03/31/2026
Honoured to have been in Aarhus, Denmark, participating in Arctic Council Science Week through the Indigenous Knowledge Holder Workshop on climate change impacts and ecosystem feedbacks.
What stands out in this space is how the Arctic Council continues to do things differently. The science working groups like CAFF and AMAP are not operating in isolation, they are grounded in partnership. They bring together western science and Indigenous knowledge systems in a way that reflects the reality of our homelands, where environment, culture, and people are inseparable.
At the heart of this work are the Permanent Participants, the Indigenous peoples’ organizations who sit at the table alongside Arctic states, not as observers, but as rights holders and knowledge holders. This is a model the world is still trying to understand.
Through the Arctic Athabaskan Council, Council of Yukon First Nations are part of that leadership. AAC represents Athabaskan peoples across Alaska, Canada, and the North, ensuring our voices, laws, and lived knowledge shape Arctic policy, research, and decision-making.
It was especially meaningful to be here alongside Christine Creyke, representing the board of the Gwich’in Council International, who brings a strong community voice to advocacy grounded in the Gwich’in homeland. Shea, a young leader, also working with Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, reflects the next generation stepping into these spaces with confidence and purpose. And a special acknowledgement to Dr. Norma Shorty, whose leadership continues to anchor this work in research and community. As a Yukon University professor and Principal Investigator for the Yukon NEIHR application submitted this past week, she is helping to build the foundation for Indigenous-led health research in our territory.
This workshop on co-production of knowledge is not theoretical for us. It reflects how our people have always understood the land, as an interconnected system where changes to water, animals, and climate are also changes to culture, language, and identity.
The message is clear. If we are serious about climate science in the Arctic, Indigenous knowledge is not an add-on, it is foundational.
Proud to carry Yukon First Nations perspectives and the work we are doing to integrate a First Nation Science with Western Science into these global spaces.
