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00:00:27.100Hey for the wild community, Francesca here. You might have seen that this week the U.S. Department of the Interior formally opened up Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, an unprecedented decision that threatens Gwich'in lifeways and sacred lands while exacerbating both climate and extinction disasters.
00:00:48.400This week, we're choosing to re-air our critically relevant conversation with Faith Gamal and Princess Lukai, originally released in September of 2016.
00:00:57.380The fight to protect these life-giving grounds has been going on for decades and will continue to do so, as the first leases to drill for oil and gas could be sold by the end of this year.
00:01:08.520Protectors of Place are rallying to stop this move, and so we are asking you to remain vigilant for calls to action.
00:01:15.240Today, we invite you to take the time to immerse yourself in the power of this biological heart, which sustains so many.
00:01:22.560You can visit our website, forthewild.world, for action points and to learn more.
00:05:16.060And the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is right at the very top, adjacent to the Beaufort Sea, and that is the biological heart of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
00:05:31.900the 1.5 million acres is also at threat by all of the oil companies every major oil company has a
00:05:43.520stake and interest in it but that place is the birthplace and nursery of the porcupine caribou
00:05:52.880herd which to the which in people that's a sacred place in our language we say
00:06:00.300it means the sacred place where life begins and it's not only a birthplace for the caribou but
00:06:09.940it's also one of the most important on-land denning habitat for polar bears and there's 156
00:06:20.160species of migratory birds that fly from all around the world to nest there it's one of the
00:06:28.400most vital ecosystems that we have in the united states and princess if there's anything you'd like
00:06:36.460to add to that yeah i just say that you know i think the refuge is absolutely symbolic of what
00:06:45.640is happening in the world because it really is the commons and you have a for years this really
00:06:55.300capitalist Western mentality of industry and politicians looking at the refuge and saying,
00:07:04.540it's barren. There's nothing there. It's not going to hurt anybody if we go up there and
00:07:10.460develop and drill for oil in the last remaining area of the North Slope that's not open to
00:07:17.300development. In that regards, we're talking about the commons. In a world that's trying to privatize
00:07:24.120land and water and patent life, I think that we're talking about two different, very different
00:07:32.360worldviews, one which commodifies life and another which realizes that we need these ecosystems in
00:07:41.880order to survive. And I would just add, too, that it's about human cultural diversity. For us as
00:07:50.060Gwich'in, this is a human rights issue. For too long, indigenous people have been looked at as
00:07:58.640it's okay if we're collateral damage in extractive resource industry. We just have to shift that
00:08:05.340paradigm and we have to change that in the world if it's not too late. Exactly.
00:08:11.640And would you mind telling us the Gwich'in creation story so that we might begin to
00:08:18.240understand the sacred alliance between your people and the land and that this is much more
00:08:24.680than just quote an environmental battle but it is deeply rooted in ancestry and spirituality
00:08:31.240our creation story tells of a time when animals had characteristics like human beings
00:08:43.880and there was just animals at the time of creation the creator decided to create human beings
00:08:54.400and at that time our story says that when human beings when we separated from the caribou
00:09:04.980we made an agreement and that agreement says that the caribou would always retain a part of
00:09:14.500the Gwich'in heart and the Gwich'in would always retain a part of the caribou heart
00:09:20.540from that time on. So in a spiritual sense, in a cultural sense, when there's a threat0.99
00:09:31.360to the caribou it affects the guichin and spiritually we're so connected to the caribou
00:09:42.920when we talk about it we say it's just like the relationship that the plains tribes had with
00:09:51.000buffalo that's the same type of relationship the guichin have with the caribou it's a very very
00:09:58.200powerful bond. We believe if anything happens to the caribou, it happens to the Gwich'in0.75
00:10:05.340and vice versa. We have old songs, old dances that tell of our relationship with the caribou.0.99
00:10:16.040We still use all the bones to create tools that we need. We still make clothing from the hides
00:10:26.520and we still maintain that relationship that we've always had when the caribou's in our
00:10:35.860territories we honor the caribou with our hunt and it's a very sacred time it's a special time
00:10:46.520and it's one of the most important times for Gwich'in because it's at that time that
00:10:52.660life lessons are taught to our young people social skills cultural skills spiritual skills
00:11:02.480all these ancestral teachings are passed on when we're out there on the land because we move out
00:11:09.480on the land when the caribou migrates through and we stay on the land until we're done harvesting
00:11:15.420And then that feeds us all through the winter, which is very important nowadays. And we still live like that.
00:11:25.860i've heard you both speak about how oil drilling would be the end of the guachin and thus it is a
00:11:36.220human rights issue so i guess what i'm wondering is when you're talking about day-to-day lives and
00:11:44.960how connected they are with the land and a closed loop of subsistence guided by your traditional
00:11:50.600ecological knowledge how would this be destroyed by oil exploration well the place that is a threat
00:12:00.040right now like i said earlier it is the biological heart of the refuge system that's the place where
00:12:09.120the caribou give birth to their young and it's the only safe place that this herd the porcupine
00:12:19.320caribou herd will go to give birth to their young they do not birth their young anywhere else
00:12:27.760so if the oil rigs are allowed to come in it will displace them from their nursery basically
00:12:39.140and they'll be forced to have their young in another area which probably is not going to
00:12:49.320be beneficial with the right nutrients for the young, but also would not be safe from predators.
00:12:59.180And that's a very real issue here in Alaska.
00:13:03.960That place is perfect for the caribou to use as their birthing grounds
00:13:08.980because the high winds keep mosquitoes away at that time when they're dropping their young.
