The two permanent participants in the Arctic Council that I have chosen to write about are the Saami Council and RAIPON.
The Saami Council lists its key policy issues as promoting Saami rights and interests, maintaining their economic, social, and cultural rights. However, their most unique policy issues are their focus on attaining recognition as a nation and fostering unity among Saami. This makes sense as the Saami have always been a minority people in their homeland and have suffered heavy discrimination and have not been able to gain much in terms of land claims and rights unlike some other indigenous nations. This is why their council focuses on national recognition and land rights. Some of their projects in the Arctic Council focus on gender equality, food security, and Arctic economy.
RAIPON is focused on defending indigenous human rights, solving environmental, social, and economic issues. They also have a particular focus and emphasis on issues of education and culture, which stems from the fact that education issues plague Russian provinces, especially in the north which has its own set of problems. RAIPON fights against the fact that modern education and cultural traditions are often incompatible, trying to find alternatives to integrate both the new and the old, limiting alienation between generations. Projects that RAIPON is involved with include education of children, linguistics and culture, and food security.
Permanent participants influence the work of the Arctic Council by a much larger extent than typical for indigenous organizations in governments. While they do not have the full rights of member states, permanent participants are able to sit at the same table as representatives from powerful nations and have their voices heard. They have the right to attend meetings and submit reports. Reports are often the backbone of council decisions and meetings, since the format is that of an informal intergovernmental organization. Reports educate nations about concerns for the Arctic and allow permanent participants to help guide the topics discussed in the Council. The influence of permanent participants is limited by their inability to vote or make decisions in the Council. Therefore they are given a voice to be heard but not a hand to make a decision. Including permanent participants in the actual process of decision making in more ways would give them more influence over the actions of the Arctic Council.