Jordan Scott<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Gwich\u2019in creation story tells that long ago, the Gwich\u2019in and the caribou were one. As they separated into two beings, they became relatives and made an agreement. The land would sustain the caribou and the caribou would sustain the people. They would each keep a piece of the other\u2019s heart within themselves. In that way their lives and well-being would be forever connected.[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n I vividly remember the fall of 2020 when then-President Trump opened part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. While consistent with Trump\u2019s aims, this decision was a shock to many who thought the land was a protected area. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is composed of almost 20 million acres of land historically belonging to the Gwich\u2019in people.[2]<\/sup><\/a> The Gwich\u2019in, or the \u201cpeople of the land\u201d, are an indigenous group that have been residing in the area that is currently Alaska and northwest Canada for the past 20,000 years.[3]<\/sup><\/a> This land they rely on has been designated by the US government as protected because the habitat is crucial for the Porcupine caribou, polar bears and numerous other threatened species.[4]<\/sup><\/a> However, the protected status of this land is tenuous. While there seem to be numerous economic benefit to permitting oil extraction on this land, the cultural and human rights of the Gwich\u2019in people should not be violated for potential profit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n President Eisenhower first created an Arctic Refuge in 1960, but President Jimmy Carter formalized this land as the ANWR in its current form by signing the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980.[5]<\/sup><\/a> While developing clear guidelines for its management during his time in office, the final approval for permanent Refuge status was deferred to Congress, which never approved the official designation. In the following 44 years, multiple battles, both political and legal, have arisen. During some presidencies, exploratory oil drilling has been allowed, in others oil drilling contracts have been sold and legitimized by the government.[6]<\/sup><\/a> Until Congress passes the Arctic Refuge Protection Act (the bill in its current form), all moratoriums and bans established by the President or Department of Interior can be easily overturned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ideally, Congress would pass the Arctic Refuge Protection Act, which would cease drilling contracts and prohibit potentially drilling activity, but this overlooks a major aspect of this conflict. The Gwich\u2019in community, who have been living on this land for thousands of years before the US or Canada even existed, have been largely excluded from this conversation.[7]<\/sup><\/a> While legislation is necessary, management procedures in this legislation need to recognize the rights and role of Indigenous groups on this land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most contentious areas in these land disputes are known as the coastal plains. These coastal plains are the rearing grounds for Porcupine caribou young, but also the area with the most fossil fuel drilling potential.[8]<\/sup><\/a> The fuel in these coastal plains is estimated to be worth $251 billion in profit after extraction and to provide 7.06 billion barrels, or enough to supply the US for an entire year.[9]<\/sup><\/a> However, this land\u2019s status as a caribou hotspot means that the Gwich\u2019in people have long used this land as primary subsistence hunting ground to which they have strong cultural ties: this land is often referred to as \u201cthe sacred place where life began\u201d.[10]<\/sup><\/a> Development and extraction in this area would not only destroy this fragile ecosystem, but would threaten the cultural rights and food sovereignty of the Gwich\u2019in people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an era of Justice40 and an increased national focus on environmental justice, it is impossible to ignore that cultural rights are human rights. With the diminished capacity to control the land with which their identity is intertwined, the Gwich\u2019in people are not merely facing an attack on their lands, but also on their existence. For a community already facing the mounting pressures from climate change, this fight threatens to decimate their lifestyle and people.[11]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Formally recognizing the protected status of the ANWR in Congress would only be the first step towards restitution. Restitution for Indigenous groups, is a multifaceted legal, societal and cultural reconciliation that would include the transfer of power, and potentially land, to Indigenous groups marking a significant shift towards Indigenous sovereignty.[12]<\/sup><\/a> The ANWR should be designated an Indigenous or Tribal land for governance by the Gwich\u2019in and other Indigenous peoples. For 20,000 years, the land was collectively managed by these people with no threats from extractive industries and should be returned to them for protection of their cultural and human rights. The US and Alaskan governments have a poor history with oil drilling as Alaska has contributed more than 18 billion barrels of oil and oil is the largest source of unrestricted revenue for the state, often due to tax breaks and extractive opportunities that have destroyed communities and lands.[13]<\/sup><\/a> The Gwich\u2019in people have been resisting this pressure for decades and their connection to the land would protect it from potential drilling pressures. As Lorraine Netro, Gwich\u2019in elder says, \u201cWe are not going to sacrifice our lives, we are not going to compromise.\u201d[14]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [1]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cIndigenous Peoples\u201d, Protect the Arctic (2021), https:\/\/www.protectthearctic.org\/indigenous-peoples-arctic-refuge-gwichin-and-i\u00f1upiat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [2]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cArctic National Wildlife Refuge: America\u2019s Largest and Northern Most Wildlife Refuge\u201d, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2024), https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/arctic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [3]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cAbout the Gwich\u2019in\u201d, Gwich\u2019in Steering Committee (2024), https:\/\/ourarcticrefuge.org\/about-the-gwichin\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [4]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cRegulatory Tracker: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge- Oil and Gas Development\u201d, Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program (2023), https:\/\/eelp.law.harvard.edu\/2019\/09\/arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-oil-and-gas-development\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [5]<\/sup><\/a> Brian Palmer and Nicole Greenfield, \u201cThe Long, Long Battle for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge\u201d, National Resource Defense Council (June 2022), https:\/\/www.nrdc.org\/stories\/long-long-battle-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [6]<\/sup><\/a> Leah Donahey, \u201cA Brief History of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge\u201d, Alaska Wilderness League, https:\/\/www.alaskawild.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Arctic-Refuge-brief-history-2018.pdf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [7]<\/sup><\/a> Joe Spring, \u201c\u2019The Refuge\u2019 Profiles the Fight to Save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge From Drilling\u201d, Sierra Club Magazine (November 2016), https:\/\/www.sierraclub.org\/sierra\/2016-6-november-december\/green-life\/refuge-profiles-fight-save-arctic-national-wildlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [8]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cCoastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge\u201d, U.S. Department of Interior: Bureau of Land Management (2023), https:\/\/www.blm.gov\/programs\/energy-and-minerals\/oil-and-gas\/about\/alaska\/coastal-plain-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [9]<\/sup><\/a> Matthew J. Kotchen and Nicholas E. Berger, \u201cShould we drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? An economic perspective\u201d, Energy Policy, Volume 35, Issue 9 (September 2007), https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.enpol.2007.04.007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [10]<\/sup><\/a> Lorraine Netro, \u201cIndigenous Peoples\u201d, Protect the Arctic (2021), https:\/\/www.protectthearctic.org\/indigenous-peoples-arctic-refuge-gwichin-and-i\u00f1upiat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [11]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cGwich\u2019in Nation and Arctic Policies\u201d, The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at University of Washington: Canadian Studies Center for Arctic and International Relations (June 2019), https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/canada\/news\/gwichin-nation-and-arctic-policies\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [12]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cLand Return for Tribal Restitution\u201d, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (2024), https:\/\/www.countyhealthrankings.org\/strategies-and-solutions\/what-works-for-health\/strategies\/land-return-for-tribal-restitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [13]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cAlaska\u2019s Oil and Gas Industry\u201d, Alaska Resource Development Council (2023), https:\/\/www.akrdc.org\/oil-and-gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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