The Indigenous World 2026: Arctic Council

Written on 22 April 2026. Posted in Arctic Council

The Arctic Council is the leading intergovernmental forum for cooperation between the eight Arctic States and Arctic Indigenous Peoples. For three decades, the Arctic Council has set a consensus-based precedent, including six Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations in its decision-making structures. As the preeminent forum for cooperation and knowledge production, the Arctic Council aims to be responsive to the priorities and needs of Arctic inhabitants on issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic. Arctic Indigenous Peoples are represented on the Council by six Permanent Participant organizations: Aleut International Association, Arctic Athabaskan Council, Gwich’in Council International, Inuit Circumpolar Council, Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North and Saami Council. The Permanent Participants participate at all levels of the Arctic Council, initiate and lead or co-lead projects, and contribute to the Arctic Council's expert work and political proceedings. The Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat, established in 1994, is a support secretariat for all six Permanent Participants and their participation on the Council. Led by a Board with members from each of the six Permanent Participants organizations and three state representatives, the Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat today resides in conjunction with the Arctic Council Secretariat.

The category of Permanent Participant was created to provide for active participation and full consultation with Arctic Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic Council’s deliberations, as recognized in the Council’s founding document, the Ottawa Declaration (1996). The declaration also recognized “the traditional knowledge of the [I]ndigenous [P]eople[s] of the Arctic and their communities”.

Although it is the eight Arctic member states that formally have decision-making power in the Arctic Council, decisions are taken by consensus among the eight Arctic Council member States and the Permanent Participants. The Chair of the Arctic Council rotates every two years among the Arctic States.

This article is part of the 40^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2026 in full here

Navigating tumultuous geopolitical waters

2025 was marked by an ongoing and complex geopolitical landscape, with the Arctic experiencing a period marked by uncertainty and shifting priorities. In such times, when attention is often focused on security, it becomes crucial to make sure that the voices and priorities of Indigenous Peoples are not overlooked.

The Arctic Council’s mandate, as articulated in the Ottawa Declaration, explicitly excludes military security. The Arctic Council’s Strategic Plan 2021-2030 guides its work towards the Arctic as a “region of peace, stability and constructive cooperation that is a vibrant, prosperous, sustainable and secure home for all its inhabitants, including Indigenous Peoples, and where their rights and wellbeing are respected.”^[1]

As of 2025, the Arctic Council political-level meetings had been on pause since 2022, while scientific and Working Group-level meetings had resumed virtually. Following the announcement of the pause, none of the eight Arctic member states altered their membership or rejected any of their participation in the cooperation, as had happened in other international fora. All eight states maintained a political will to engage in the Arctic Council and, together with Permanent Participants, they negotiated modalities for decision-making and gradually resumed work of the Arctic Council Working Groups. For further developments in 2022-2024, see the Arctic Council chapter in IWGIA’s The Indigenous World 2024.^[2]

Today, the political level – the Senior Arctic Officials of the Arctic States and Heads of Delegation of the Permanent Participants, formerly meeting on a regular basis in person, do not meet but take decisions by written procedure, while the two Arctic Council Chairship transition meetings since 2022 have been held online and without Ministerial participation.

While the biannual Arctic Council Ministerial Meetings would under normal circumstances conclude with declarations, including language on the mandate and ambitions for the Council’s work, the meetings to mark the transition of the Arctic Council Chairship from one member state to another in 2023 and 2025 concluded with Joint Statements laying out the path for continued cooperation.^[3],[4]

Indigenous Peoples’ crucial and unique role in the Arctic Council

The Permanent Participants' status in the Arctic Council is unique in international cooperation, with Indigenous Peoples engaged in decision-making. The unique structure of the Arctic Council thus serves as good practice for regional and international intergovernmental organizations and has inspired other international negotiations throughout its existence.^[5]

Looking from the vantage point of 2025, Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ cooperation stands on more than 50 years of organized collaboration. Beginning in the early 1970s, notably through the 1973 Arctic Peoples’ Conference to coordinate common positions, Indigenous Peoples laid the groundwork for their engagement in international discussions and decision-making on Arctic issues. By the time the Arctic Council was established, they were organized and ready to negotiate their seat at the table with the Arctic States.^[6],[7] This history underpins the Indigenous Peoples’ crucial role in the Arctic Council today, where their status, knowledge, and cooperation remain fundamental to the Council’s legitimacy and effectiveness.

