The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) is proud to announce the launch of the ICC Canada Archive, a first-of-its-kind digital database that aims to preserve and promote Inuit knowledge, participation, advocacy, and leadership on matters of global importance.

Inuit support the designation of an Emission Control Area in Canadian Arctic waters, supporting global shipping community approval. 

Indigenous rights have been affirmed during the negotiations last week at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in a fundamental way.

Inuit worked with 14 other nations towards the development of a ban on the use of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) in the Arctic, which is currently banned in the Antarctic.

October 26, 2018 – Berlin, Germany – “The recognition of and respect for our Indigenous human rights, status and role in the Arctic should not be viewed as a threat to the work of governments, rather, it is a matter of good...

October 16, 2018 – Ottawa, Canada – Inuit support the strong findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, but say the emergency debate in the House of Commons last...

Copenhagen, Denmark; Nuuk, Greenland; Iqaluit, Nunavut; Nov. 23, 2017 The Inuit Circumpolar Council’s Pikialasorsuaq Commission is calling for the creation of an Inuit- identified, Inuit-managed protected area in the...

Inuit from Canada, Greenland, Alaska and Chukotka came together in Ottawa to discuss cultural sustainability, food security and conservation through use. The Summit resulted in a commitment to collaboratively and inclusively promote, sustain and strengthen Inuit cultural rights to food sovereignty.

Bonn, Germany and Ottawa, Canada Today Inuit celebrate unity and solidarity. Forty years ago Eben Hopson, the visionary Inupiat leader from Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska called on Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Chukotka to work together in support each other, to defend Inuit Rights, and to make certain no Inuit community is left behind as […]

December 13, 2015 – Ottawa – The climate change treaty finalized today in Paris is “historic,” said Okalik Eegeesiak, Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) “but we recognize the compromise in the text.” Eegeesiak led the circumpolar Inuit delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP 21 talks in Paris and […]

December 9, 2015 – Paris, France – Voices from some of the world’s coldest and hottest regions were raised in unison today calling for ambitious greenhouse gas emissions targets that would limit the average global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The call was issued by Indigenous Peoples’ representatives from the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Saami […]

December 8, 2015 – Vancouver, Canada – Duane Smith, President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) Canada is in Vancouver, British Columbia attending the Northern Contaminants Program Results Workshop. The NCP Results Workshop, held every other year, is the main venue for Canadian scientists, indigenous peoples and policy-makers to focus attention on the breadth of […]

TORONTO – 3 December 2014 – Duane Smith of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) was invited by The Economist to present the views of Inuit at its premier Canadian event held here today, called The Canada Summit: Confronting the Big Questions. The event’s main panellists and speakers included Alberta’sPremier Jim Prentice and Bank of Canada […]

New York – 25 September 2014 – The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) expressed its excitement today over an Outcome Document emanating from the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, a high level United Nations event that ended yesterday in New York. ICC Canada President, Duane Ningaqsiq Smith, said he is very pleased that after several months […]

July 24, 2014, Inuvik, NWT – The Inuit Circumpolar Council General Assembly, a quadrennial gathering of Inuit leaders from Canada, Greenland, Chukotka (Russia) and Alaska, concluded today with the signing and adoption of the Kitigaaryuit Declaration. This Declaration outlines the guiding principles and activities for the ICC over the next four years and is inspired […]

OTTAWA – 7 November 2012 –Duane Smith, President of Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada today called on all Inuit and all Canadians to celebrate Inuit Day. In 2006 ICC General Assembly in Barrow, Alaska instructed ICC to “annually proclaim the November 7th birth date of ICC visionary, Eben Hopson, Sr., as Inuit Day, and to urge […]

16 October 2012 – Nuuk, Greenland – Aqqaluk Lynge, Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) today congratulated ICC Canada President and ICC Vice-Chair for Canada, Duane Smith, for having received the prestigious 2013 Indspire Award for Politics. Indspire awards are given to Canadians who are both indigenous and an inspiration to others. “The Inuit […]

Ottawa, 14 September 2012 – Following yesterday’s celebration at the Canadian Museum of Civilization marking the 5th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the president of the Canadian chapter of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC Canada) called for “real action” on the Declaration. “I would like to see Canada work […]

15 December, 2011 –Ottawa, Canada – Inuit are Deeply Concerned About Canada’s Decision towithdraw from Kyoto. ICC Canada’s President, Duane Smith, said, “The news that Canada has withdrawn from Kyoto comes as a great disappointment to Inuit in Canada and the circumpolar world. In the past, Canada was seen as a global leader on many […]

06 December, 2011 – Ottawa, Canada – The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), representing Inuit from Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Chukotka, Russia, released a document today addressed to global leaders assembled for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meetings in Durban. The Inuit Call to Global Leaders highlights the importance of strong commitments from […]

Luleå, Sweden – 9 November 2011 – The Senior Arctic Officials (SAOs) ended their 2-day meeting today endorsing several initiatives important to Inuit. The president of the Canadian office of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) said he was pleased that two of the projects, which will be headed by Inuit, had strong support. Duane Smith […]

