How are you Connected to the Arctic?
ANWR Drilling and the Gwich’in People
By Lilli Y. Garza
With environmental issues arising across the globe, it can feel difficult to connect to what’s happening when it’s taking place thousands of miles away. In Chicago, Illinois, I am 2,752 miles from Arctic Village, Alaska, the closest place to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Living in Chicago, I love to watch birds and often feel grounded by the practice. While hummingbirds are my favorite, I have also taken to the beautiful warblers that land in Chicago during the spring and summer on their migratory journey. These birds are beautiful in sound and color, and I enjoy their brief time in the city before they continue their journey all the way to the Arctic Circle. Migratory birds connect me, in the sprawling metropolis of Chicago, to the expansive and majestic arctic thousands of miles away.
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On August 17th, the Secretary of the Interior announced a plan to rush into an oil and gas lease sale that would allow drilling in ANWR’s coastal plain. While this has immense impacts on warblers and other migratory species, it has an even larger impact on the Gwich’in people, whose land encompasses ANWR. The Gwich’in tribe stretches across 15 communities in Northeastern Alaska and Yukon, Canada, and amounts to about 6000 people. The Gwich’in people have been living a subsistence lifestyle with dependence on the porcupine caribou since time immemorial. A subsistence lifestyle means one that is completely reliant on the land for food and all other resources necessary for survival. Whether it is hunting as a primary occupation, or using the entire caribou as materials for culturally important items including food, clothing, jewelry and tools - there is no waste in a subsistence lifestyle. To the Gwich’in people, the relationship with the caribou reflects respect and spiritual guidance. The caribou that the Gwich’in people rely on, breed every year on the coastal plain in ANWR, the same land proposed for destructive oil and gas drilling today. The Gwich’in Steering Committee was formed in 1988 in response to the threat of drilling on the coastal plain of ANWR. The hard work and determination of the Gwich’in Steering Committee is the reason that the coastal plain has not been drilled up to this point. The Gwich’in people call the coastal plain “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins”. This is not only the place where the caribou breed, but sacred land for the Gwich’in people. Due to the impact on the caribou herds and sacred, culturally significant lands, the Gwich’in people’s cultural heritage and their subsistence lifestyle would be permanently harmed should drilling occur.
In order to amplify the Gwich’in narrative, Miho Aida, an environmental educator and activist, made a film, “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins: Gwich’in Women Speak”. In this documentary style film, numerous Gwich’in women provide testimonials as to how their lives will be impacted if the government were to open up drilling in the refuge. They speak on the history of their ancestors and the balanced lives they lead with the caribou - and most importantly, they emphasize that, “If the caribou go, the Gwich’in go”.
Miho centered the voices of these strong Indigenous women to draw attention to the fact that arctic drilling is not solely a threat to the earth, but to a significant group of Indigenous peoples. “Environmentalism” by that name has been a white-led movement since John Muir first founded the Sierra Club, and Senator Gaylord Nelson declared April 22nd Earth Day. However, modern environmental activists are slowly starting to acknowledge that Black, Indigenous, and communities of color have already been actively conserving and protecting the earth for thousands of years. Additionally, these groups are becoming increasingly aware that BIPOC communities are disproportionately suffering from climate change across the globe. The Arctic is no exception. When fighting against Arctic drilling, it is essential that we center and amplify the voice of the Gwich’in people.
Lilli and the film tour team at the Space Needle in Seattle, WA
In 2018, I had the opportunity to work with two Gwich’in women and three other women of color on a tour of Miho Aida’s film across four different cities in the Pacific Northwest. We were there to educate the public on the urgent need to take action against Arctic drilling. Starting in Bellingham, Washington, we went from city to city to share the Gwich’in story. Miho expanded the message of the tour by choosing to bike from city to city and advertising the film and campaign on her rides to engage with local communities.
Each time we showed the film, the Gwich’in women would begin the event by asking the question: “How are you connected to the Arctic?” They would then leave space for discussion between the viewers. Many struggled to come up with answers, though a few were lucky enough to have visited ANWR or another part of northern Alaska. These individuals spoke highly of their experiences, but admitted that without visiting the refuge firsthand, it would be more difficult to understand the urgency of the issue. Most people struggled to identify a connection for themselves, however, the Gwich’in women were not easily discouraged. After everyone shared, the women would then vividly describe how slow-moving glaciers, high-flying migratory birds, and rapidly flowing rivers begin in the Arctic. They would paint a colorful story of the Arctic beginnings and how life there impacts all of us in the lower 48 states.
The ability to see a larger picture and envision the world as one, was one of the key lessons I took away from my time working with the Gwich’in women. While we mobilize against these seemingly far away corporations and governments, we must remember that this fight is not solely for the land and the wildlife, but for the people. The Gwich’in people. Indigenous communities have already been abused and silenced enough by colonizers in America, it is time we stood by their side and fought along with them.
This fight is one we can still win. In order to drill, these companies need money. Five of the six major U.S. banks have already declared they will not fund new oil and gas developments in the Refuge. If five of these banks can make this decision, we can fight to ensure the sixth bank, Bank of America, will not invest either. Join me in writing a letter to Bank of America explaining why drilling would be detrimental to the Gwich’in people and the fight against climate change. This is a human issue, let’s make it personal. If we can stop the funding, we can stop the drilling.
Sample Letter
Dear Mr. Moynihan,
My name is ______ and I am asking you to make the commitment to never invest in arctic drilling. The five other major U.S. banks have already made this commitment because they understand how severe the impacts of arctic drilling are. I believe Bank of America can and should make this step as well.
Arctic drilling would not only harm the habitat of thousands of unique animals, many of which make their way down to the lower 48 during their migration cycles, but it would also have severe impacts on the Indigenous Gwich’in people. The Gwich’in people have been living in the Northwest region of Alaska since time immemorial and they live a subsistence lifestyle with the porcupine caribou. This means their entire livelihood is dependent upon the life of the caribou and that relationship. If oil companies were to drill, they would target the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). This is land that is already supposed to be protected and conserved by the U.S. government since it was established in 1960. The specific area intended for drilling, the coastal plain, is known among the Gwich’in people as “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins” because it is where the breeding and calving of the porcupine caribou happens. If drilling were to occur on the plain, the caribou would not survive. Many believe that if the caribou go, so will the Gwich’in people. We can not continue to oppress Indigenous people in this country as we have for centuries. It is time to take a stand and change the narrative.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best, ______
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Additional Resources:
The Gwich’in Steering Committee campaign and active lawsuit against the U.S. Government
The Sierra Club’s campaign to write elected officials to vote against Arctic Drilling
Alaska Native tribes and 15 U.S. states file suits to stop oil drilling in Arctic refuge - Anchorage Daily News
Trump Administration Finalizes Plan to Open Arctic Refuge to Drilling - New York Times