As stipulated in the Arctic Council Ottawa Declaration, Permanent Participant organizations are all representative organizations of Arctic Indigenous Peoples living either across state borders or uniting under one Indigenous Peoples’ Organization within one state. Building on each of their own values and priorities for their peoples in the work of the Council, the Permanent Participants are actively engaged in all six Arctic Council Working Groups, and numerous projects. The following sections outline the Permanent Participants’ active participation and full consultation in the Arctic Council throughout 2025.

Transition of the Arctic Council Chairship from Norway (2023-2025) to the Kingdom of Denmark (2025-2027)

During the successful transition from the Norwegian Chairship (2023-2025) to the Kingdom of Denmark Chairship (2025-2027) on 12 May 2025, in the Romssa-Tromsø Statement, Arctic States and Permanent Participants reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace, stability and cooperation in the Arctic, acknowledging the role of the Arctic Council as the preeminent forum for circumpolar cooperation. The Statement further recognizes the individual and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples, their vital role in the Arctic Council and their special relation to the Arctic.^[8]

Norway, who chaired the Council from 2023 taking over from the Russian Federation, prioritized strengthening cooperation with the Permanent Participants during a gradual resumption of work, highlighting the importance of their contributions at all levels of the Council. The overall objective for Norway’s Chairship was to promote stability and constructive cooperation with Arctic youth and Arctic Indigenous Peoples as cross-cutting priorities.

The six Permanent Participants were aligned in their push for the Arctic Council to resume work in as active a manner as possible, recognizing the circumstances. Introduced during the Norwegian Chairship in 2023, under unusual circumstances, a new meeting format of the Arctic Council Senior Arctic Official (SAO) Chair meeting with all six Permanent Participants provided an important platform for the continuation of the Permanent Participants influence over the strategizing and prioritizing of work under each Working Group, as well as navigating the geopolitical situation.

These regular meetings enabled dialogue, information sharing and direct consultation with the Permanent Participants on Arctic Council matters during the current circumstance where the political level still does not meet. The SAO Chair - Permanent Participant meetings were the first in-person meetings that were held since the announcement of the Council’s strategic pause. Norway held four such meetings, one of which was in January 2025.^[9]

The Kingdom of Denmark Chairship priorities and engagement with Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ organizations in 2025

In May 2025, the Kingdom of Denmark (constituting Denmark, Kalaallit Nunaat and Faroe Islands) assumed the Chairship of the Arctic Council. Having introduced an Inuk as Arctic Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark, and having agreed for the government of Kalaallit Nunaat, Naalakkersuisut, to lead the Kingdom’s Chairship, a new era for direct Indigenous leadership of the Arctic Council was introduced.

In preparation for the Chairship’s term and program, the Kingdom of Denmark consulted formally with the six Permanent Participants through Chairship’s consultation meetings held during the Norwegian Chairship, as well as informally with the Inuit Circumpolar Council. Indigenous Peoples are high on the agenda of the Kingdom’s Chairship. The priority of the Chairship is to maintain the Council as vibrant and resilient for the benefit of the people living in the Arctic, to remain in constructive cooperation and as a stable region. The Chairship’s priorities recognize that Indigenous Knowledge and perspectives are essential to understanding and managing changes in the Arctic and working for the integration of Indigenous Knowledge alongside scientific insights in the work of the Council.^[10] The Kingdom of Denmark continued Norway’s example of SAO Chair-Permanent Participant meetings and held two such meetings in 2025, one also including the Arctic Council Working Groups, in June 2025. The 2026 January meeting also included a preliminary introduction by the incoming Swedish Chairship (2027-2029) on early planning of their Chairship.

One of the Chairship’s overarching focuses is on youth, which the Chairship will implement through its Youth Committee (CYC), with representation of two Permanent Participant youth in its make-up, and the Arctic Youth Conference in 2027.^[11] Permanent Participants have been instrumental in engaging Indigenous youth in the Arctic Council by, for example, including youth delegates actively in the meetings.

Another important priority of the Kingdom of Denmark is oceans, which will be highlighted with the Chairship’s Ocean Connectivity Conference embedded in the University of the Arctic Congress in 2026, in Torshavn, Faroe Islands.^[12]

The Arctic Council: promoting peace through cooperation

With the intent and spirit of the Arctic Council being inclusivity, peace and cooperation in the Arctic, the cooperation serves as an example of exceptionalism in times of rising geopolitical tension. Through their perseverance in maintaining the preeminent body for cooperation in the Arctic, Permanent Participants are leading the way in upholding and promoting peace through cooperation.

