Decolonising the field of climate security? Examining Indigenous knowledge in the context of a warming Arctic

Situated within the broader field of climate security, this article examines how climate change impacts on the (in)security of Indigenous communities and asks whether and how Indigenous epistemologies may offer new avenues to deepen the understanding of climate security interlinkages. This will be done through an empirical examination of official, written documents published by six representative Indigenous organisations in the context of the circumpolar Arctic, a region severely affected by climate change which simultaneously constitutes the home of more than 400,000 Indigenous subjects. This article demonstrates that Indigenous knowledge could be viewed not only as valuable empirical data, but also as a theoretical resource helpful to challenge and extend dominant climate security paradigms. By analysing Arctic Indigenous knowledge production moving out from conceptual insights drawing on critical security studies and decolonial theory, this article proposes a sketch for an alternative conceptual taxonomy of climate security interlinkages through the proposition of four interrelated pathways: (1) traditional Indigenous livelihoods, (2) Indigenous languages, (3) traditional Indigenous food items, and (4) Indigenous spiritual practices and holism. Further research is needed to examine whether and how the proposed pathways would be amended, expanded or applied also in Indigenous contexts beyond the Arctic.