New research by Jack Hicks, a social research consultant living in Iqaluit, Nunavut, tracks how suicide trends in the Arctic correlate with increased colonialism and modernization in the Arctic. Historically, suicide in the Arctic was uncommon, but the suicide rate dramatically increased when national governments forced Inuit people in Alaska, Nunavut, and Greenland off the land and into larger communities. Read more in a CBC article, "Research tracks Inuit modernization with suicide, offers hope for improvement" or you can listen to a interview with Jack Hicks on the CBC show, As it Happens. You can also download a copy of the journal, Indigenous Affairs (in PDF) with Jack Hicks' paper, "The Social Determinants of Elevated Rates of Suicide Among Inuit Youth," or you can download a copy of his slide presentation (in PDF).

Last week, at the National Aboriginal Women's Summit, the Minister for Heritage and the Status of Women announced five years of funding to build and support women's shelters on reserves. According to the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada news release, $56 million dollars will support 35 existing women's shelters and build up to five new shelters on reserves. Aboriginal women who live in the northern communities and off reserve are concerned because the funding does not include all aboriginal women. Read more in the CBC article, "Northern women 'excluded' from federal shelter announcement."

The Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has released a report called Levels and Sources of Individual and Household Level Income for Inuit in Canada, 1980-2000. It focuses on income-related indicators for the population with Inuit ancestry. The report finds that although average incomes increased from 1980-2000 for Inuit people, they remained much lower than those of all Canadians.