The first article in the last issue of this journal was a Commentary entitled ‘To those who have made Polar Record’. It was written by Beau Riffenburgh and marked his retirement after holding the appointment of Editor of this journal since 1992. During his long tenure of the office, he presided over no fewer than 54 issues, more than in the case of any previous Editor. In his note, he presented not only an outline history of the progress of the journal since its establishment in 1930 but also illuminating comment on who had done what to make Polar Record the successful academic publication that it is today (Riffenburgh 2006).

In the western Arctic and in the northwest coast and Alaska, the significance of the raven as a creator and trickster is generally acknowledged. In the eastern Arctic there are no such elaborate mythical cycles concerning the bird. But the raven still plays an important role in myths and rituals. In this paper, some features of the Alaskan complex and the position of the raven in the eastern Arctic are discussed. The basic features of the Alaskan raven complex are used as heuristic principles guiding research into the situation in the eastern Arctic region. It is argued that in many respects the raven is responsible for society but without being part of it. As a predator and a scavenger it is often associated with eating dirt, excrement and human flesh, and yet it created light, enabling people to see and invented tattooing, enabling women to marry.

The Canadian Arctic provides important habitat for millions of marine birds. Some key habitat sites for these have already been protected, but many others lack official protected status and remain vulnerable to various anthropogenic threats. The authors worked with the community of Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut, to create two new National Wildlife Areas that protect the colonies, and the nearby marine area, of approximately 500,000 birds during the breeding season. The process has taken two decades to complete, in part due to misunderstanding and mistrust of government on the part of aboriginal residents. In this paper the path that led to the creation of these sites is traced. This has included the approach adopted to collaborating with the local community, incorporating aboriginal (local) ecological knowledge, conducting scientific surveys while building local capacity for further scientific investigation, and finding a solution that addressed the disparate interests of the various stakeholders in this process.

In November 2005 the ‘Question of Antarctica’ was taken up yet again by the UN First Committee. Following formal placement upon its agenda in 1983 by the Malaysian government, the UN has discussed the topic regularly, initially annually, then biennially, but more recently upon a triennial basis. As usual, in 2005 UN members were guided by a lengthy report produced for the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in order to outline recent developments affecting Antarctica and the Antarctic Treaty system (ATS). In November 2005 the UN First Committee, acting upon proposed amendments advanced by the Malaysian delegation, agreed to a major change of course. Thus, resolution L60, adopted by the committee without a vote, stipulated that the UN, though remaining ‘seized’ of the ‘Question of Antarctica’, would not place the topic upon the agenda of the 63rd. session in 2008. Nor would the UNSG be required, henceforth, to produce a report on Antarctica for members. In December 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted draft resolution L60 as resolution 60/47, once again without a vote. As a result, for the first time since 1983, the UN is no longer scheduled to return to the ‘Question of Antarctica’. Meanwhile, the episode has raised interesting questions about future developments: the UN's role, if any, in the ‘Question of Antarctica’, the direction of Malaysian policy towards the ATS, including membership thereof; the continued ability of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties (ATCPs) to manage Antarctica in a democratic, transparent and accountable manner without attracting criticism from the broader international community; and the relevance of the common heritage principle to the Antarctic region.

Indigenous rights have gained considerable prominence in international forums over the last few decades, and are now being institutionalised through emerging norms within the international system. This paper examines the factors affecting the adoption of the norm of self-determination for indigenous peoples in the Finnish case using current constructivist models of normative change. Explanations for Finland's difficulty in adopting this norm, as symbolised by the ratification process of International Labour Organization Convention No. 169, are found in both the international normative context in which it emerged and in domestic factors within Finland itself. The concept of a ‘corrupt’ norm is introduced as a theoretical device in cases where norms have strong moral- or value-based appeal, but are weak in terms of the clarity of how they will work. This is an INDIPO project paper (Tennberg 2006)

The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) was established on 31 July 2000 and held its first session at UN Headquarters in New York in May 2002. The result of decades of development, the forum signified an official opening of the UN to indigenous peoples' participation alongside that of states. This article analyses the discussions on the establishment of the PFII and the role of indigenous peoples as political actors in those discussions. A focus of particular interest is the contradiction between state sovereignty and indigenous self-determination. In examining the establishment process, the analysis draws on scholarship dealing with norms, institutions, organisation and legitimacy. The themes and frames used by indigenous peoples that are significant in state-indigenous relations and that have had an effect on the forum are indigenousness, self-determination, rights and recognition. These show how the relationship between state sovereignty and indigenous self-determination underlay the establishment discussions and their outcome. The materials for the article comprise the transcripts of the establishment negotiations, interventions of state and indigenous representatives, as well as literature on the political participation of indigenous peoples, international law and the UN system and indigenous peoples. The discussions are analysed textually. The article claims that, although the UN is a state-dominated organisation, indigenous peoples are nevertheless able to affect international cooperation. This is an INDIPO project paper (Tennberg 2006).

This article focuses on the construction of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), the aim being to offer the historical context within which the ICC came to serve as a significant voice for Arctic policy making and as a representative of Inuit peoples in general. It explores the role of the ICC in relation to the domestic, regional, and international political events taking place during its formative years in order to provide the basis through which the ICC came to be a political authority in the Arctic. While the main coalescence of events was around the theme of Arctic resource development, each event significantly helped lay the foundation for, and structures under which, Arctic policy would proceed into the future. This includes a changing Arctic narrative that has transformed the Arctic from a being a region concentrated on resource extraction and Cold War security into a region serving as a symbolic pinnacle for global sustainable development. Through the expanded political agency of the ICC and an international focus on the Arctic, a vision of the Arctic has emerged under which it is defined by its natural environment and by the indigenous peoples who inhabit this space. This is an INDIPO project paper (Tennberg 2006).

Giacomo Bove (1852–1887) was an officer in the Royal Italian Navy who participated in Nordenskiöld's Vega expedition through the northeast passage, and in other expeditions in various parts of the world. He was, in part, responsible for drawing up plans for an Italian Antarctic expedition to depart in 1881. He died, at the age of 35, after an expedition to the Congo. A small museum in his honour has been established in his home village of Maranzana, Italy.

The International Polar Heritage Committee (IPHC) was formed to serve as a resource for professionals who often work in isolation on heritage protection projects in Arctic and Antarctic regions. Its credibility has now been established in a number of areas of the wider polar infrastructure and its networks continue to expand. With such an international structure it is also able to act as an independent advocate to promote polar heritage protection issues in professional, public and political arenas.

John Heap's whole working career was one devoted to the polar regions, primarily the Antarctic — as scientist, then as a distinguished, internationally respected polar diplomat, and finally to holding the Directorship of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge (Fig. 1). Much of the stability and innovative development of the Antarctic Treaty System during the crucial period of the 1970s and 1980s can be attributed to Heap's long tenure as Head of the UK Delegation to successive Antarctic Treaty meetings.