INUVIK
After months of planning and preparation, an estimated 685 visiting Inuit from around the circumpolar North, as well as speakers, politicians and observers, have descended on Inuvik for the Inuit Circumpolar Council's (ICC) general assembly and Northern Games.

Inuvialuit Regional Corporation Chairperson and CEO Nellie Cournoyea addresses the Inuit Circumpolar Council general assembly in Inuvik on July 21 as assembly chair Aqqaluk Lynge looks on and the ceremonial qullik burns in the foreground. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo

"I'm just blown away by the hospitality and the generosity of the community," said Peggy Jay, ICC general assembly conference co-ordinator.

Jay and others have been working since July of last year to raise the roughly $2 million necessary to host the event, which was last held in Inuvik in 1992. Organizing the logistics of the conference has been her full-time job since last January.

The largest challenge was securing enough housing for the visitors, delegates, politicians, Northern Games athletes and observers who wished to attend. But in true Inuvik form, said Jay, Inuvikmiut stepped up and helped out.

"We ended up with more billets than we need," Jay told Inuvik Drum on July 22, recalling a moment at the airport July 19 when three extra people got off the charter plane from Alaska. Because it was late at night, Jay wasn't sure what to do until one of the drummers and dancers who were present to welcome the visitors at the airport offered to take them in.

The ICC general assembly gathers Inuit from around the circumpolar region to set the mandate for the council's next four years.

"Inuit are as diverse from Greenland to Chuktotka, from Alaska to the Canadian Arctic," said Duane Ningaqsiq Smith, the ICC vice-chairperson for Canada, during his opening remarks July 21.

"We are one Arctic and together this week, we will help forge one future for our people.

"We have an opportunity this week to chart a course for the next four years, a course that will steer us through both the challenges of this rapidly and unpredictably changing Arctic, and as importantly, to also position our communities, our youth and our culture to take advantage of the opportunities of this changing Arctic."

He said this general assembly is perhaps the most important in the ICC's history, given the interest being shown in the Arctic by industry and other nations.

"Given the impacts of climate change on the circumpolar North, the ICC's work on environmental issues, sustainable development and the health and well-being of Northern peoples is absolutely essential," said NWT Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Robert C. McLeod, also the MLA for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

"Health, land, water and wildlife are absolutely essential to Northerners, so a balanced approach must be taken to balance development with environmental considerations."

Nellie Cournoyea, chairperson and CEO of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, gave an emotional speech on the first day of the general assembly.

"I've been around a long time," she said to open her remarks.

"I've seen a lot of great people from all countries, all Inuit countries, and I've been inspired by your leadership as we work together to be united."

This week's discussions will focus on several common issues faced by circumpolar Inuit, including mental health and wellness, sustainable land use and resource management, economic development and responding to environmental challenges.

When the meetings conclude July 24, an Inuvik declaration will be prepared to replace the Nuuk declaration ratified at the last ICC general assembly in Greenland in 2010.

At the conclusion of the conference, the ICC chairmanship with officially pass to Canada from Greenland's Aqqaluk Lynge.

Nunavut's Okalik Eegeesiak will then chair the council for a four-year term.

On July 19, members of the council elected Herb Nakimayak of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region as vice-president of international affairs.

Meanwhile, Smith was acclaimed as the president of ICC Canada and is slated to serve another four-year term.

While the issues faced by circumpolar Inuit can seem daunting, Cournoyea reminded the assembly of words told to her by her elders that she remembers when times get tough.

"Don't worry, just keep working and keep your unity," she said.

"We have survived for a long time and we have survived trying times on our own, and we shall live for a long time to come."