DR. DALEE SAMBO

Dr. Dalee Sambo Dorough (Inuit-Alaska) is the newly elected International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, a non-governmental organization that represents approximately 165,000 Inuit from the Russian Far East, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. She holds a Ph.D. from University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law (2002) and a Master of Arts in Law & Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University (1991). She is affiliated with the University of Alaska Anchorage where she served as an Assistant Professor of International Relations within the Department of Political Science from 2008-2018; former Chairperson [2014] and Expert Member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2010-2016); and co-Chair of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Implementation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

Research interests relate to Indigenous peoples and Arctic issues. Her recent publications include “The Rights, Interests and Role of the Arctic Council Permanent Participants” R. Beckman, T. Henriksen, K. Kraabel, E.J. Molenaar and J.A. Roach (eds) Governance of Arctic Shipping. Balancing Rights and Interests of Arctic States and User States (Brill: 2017); and “Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Cultural Heritage”, co-authored with Siegfried Wiessner, University of Miami School of Law, chapter on Oxford Handbook on Cultural Heritage Law, A. Vrdoljak, ed, forthcoming. Dr. Dorough lives in Anchorage, AK with her husband, Luke Dorough (Waccamaw Siouan) and their 23-year old daughter, Hannah, who is embarking upon a Master’s degree in the UK.

Dr. Dalee Sambo Dorough, Chairperson, Inuit Circumpolar Council. She received a PhD in Law from University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law (2002) and a Master of Arts in Law & Diplomacy, The Fletcher School, Tufts University (1991). Presently, a Senior Scholar and Special Advisor on Arctic Indigenous Peoples, University of Alaska Anchorage, where she was an Assistant Professor of International Relations. Dr. Dorough was Chairperson (2014) and an Expert Member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2010-2016); and is now co-Chair of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Implementation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

• Five key takeaways from the Arctic Frontiers conference  Arctic Frontiers Conference 2019 / Tromsø, Norway

• The first meeting of the Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform will take place in conjunction with the 50th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice. UNFCCC – June 2019 / Bonn, Germany 

Press Release: Inuit call for self-determination, partnership, and recognition of human rights in science and research at International Arctic Science Ministerial  October 2018                                

Press Release: ICC Chair Addresses Arctic Biodiversity Congress, Emphasizes the Interconnectedness of Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Rights October 2018                                                                

Press Release: Circumpolar Inuit Conclude 13th General Assembly – New Chair Elected: Dr. Dalee Sambo Dorough – Utqiaġvik Declaration Adopted July 2018.

“Remarks of Incoming Chair” Dalee Sambo Dorough, 13^th General Assembly of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, July 20, 2018