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Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat

The Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat (IPS) provides support for the Permanent Participants, the groups representing Arctic Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic Council.

Visit the IPS website

Permanent Participants of the Arctic Council

AIA logo
AIA
Aleut International Association

The Aleut International Association (AIA) is a not-for-profit corporation that represents Indigenous peoples of Aleut descent in the United States and the Russian Federation.

AAC logo
AAC
Arctic Athabaskan Council

The Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC) is an international treaty organization that represents approximately 45,000 Indigenous peoples of Athabaskan descent spanning 76 communities in Alaska, US, Yukon and Northwest Territories in Canada.

GCI logo
GCI
Gwich'in Council International

Gwich'in Council International (GCI) represents the Gwich'in in Canada and USA.

ICC logo
ICC
Inuit Circumpolar Council

The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) is an international Indigenous Peoples Organization that was founded in 1977 by the late Eben Hopson, Sr. of Utqiagvik, Alaska.

RAIPON logo
RAIPON
Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North

The Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) represents 40 Indigenous Peoples that live in the North of the Russian Federation.

Saami Council logo
Saami Council

The Saami Council is a non-governmental organization that represents between 50,000 to 80,000 Saami that live in Finland, the Russian Federation, Norway and Sweden. The Saami Council has nine member organizations: three in Norway, three in Sweden, two in the Russian Federation and one in Finland.

What IPS does

  • Facilitate the participation of Indigenous Peoples’ organizations in the work of the Arctic Council, assist and provide Secretariat support functions to the Permanent Participants primarily in Arctic Council activities, facilitate and assist the Permanent Participants to prepare and submit proposals relevant to the work of the Arctic Council, facilitate the presentation of the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples in the Council’s Working Groups and in meeting of Senior Arctic Officials and Ministers;
  • Enhance the capacity of the Permanent Participants to pursue the objectives of the Arctic Council, assist the Permanent Participants develop their internal capacity to participate and intervene in the Arctic Council, and assist the Permanent Participants in the furtherance of their activities in relation to participation and full consultation within the Arctic Council, and assist them in how to best make contributions to the Council’s work;
  • Facilitate dialogue and communications among the Permanent Participants and among Permanent Participants and other Arctic Council and related bodies, provide opportunities for co-operative and co-ordinated activities among the Permanent Participants and IPS, facilitate meetings and communication between the Permanent Participants, and facilitate the translation of the communications between the Permanent Participants as far as possible;
  • Support the Permanent Participants in carrying out actions to maintain and promote the sustainable development of Indigenous Peoples cultures in the Arctic;
  • Gather and disseminate information on and provide and list sources of different forms of knowledge,
  • And contribute to raising public awareness of Arctic Council issues through a regularly updated web site and regularly produced newsletters and other publications.

How IPS is structured

The IPS, as recognized in the Ottawa Declaration, is an entity within the Arctic Council Secretariat with its own board, designated budget and work plan.

A Governing Board approves and directs the work of IPS each year. The Chair of the Governing Board is chosen among the PPs. The official working language of IPS is English. However, to effectively communicate with the Russian Indigenous peoples, communications are in both English and Russian. IPS is headed by an Executive Secretary, who is responsible to the Governing Board for the daily operations of the Secretariat.