Breaking the Ice: From Land Claims to Tribal Sovereignty in the Arctic

Breaking the Ice is a comparative study of the movement for native land claims and indigenous rights in Alaska and the Western Arctic, and the resulting transformation in domestic politics as the indigenous peoples of the North gained an increasingly prominent role in the governance of their homeland. This work is based on field research conducted by the author during his nine-year residency in the Western Arctic. Zellen discusses the major conflicts facing Alaskan Natives, from the struggle to regain control over their land claims to the Native alienation from the corporate structure and culture and the resulting resurgence in tribalism. He shows that while the forces of modernism and traditionalism continued to clash, these conflicts were mediated by the structures of co-management, corporate development, and self-government created by the region's comprehensive land claims settlements. Breaking the Ice gives testimony to the achievements of Alaskan Natives through peaceful negotiation, and argues that the age of land claims has transmuted this same tribal force into something else altogether in the North: a peaceful force to spawn the emergence of new structures of Aboriginal self-governance.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Preface: Breaking the Ice Chapter 3 1 Introduction Chapter 4 2 Alaska in the Age of Native Land Claims Chapter 5 3 After ANCSA: The Persistence of Subsistence Chapter 6 4 Land Claims Come to the NWT Chapter 7 5 Co-Management in Action: Balancing the Two Arctics Chapter 8 6 After Land Claims: Toward the Restoration of Tribal Sovereignty

About the Author :
Barry Zellen is deputy editor, Strategic Insights, and research director of the Arctic security project at the Center for Contemporary Conflict.

Review :
Tribal-state relationships, border problems, militant insurgencies, economic exploitation/dependence, and oil are the stuff of this fascinating book that is not about the Middle East. Barry Zellen has written a dense and meticulously researched book of the trials and tribulations of the Inuit of Canada and other indigenous peoples of Alaska, Northern Canada, and the Arctic regions as they strive for sovereignty and confront and adapt to modernity and globalization. Zellen tells a story that has significant relevance to many of the present dilemmas facing the international political economic system. Zellen's Breaking the Ice: From Land Claims to Tribal Sovereignty in the Arctic deserves broad readership. Zellen's book is timely to understanding modern northern dynamics. As the Arctic Ocean ice recedes and temperatures rise, there is a need to take action on any benefits and to reduce any adverse effects. His description of sovereign duality for northerners to be citizens and meaningful participants is helpful. Zellen effectively describes the importance of subsistence and how it is intertwined with land claims and co-management systems. The whole world is affected with sustainable living and environmental preservation in the same way that northern Native people are concerned for their regions. Breaking the Ice is an important contribution to Arctic understanding and open knowledge. The history recorded by Zellen in this important book is very timely and relevant in our world today. We are witnessing a time of immense change around the world. The land and the protection of the environment are finally becoming a greater concern. Breaking the Ice correctly points out that it was Aboriginal peoples along with the environmental movement that were significant forces in the sustainable development approach now becoming more accepted around the world. Their struggle to re-establish self-sufficiency and self-determination within the federation of Canada, via self-government and land claims, is eloquently explained by Zellen. The differences and similarities between the Alaska Native land claims experience and the Canadian Native Land Claims experience is brilliantly told by Zellen. From the local, tribal, and territorial to the national, Zellen unfolds the intricate work that was done through land claims negotiations leading to the corporate structures and their co-management systems that ultimately will lead to self-governance, and continue to shape the 'domestic tranquility' of the Arctic. Barry Zellen is way ahead of the curve in the field of security studies in focusing on the intersection that state rivalries and environmental issues in the Arctic will have on global security and stability. [Zellen] highlights the important role that this part of the world will play in global security as the world increasingly focuses on climate change and other environmental aspects of security. All serious students of security studies should closely examine this work and ensure that it receives the space it deserves on their library shelves and course curriculums. This history of the Alaskan and Canadian arctic breaks new ground with its contemporary narration and analysis of the past three decades of political developments and with its rich findings based on documentary and Web research....This large account will guide future researchers and government agents....Recommended. In this sweeping political and strategic history of the North American Arctic, Barry Zellen provides us with a fascinating account of the struggle of Native Americans to regain some semblance of control over their lands. As global economic growth places a premium on securing new sources of energy resources and other raw materials, issues of sovereignty in the Far North will only grow in importance. Zellen provides the reader with the context needed to understand the ongoing international and domestic competition for control of the Arctic. This is a path-breaking study of an emergent issue in world politics.