February
14, 2003
Russia to set up Arctic
research station on the ice
Russian scientists are
set to resume their research activities in Arctic waters. In mid-April, a group
plans to land on an ice floe in the Arctic Ocean, where a new floating station,
North Pole-29, will be set up. The station will operate for a year.
In March, an ice floe will
be selected. The new station is scheduled to open on April 15.
TOP
February
14, 2003
Sápmi in deep freeze
Residents of the Sápmi
community of Karasjók in northern Norway are shivering as temperatures
sink to their lowest levels in 85 years. Temperatures in Karasjók have
been hovering around -39.6 ° C. Last month, the average temperature was
-23.1 ° C, six degrees below normal.
The record of -51.4 °
C was set in 1886. "We are used to the cold. It has to be colder than -40
° C before we consider closing schools," a local school official told
the Aftenposten newspaper.
TOP
February
14, 2003
Greenlanders mull whether
Danish belongs in their news
Over the past week, Greenlanders
have been wrestling with the issue about whether Danish subtitles should still
be on Greenland’s television news.
Greenland’s news show
Qanorooq is a Greenlandic-language show, but during its broadcast, news has
also been subtitled in Danish for the 15 per cent of Greenland’s population
who speak Danish.
Two weeks ago, television
viewers and even local television news reporters at Qanorooq were suddenly surprised
to learn from Greenland’s Atuagalliutit newspaper that Qanorooq planned
to stop Danish news subtitles. Apparently, the management at the KNR Greenlandic
national television service decided that Qanorooq should stop subtitling news
in Danish, and that the resources should be put toward better research and journalism.
One week after the decision
to stop subtitling surfaced, the KNR management decided to keep the news subtitled
in Danish. KNR leaders plans to stop all Danish subtitles on March 1.
TOP
February
14, 2003
Barrow welcomes 700 for
Kivgiq
Residents of Alaska’s
North Slope gathered this week for three days of dancing, storytelling, games
and feasting. The traditional Inupiaq feast celebration, or Kivgiq, had died
out before George Ahmaogak Sr., mayor of the North Slope Borough, restarted
the midwinter gathering in the late 1980s.
Organizers expected 20
dance groups from Alaska, Canada and Russia and many other visitors in Barrow
this week.
Kivgiq was capped off on
Wednesday afternoon by a community feast featuring muktuk, whale meat, seal
flipper and polar bear as well as fish, birds and wild game.
The Alaska Eskimo Whaling
Commission was to hold its annual general meeting immediately after Kivgiq.
TOP
February
14, 2003
Reindeer slow railway traffic
An unusual delay made front-page
news last week in Finland’s local and national newspapers, as travellers
through northern Finland saw their express train slowed to a crawl by a large
reindeer herd.
The "red-eye"
express train en route to Helsinki was on the first leg of its trip when reindeer
came on to the tracks. According to traffic controllers, the train crept slowly
behind the reindeer for 20 kilometers before the last of the animals moved off
the tracks. The train arrived in Rovaniemi at about midnight, two and a half
hours behind schedule.
Passengers said train personnel
tried to contact local reindeer herders for help, but without success. At times
the train slowed down to a walking speed.
Reindeer often wander on
to the railway tracks during snowy winters. The animals are drawn to the train
tracks because it’s easier to walk along the tracks than through the deep
snow.
TOP
February
14, 2003
More riches found in Siberia
The Nenets Autonomous District
of Russia has a wealth of minerals waiting to be uncovered, Russian geologists
say. Recently they reported on the wide range of rich mineral deposits discovered
in that region of Siberia.
According to the researchers’
estimates, just one per cent of the mineral resources in the Nenets District
would have a value of US $500 billion. The region also has some of the world’s
largest oil and gas reserves, but its economy is undeveloped and the climate
is relatively harsh. In January, average temperatures range from -12 °
C to -22 ° C. In July, the average temperatures range from 6 ° C to
13 ° C. Most of the district’s land is permafrost.
TOP
February
14, 2003
Sámi celebrate their
National Day
On Feb. 6, northern Europe’s
150,000 indigenous Sámi celebrated their National Day, wearing traditional
dress and holding celebrations throughout Norway, Sweden and Finland.
In Inari, the centre of
Sámi cultural life in Finland, more than 300 attended a gala at the Siida
Sámi museum. Outside, they gathered to hoist the blue, red and yellow
Sámi flag while schoolchildren sang the Sámi national anthem.
Pekka Aikio, president
of the Sámi Parliament in Finland, took the opportunity to criticize
Finland’s record on recognizing the traditional land rights of Sámi
in northern Finland.
Aikio told the Lapin Kansa
newspaper that he would like to see a transnational office established for Sámi
in the three Scandinavian countries, a move that could help Sámi in Finland
obtain at least the level of rights that Sámi enjoy in Norway and Sweden.
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