Islands are often associated with distinct cultures. Although the island polities that formed during the withdrawal of empire frequently brought together various ethnicities, Indigenous governance and claims to cultural distinction have often remained an ideal for such islands and archipelagos. This paper examines the complex causality behind associations between indigeneity and islandness, discussing how island spatiality fosters: (1) cultural distinction, (2) connections between people and place, and (3) Indigenous territory. We argue that islands are exceptionally fruitful spaces for developing and maintaining distinct ethnicities, due not just to material effects of island geography but also in the manner in which both islanders and mainlanders conceptualise islands as “legible geographies.” Islands can thereby become quintessential spaces for containing Indigenous Peoples, simultaneously sustaining cultural difference while limiting the scope for Indigenous self‐determination. Drawing on cases from the Arctic, East Asia, Oceania and the Caribbean, we highlight the benefits that island spatiality can offer to Indigenous communities as well as the dangerous manner in which island spatiality can encourage essentialisations of Indigenous Peoples and circumscriptions of Indigenous spaces. This paper positions itself as an effort in decolonial island studies.

The Arctic is increasingly subject to processes of global change, presenting new challenges to Arctic peoples. As the world becomes more aware of the importance of the Arctic, the concept of Arctic risk is becoming globalised, advancing technocratic discourses and solutions that suit metropolitan (rather than Arctic) interests. Arctic peoples require knowledge, research, and resources from outside the region yet must take care to avoid economic, educational, and political neocolonialism operating under the disguise of sustainable development. The changing Arctic, however, offers Arctic peoples new opportunities for collective action. We recommend a form of Arctic regional policymaking that works across multiple channels and levels of formality to foster genuine sustainable development that meets the needs of all Arctic peoples. Such collective action should reach across and beyond state borders, bringing together Indigenous peoples and other Arctic communities, as well as cultivating awareness of shared interests through emancipatory research and education.The Arctic is changing, whether we like it or not.Changes in the region's environmental, technological, cultural, and political conditions pose new challenges but also new opportunities. These are rooted in part how we -as the peoples of the Arctic -respond to change. We who have the greatest stake in the region must likewise take the lead in this new era, help form and formulate Arctic futures that serve the needs of our communities, cultures, environments, economies, and wellbeing. The peoples of the Arctic are awakening to the positive potential for change. In this chapter, 'peoples of the Arctic' and 'Arctic peoples' refers to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities residing in the Arctic

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