True security comes from healthy resilient communities, not from military hardware, writer says
Gwen Healey Akearok (submitted photo)
When most people think of Arctic security, they imagine military patrols, surveillance systems and geopolitical tensions.
But as discussed at the recent Arctic Security and Sovereignty Summit in Iqaluit, this narrow framing misses the most fundamental truth: health is Arctic security.
For nearly two decades, Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre has worked to strengthen the well-being of Nunavummiut. What we’ve learned is that security for our communities does not begin at national borders — it begins at home: in safe housing, strong families, clean water, food sovereignty, and care systems grounded in Inuit values.
The real threats to security in the North are chronic underinvestment in health infrastructure, colonial service systems, and structural/systemic inequities. These issues are urgent and persistent. How do families feed their children? How do we care for elders now and into the future? Where are the homes, clinics, and culturally safe supports needed for thriving communities?
Our understanding of security includes human security — including housing, health care, food, cultural continuity, and protection from violence and discrimination. It also means recognizing relational security: the strength of kinship, intergenerational caregiving, and cultural knowledge transmission.
At Qaujigiartiit, we work alongside youth, elders, and communities to elevate Inuit-led approaches to health and research. These are not just programs — they are living examples of self-determination and sovereignty. They challenge the notion that northern communities are passive recipients of southern expertise.
Security that ignores the well-being of Nunavummiut only protects someone else’s interests. Our Canadian Rangers cannot serve effectively without health infrastructure. Our youth cannot become tomorrow’s leaders if they are navigating food insecurity and housing crises. Our economies cannot grow if basic community needs go unmet.
Furthermore, much of the work that ensures community wellbeing is carried out by women — caring for youth, facilitating healing, delivering front-line programs and providing health care. Yet these voices are often invisible in traditional security discussions.
There’s a critical question from security studies that applies here: “Whose security are we talking about?”
If the answer doesn’t include communities, women, children, and elders, then we need to rethink our approach.
In the Arctic, true security is built not with military hardware — but with healthy resilient communities — safe homes, strong families, and systems rooted in our values and ways of life.
Dr. Gwen K. Healey Akearok, PhD, was born and raised in Iqaluit, where she continues to live, work and raise her family. She is the co-founder of the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre and has served as its executive and scientific director for the past 19 years.