The people-to-people and cross-border cooperation of Indigenous Peoples, inherent as peoples who have lived and thrived in the Arctic since time immemorial, predating the construct of states, supports the agenda of the Arctic States in continuing to engage in the Arctic Council.

The Arctic, undergoing rapid changes and warming three to four times faster than the rest of the globe, is a region of great interest to non-Arctic States, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other actors, and maintaining strict Arctic agenda-setting cooperation with all Arctic States and Indigenous Peoples at the table is a strategic endeavor.

Serving as a room for communication, coordination and cooperation, the Arctic Council continues to form an important body underpinning a human approach to the Arctic. The Arctic Indigenous Peoples, through their Permanent Participant status, thus hold an important and pivotal role in maintaining and strengthening cooperation in times of increased tension.

Okalena Patricia Lekanoff-Gregory, Vice-President of Aleut International Association and Chair of the Board of Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat

Sara Olsvig, Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Council

Gunn-Britt Retter, Head of Arctic and Environment Unit, Saami Council

Rosa-Máren Magga, Executive Secretary, Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat

Linda Lyberth Kristiansen, Advisor, Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat

This article is part of the 40^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2026 in full here

Notes and references

^[1] 2021: Arctic Council Strategic Plan 2021-2030. Arctic Council: https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/items/0935a448-fa6f-40ce-9d52-c84c7afd8d39

^[2] 2024: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. The Indigenous World 2024 – 38^th Edition. Arctic Council chapter, pp. 545-552: https://iwgia.org/en/resources/publications/5508-the-indigenous-world-2024.html

^[3] 2023: Arctic Council Statement On the Occasion of the 13^th Meeting of the Arctic Council. Arctic Council: https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/items/5c41807a-27d8-4545-9169-166fc68a7dab

^[4] 2025: Romssa-Tromsø Statement On the Occasion of the 14^th Meeting of the Arctic Council. Arctic Council: https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/items/df62e6fa-0a9f-478c-b0f5-fc8f06a45df4

^[5] One example being the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement, where Inuit are directly engaged through the state delegations, and Indigenous Knowledge is an integral part of the provisions of the treaty on knowledge production. For the Agreement to Prevent Unregular High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean. Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement, see: https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/caofa

^[6] 2021: Yefimenko, Alona. How Arctic Indigenous Peoples Negotiated a Seat at the Table, Arctic Council Pathways Magazine. Arctic Council: https://arctic-council.org/news/a-seat-at-the-table-how-arctic-indigenous-peoples-negotiated-their-permanent-participant-status/

^[7] 2024. Inuit Circumpolar Council, Saami Council and International Work Group for Indigenous

Affairs (IWGIA). Empowering Arctic Indigenous Peoples: Celebrating 50 Years of Indigenous Diplomacy: https://iwgia.org/en/resources/publications/5547-empowering_arctic_indigenous_peoples_50_years_diplomacy.html

^[8] 2025. Arctic Council. The Kingdom of Denmark’s Chairship of the Arctic Council Hosts First Meetings with Indigenous Permanent Participants and Subsidiary Bodies. Arctic Council website (visited in January 2026): https://arctic-council.org/news/the-kingdom-of-denmark-hosts-first-meetings/

^[9] 2025. Arctic Council. Full Speed Towards a Transition as the Norwegian Chairship of the Arctic Council Meets with Indigenous Permanent Participant Organizations Arctic Council website (visited in January 2026): https://arctic-council.org/news/full-speed-towards-a-transition-as-the-norwegian-chairship-of-the-arctic-council-meets-with-indigenous-permanent-participant/

^[10] 2025. Bringing the Arctic Council Forward: Arctic Council. Arctic Council website (visited in January 2026): https://arctic-council.org/news/bringing-the-arctic-council-forward/

^[11] 2025: Arctic Council. The New Kingdom of Denmark Chairship Youth Committee Convenes for its first In-person Gathering. Arctic Council website (visited in January 2026): https://arctic-council.org/news/the-new-kingdom-of-denmark-chairship-youth-committee-convenes-for-its-first-in-person-gathering/

^[12] 2025: Arctic Council. Save the Date: Ocean Connectivity Conference. Arctic Council website (visited in January 2026): https://arctic-council.org/news/save-the-date-ocean-connectivity-conference/

Tags: Global governance