Photo: A North shaped by Northerners

Carolyn Bennett, Canada’s minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland: “Our actions need to be grounded in the fervent belief that the future of the North must be shaped by northerners. Our job is to support their vision and their reality….paternalism has been a total failure. The future is about imagination and humility from those of us in the South. It’s time to listen to the first peoples,” she said on Oct. 14. Bennett spoke in front of a screened background of images by Inuit artists, including works by the late Annie Pootoogook. From Oct. 15 to Oct. 17, about 70 Canadians, including Iqaluit Mayor Madeleine Redfern and Adamie Delisle Alaku of Makivik Corp. attended the Arctic Circle, which calls itself “the largest network of international dialogue and cooperation on the future of the Arctic.” (PHOTO/TWITTER)