Maeve Sheen

October 30th 2022

Sila Alangotok

Throughout the short film, Sila Alangotok, the viewer is guided through an Inuit view on the affects of
climate change on one community in a town called Sachs Harbour. These effect include a wide range
from Wind levels rising to icebergs melting, all of these affecting the Indigenous community in a
different way. These conditions lead to Traditional Ecological Knowledge changing, and no longer being
common knowledge to Indigenous people. Losing this common knowledge affects daily life in
communities, their knowledge for hunting, getting supplies and water may have changed. This
documentary has opened my eyes to how serious climate change is within Indigenous communities and
how it may affect the Canadian Indigenous population more than other cultural groups.

The topic that grasped my attention the most was the claim that there was no longer predictability in
the weather and natural environment. The residents of Sachs Harbour state that they have lost the
ability to practice their culture due to climate change and the unpredictability of upcoming weather.
Some examples of this include melting ice drawing away seals and hotter summers which bring a water
change for fishing and swimming. To connect this film to our previous film, 8th Fire, I am curious to know
what the impacts of climate change are on Indigenous peoples living in cities. Sachs Harbour is relatively
secluded, and Sila Alangotok covers little to no information on what climate change is like for Indigenous
people that reside in more busy places and perhaps places with less access to environmental sources.

According to multiple sources linked below, some things that may effect Indigenous people in cities
include Relocation, overall connection with the land and effects on multiple kinds of health. Climate
change has relocated many Indigenous peoples due to inhabitable land and inability to practice their
culture. This was mentioned within the video yet can also apply to Indigenous people within cities. In
fact, many Indigenous people within cities have moved into cities due to this reason. Extremely cold
temperatures can force Indigenous people within cities to pay high bills for heating. This leads to more
Indigenous members being financially unstable and struggling to collect money for themselves.
Indigenous people that have moved into cities may feel a disconnection to the land. The industrialization
of their surroundings leads to little to no natural environment. Especially during cold winters and hot
summers, of which it is hard to leave the house without heating or air conditioning. This change of
temperature can strain Indigenous relations to land and TEK. Lastly, multiple types of Indigenous health
are impacted by Climate change. Mental Health is damaged due to cultural disconnect. Elders will no
longer be able to pass down TEK if their environment is changing so rapidly. The Inuit Nunangak, who’s
territories are warming at a rate 3 times the average, have declared a state of emergency. This incident
has caused many people to give up jobs and their own time to dedicate themselves to the preservation
of the land. The mental health of these people could drastically drop due to the amount of duties that
they must fulfill. Physical health is as well impacted, more Indigenous people, living in cities or not, have
been admitted to hospitals with water borne and food borne diseases. Additionally, Indigenous people
have a high risk of being mistreated or discriminated against by hospital staff. In conclusion, these
articles and reasonings have raised my awareness on how serious and imminent the struggle of climate
change is for Indigenous people.
Picture above shows two Indigenous children protesting for Climate and Indigenous rights.

I have personally saved the Climate Change and Indigenous health In Canada article by the National
Collaborating Centre for Indigenous health. I believe that it will be of use to me in the future for a better
understanding of Indigenous health and how I can be an ally to help aid Indigenous people to work on
their health if needed. My action item from this assignment is to help draw attention to the Issue of
climate change related to health by speaking about it with as many people as possible.

Sources:

Yeo, Sophie “Five ways Climate Change harms Indigenous people” Climate Home News, 28 Aug 2014,
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2014/07/28/five-ways-climate-change-harms-indigenous-
people/

National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health, “Climate Change and Indigenous peoples’ health in
Canada” 2022 https://www.nccih.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/10367/
Climate_Change_and_Indigenous_Peoples_Health_EN_Web_2022-03-22.pdf

Image:

Light, Kevin, “Revolution is alive: Canada protests spawn climate and Indigenous rights protests”, The
guardian, 28th Feb 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/28/canada-pipeline-protests-
climate-indigenous-rights