Unsettled
Arctic sea ice routes are a vital connector for Labrador Inuit Peoples. Weakening sea ice in Canada Far North is isolating remote fly-in communities, threatening the passing down of Indigenous traditions and language. As the ice begins to melt, Labrador Inuit are taking the fight against climate change into their own hands. Old traditions fuse with innovation, the communities are adapting to a new marine reality as climate change threatens sea life and food security.
In March 2024, investigative journalist Jenn Thornhill Verma and I travelled to Nain to document and report on the climate adaptation strategies of the people living in the northernmost community in Nunatsiavut, an autonomous region in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Unsettled is a two-part series produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network. Part One and Part Two were published in The Globe and Mail in December 2024, on how Inuit communities are adapting to climate change, which is disproportionately affecting coastlines in Canada’s arctic and subarctic regions.
In addition to the main story, we worked with SmartIce and the Globe and Mail to produce an interactive Inuit Sea Ice Glossary, based on the original Sikusiutet sea ice terminology book (Sikusiutet UKausingit ilingajumut in Inuttitut), originally published by SmartICE (Sea Ice Monitoring and Information Services) in 2023.
