It is hard to know where to begin. This was and will continue to be an impactful experience for me as a student, professionally, and personally; both as a Native/Indigenous (Lenape) person and as a modern western person of Scandinavian and Irish descent.
My experience with the Arctic Circle, started within my Native community here in the lower part of North America as a teenager; with having a Norwegian step-father. The Lenape and the Ancient Norse have real history in trade and knowledge sharing that is long. My tribe is 18,000 years old and one of the oldest on the eastern seaboard of North America. I learned a tremendous amount at the 2024 Arctic Congress both academically and then personally, in particular in discussion with the Sami and Sakha people. In looking into my Lenape language sakha means- to have been gone for a long time. For me it’s a great coming together, homecoming, and reigniting old trade routes of knowledge and support. I can see why many creation stories of the Native people of North America talk about sky woman falling from the sky- the opening of the Arctic circle, the water, the glaciers, the geomagnetic pole- and I really could see customs and language roots. It was good to reflect on all of this. It seems to me there were multiple ways to gain help and information and support- especially as a Native/Indigenous community member at the Congress. This I can then take back into my interactions with other tribes and in my work.
I definitely feel stronger in my commitment to move to live and work within the Arctic Circle when an opportunity presents itself. Focusing on my bloodlines, I can experience where I’m a better fit and will be able to then study, take care of myself and family, and help in community- through my writing, research, teaching, and consulting skills. I would not have thought that but I can see it now that I’m older and it’s been there all along to be honest, in the background.
There was just one amazing panel after another. Some highlights for me include the following. The singing of the Sami reminded me of powerful prayer songs in Lakota. The mental health panel around grief regarding climate change. A really insightful and helpful panel on the creation of maps and how information is stored in them. I appreciated a different way to explore compacting data- bringing art and scientific data together; mapping the same object in different ways as a neutral comparison. I was moved watching Heidi’s Ice and the commentary after.
My own portion of a panel (Native/Indigenous perspective on artificial intelligence) was a bit of a challenge for me and this was helpful to see where my learning curve is. I’m glad people enjoyed it and I had lots of good private conversations and connections with others after it. I struggled though, with the 8 minutes I had to talk about years of thought and work on. I also truly did need to do an opening and land gratitude and acknowledgement which then skewed my time down to 5 minutes. So, that was disappointing. But I saw others struggle a lot too with this, so that was helpful. Still, being autistic and the stress it caused me, I see I should have spoken up. The Sakha people showed me how it was important for me to not be embarrassed but to speak up next time on my needs. This was extremely valuable to me to witness.
I am grateful for this opportunity. The location was stunning and the networking was invaluable. I appreciate the UArctic System supporting my coming and am looking forward to getting more involved as opportunities arise. (c) Bridget Kimsey