Inuit Circumpolar Council's health and wellness plan

According to Nunatsiaq News (Nunavut), North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta spoke to the assembled delegates and others at the Inuit Circumpolar Council in Nuuk, Greenland, on Wednesday. Itta spoke of persistent dangers to the health and wellness of his people, particularly drugs and alcohol. Edna McLean, president emerita of Barrow's Ilisagvik College, named language loss and the introduction of western institutions like nuclear family housing as contributing factors. “Some changes were good, but others were devastating, like the abuse of drugs and alcohol and the loss of intergenerational communication,” she said. Mike Hoffman, of Bethel, spoke of suicide and joblessness, and how re-introducing the Yupik language into the elementary schools has been a good step for the region. To address these issues in Alaska and across the Arctic, and foster similar solutions, the ICC has devised a multi-faceted plan. Read about it, and much, much more, here.