most isolated areas of the Earth, since the islands are bound in ice most of the year. Average temperatures are between -30 C and 1 C. The vegetation is almost non-existing, and consists mainly of lichens, mosses and grasses.
Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS) – an initiative started in 1991 by the signing of a ministerial declaration of the eight circumpolar nations Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the U.S.A., on the protection of the Arctic environment. AEPS is also known as the Finish Initiative and the Rovaniemi Process. AEPS consists of a set of action programs to tackle pressing Arctic environmental problems. Until 1993 the indigenous peoples’ organisations (IPO) the Saami Council, Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) and RAIPON had observer status, but since the second ministerial meeting in Nuuk 1993 the IPO’s have Permanent Participant (PP) status. An Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat (IPS), mainly financed by Denmark and housed by the Greenland Representation in Denmark co-ordinates and facilitates the PP’s participation in the Arctic Council (AC) and its working groups. A Canadian proposal from 1991 on the founding of an institutional body which purpose should be to strengthen the circumpolar co-operation was decided in 1996. Since 1998 when the Arctic Council (AC) was established, the AEPS is an integrated part of the council. Arctic Council (AC).
Arctic front – also called the Polar front, which is a zone of transition between polar and tropical air masses. Its average position during the winter is at about 30° N. and during the summer at about 60° N.
Arctic Gas and Aerosol Sampling Program (AGASP) – in the years 1983, 1986, 1989 and 1991 the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) studied Arctic haze, air chemistry and solar radiation. The research programme was conducted by flying in the Arctic, covering the region from Alaska to Norway, every year, a month in the spring. AGASP published more than 150 reviewed papers and five special issues of scientific journals as results of the programme.
Arctic Green Food A/S – the formerly Nuka A/S, owned by Royal Greenland A/S, was sold to KNI A/S in 1998. The main purpose of this company is to secure local fishermen access to the production plants in order to sell the products on the home market as well as for the export markets.