13 November, 2009 – Copenhagen, Denmark — Inuit leaders, through the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), today released a document calling on global leaders to adopt a meaningful agreement at December’s UN Climate Change Convention (UNCCC) Conference in Copenhagen – one that will safeguard the future of the Arctic. The Inuit homeland in the Arctic has […]

— November 13, 2009 — The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) is an indigenous peoples’ organization, founded in 1977 to promote and celebrate the unity of 160,000 Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia. As the international voice of Inuit, ICC is calling upon global leaders at the December UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties […]

(October 16, 2009 – Ottawa, Canada) Duane Smith, President of Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada, says the USA proposal to stop world trade in polar bear hides ignores the demonstrated ability of Inuit to manage their own resources wisely and sustainably. The USA is submitting a proposal for consideration at the 15th Conference of the Parties […]

November 29, 2008, Ilulissat, Greenland – Aqqaluk Lynge, President of the Greenland chapter of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) as well as ICC Vice Chair, told foreign ministers gathered here yesterday from Norway, Denmark, USA, and Canada that much of the Arctic belongs to Inuit. He stressed the importance of including Inuit in any negotiations […]

10 November 2008 – Ottawa, Ontario – Inuit leaders from Greenland, Alaska, and Canada met in Kuujjuaq last week and agreed to develop an ‘Inuit Declaration on Sovereignty in the Arctic’. In advance of the Declaration the leaders also approved the attached Statement. “On behalf of ICC and Circumpolar leaders, we are pleased with our […]

Monday July 14, 2008 – Ottawa, Ontario – Inuit are calling on the government of Canada to step up its actions against the European Union to avoid an EU-wide ban on the import of Canadian Seal products. “We are clearly not on the same page with Europeans on this issue and I am not sure […]

Canadian Inuit leader states: “A dark day for aboriginal Canadians and all indigenous peoples worldwide” Ottawa, 29 November 2006 The Inuit of Canada today condemned the split vote by the United Nations General Assembly (GA) to postpone consideration of the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The UN Human Rights Council […]

Inuvik – Tuesday, 21 November 2006 After international climate change negotiations wound up last week, and as ministers from around the world returned to their respective countries, Duane Smith, the President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada), expressed his disappointment that the Canadian government did not stand in solidarity with other nation states in committing […]

Ottawa, August 11, 2006 Mr. Duane Smith, President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) Canada today applauded the Prime Minister, visiting Iqaluit, for initiating Operation Lancaster, a major deployment of Canadas armed forces in the Canadian Eastern Arctic to bolster Canadas sovereignty over the Northwest Passage. He also applauded the Prime Ministers commitment to expand […]

December 7, 2005 Contact: Paul Crowley, ICC 613-323-0212 Terry Fenge, ICC 613-762-8999 MONTREAL Ms. Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the elected Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), today submitted a petition to the Washington DC-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights seeking relief from violations of the human rights of Inuit resulting from global warming caused by greenhouse […]

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 […]

September 23, 2005, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference received the first Governor General’s Northern Medal yesterday in a ceremony that took place at Rideau Hall. Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada, praised Ms. Watt-Cloutier as “an eloquent spokesperson for the North and an advocate […]

December 10, 2003 Milan, ItalySheila Watt-Cloutier, the elected Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), spoke today to media, non-governmental organizations, and states attending the ninth Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Milan, Italy. Representing the 155,000 Inuit who live in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Chukotka in theFar East of the Russian Federation and living in Iqaluit, the […]

Ottawa, July 3, 2003 Returning on June 24, 2003 from Provideniya and New Chaplino in Chukotka in the Russian Far East, Ms. Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the Iqaluit-based Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, reported a renewed sense of hope and optimism among the region’s 1,500 Inuit, and an eagerness to work closely with Inuit organizations in […]

June 27, 2003 Nome, Alaska – The Executive Council of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), an organization representing 155,000 Inuit in Greenland, Canada, Alaska and Chukotka, Russia, continues to be diligent in addressing its concerns about the ability of future generations to maintain the Inuit culture in the face of the many globalized pressures that […]

Johannesburg, South Africa Monday September 2, 2002  Inuit leaders are in Johannesburg to press for the recognition of Arctic concerns on the global agenda, but are deeply concerned the Arctic will be ignored in the final political declaration. There were limited opportunities at WSSD to voice concerns of the sustainability of Inuit culture and the […]

Kuujjuaq Declaration Passed Sheila Watt-Cloutier Elected ICC Chair Kuujjuaq – Thursday August 15, 2002 The 9th General Assembly of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), representing Inuit of Russia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, concluded today in Kuujjuaq following four days of deliberation on topics of concern to the Inuit world. Celebrating its 25th anniversary ICC elected a […]

Kuujjuaq, Monday August 12, 2002 Inuit in Kuujjuaq are playing host to fellow Inuit in Canada, Greenland, Alaska, and Russia. The Inuit Circumpolar Conference General Assembly, held every four years, is the largest gathering of Inuit leaders in the world. The theme of this years conference is: Inuit Voice Enlightening the World. Aqqaluk Lynge, President of […]