Word: caribou
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When they abandoned their nomadic ways in the early part of this century, the Gwich'in Indians settled on an ancient hunting site in the foothills of the Brooks Range, smack in the middle of the annual migratory path of the Porcupine caribou herd. Prompted by fears that proposed oil development on the coastal plain would interfere with caribou migration and calving, the Gwich'in nation last June convened its first gathering in many generations, and passed a tribal resolution calling upon the Government to prohibit oil exploration or development in the refuge. Says Abel Tritt, a Gwich'in elder...
Surrounded by vast, empty wilderness, the Gwich'in have only grudgingly allowed the intrusions of modern life. They have moved from caribou tents to log homes, from bows and arrows to rifles, from dogsleds to snowmobiles. But they argue that they can pick and choose from modernity without losing their soul. In 1971, instead of participating in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the Gwich'in Indians chose to retain their Delaware-size (1.8 million acres) reservation extending south from the Arctic refuge. Today they have little cash, but Trimble Gilbert, their newly elected chief, believes that history has vindicated...
Still, says Gilbert, the land is nothing without the caribou. "Ever since they are little, Gwich'in are hungry for caribou," says the chief, speaking of a hunger that is more than a physical appetite. "If there are no caribou, people will not want to live here anymore." It is for this reason that tribe members oppose oil development. Caribou will not calve near rigs or pipelines, they argue. "Oil does not combine with living things," says Tritt...
...Eskimos in Kaktovik also hunt caribou, but they depend more heavily on the sea, where captains like Isaac Akootchook go out in 18-ft. boats after seal and bowhead whale. The Inupiat (as they prefer to be called), who chose to participate in the 1971 claims settlement, have benefited from oil revenues in the form of a school, a community center and other projects. "We feel caught in the middle," says Akootchook. "We don't like exploration, but if we oppose it and they impose it anyway, we get nothing...
...Committee on Energy and Natural Resources approved legislation to allow drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Experts believe the field may hold enough oil to supply U.S. needs for about 20 months. But the bill will face fierce opposition from conservationists who argue that drilling could destroy caribou, polar bears and other wildlife. Opposition could be bolstered by last week's Alaskan oil spill...