00:13:14.320and it's a safe area from predators because it's a coastal plain they can see predators from far
00:13:23.340and also the grass that grows there that's the exact nutrients for newborn calves to get enough
00:13:33.960energy because this herd is one of the furthest migrating herds of North America
00:13:39.640it migrates through canada and alaska northwest canada northeast alaska we have 15 which in
00:13:49.680communities that are strategically located on the migratory route of the porcupine caribou herd
00:13:57.140especially our northern communities and this herd's habitat is huge but that coastal plain
00:14:08.920is the only place that the caribou will go to drop their young in the year 2000 when Clinton
00:14:18.240was leaving office let me just tell a story about how when the caribou is forced to drop their young
00:14:28.080somewhere else what happens so in the year 2000 we've been seeing impacts from climate change for
00:14:35.680years here in Alaska and that year there was really heavy snows and then it was a warm spring
00:14:47.040so that year the caribou were migrating through their wintering grounds in Canada
00:14:52.800heading north to cross the border and go to the coastal plain here in Alaska to give birth to
00:15:00.740they're young because of the heavy snows their migration north was slowed down and by the time
00:15:10.340they reached the porcupine river the ice because it was so warm the ice had broke early that year
00:15:18.440and so the females tried to wait out the ice till it all flowed and they stayed on the south side
00:15:30.620of the river trying to wait it out by the time that the ice had gone by and flowed by
00:15:37.860it was too late they waited too long and they all dropped their young on the south side of the river
00:15:46.840so even though they were forced to drop their young by natural elements they still have this
00:15:56.960instinct to go to their calving grounds because it's a safe place for their young so the mothers
00:16:05.060started swimming across the river and trying to get their young to swim with them
00:16:12.600but because the young were just newborns and that heavy flow of water when ice during breakup it was
00:16:25.040too volatile most of the calves couldn't make the swim across the river and most drowned
00:16:34.460that year we lost 15 percent of the herd and 43,000 calves drowned just because of natural
00:16:49.160phenomena that's why that place is so important so if one event like that we could lose so much
00:16:59.200of the herd just imagine what would happen if year after year they're being forced to drop
00:17:07.680their young somewhere else it would wipe out the herd and to just tie that into which in in our
00:17:15.580food security it's very very expensive to live in our rural villages and people are truly dependent
00:17:24.780upon the herd for their sustenance and you know whenever I go back up there the first things
00:17:31.880people start talking about is when are the caribou coming through and people start talking about if
00:17:37.920their neighbors have enough meat in their refrigerator and when they start coming through
00:17:44.000and they know they're coming there's such an excitement in the air and people start going
00:17:48.460out hunting and you know that makes up the bulk of people's diet when those numbers go down I mean
00:17:55.760right now the herd is healthy I think it's about 200,000 but you know when those numbers go down
00:18:01.040it's troublesome. And that year when that happened our people actually we had to go through
00:18:11.100ceremonies because it was very very hard a lot of our elders over in old crow canada where that
00:18:19.200happened was close to their community at the time and so they witnessed it and it was very hard on
00:18:26.960that community we had to mourn this loss this great loss we're so connected to our environment
00:18:34.180it really impacts our people we also have this word which actually really captures an entire
00:18:43.660concept it's and it's basically this like all-encompassing love that we have not only for
00:18:54.020each other as human beings but it signifies that connection that we have to the land and to the
00:19:01.520animals and it's a reciprocal respect we give to one another and all life around us. And when
00:19:10.940you're not dependent on the land and you don't know where your food comes from, it's easy to
00:19:16.440become egotistical and to fall under this illusion that we're not connected, that we're somehow
00:19:22.500separate from our environment and the land, the soil, the water. And so those people that are
00:19:31.160still really connected to the land, realize that we have to honor that relationship.
00:19:38.180And Princess, I've heard you speak about the old stories of your people being able to speak
00:19:44.760the same language as animals and being connected to the land in that way. And I'm wondering,
00:19:51.360because I know both of you speak about what the children will inherit. Do you believe that
00:19:57.340this reconnection to speaking with the animals and having that deep accord will be able to
00:20:04.760be strengthened again? I guess just for me, I guess to answer that would be to say,
00:20:10.500we have to live with that reverence and honor for the animals and they give their lives to us
00:20:19.060so that we can live. So I think on a personal note, it's definitely an extra effort. And part
00:20:25.100of that extra effort is that I don't think that we live very balanced lives. And I can just speak
00:20:32.120to my own experience, which is spending a lot of time in front of a computer screen and how
00:20:40.000different that is from the lives that, you know, Faith and I, our grandparents lived, or even our
00:20:46.080parents lived in when they were growing up, or even us for that matter. Yeah, we have stories
00:20:54.240Also, when I was growing up in Arctic Village, we didn't even have electricity for years.
00:26:19.940It's so important that our subsistence lands remain intact so that we're able to continue this ancestral way of life and pass it on to our children.
00:26:36.660And right now, Alaska's been ground zero for U.S. energy policy.
00:26:45.320And besides just the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, there's other indigenous territories throughout the state that are subsistence use lands that are also at threat from oil and gas, mining, coal development, etc.
00:27:03.040and what we are trying to do is raise the consciousness of the public not only here
00:27:13.900at the local level in Alaska but at the national level and the international level
00:27:20.080that basically the earth cannot sustain any more exploitation that it's time we as humanity
00:27:31.100realize we have taken too much. Our consumption is too high. There needs to be a transition
00:27:39.540to clean, sustainable energy that would uphold and promote Indigenous people's way of life
00:27:50.140and also allow for our children to continue.
00:27:58.640That's what this issue is about for us
00:28:01.780because in 1988, when our elders and our people
00:28:07.440found out that the oil companies were trying to gain access
00:28:13.040they held a Gwich'in gathering in Arctic Village,
00:28:17.080And it was the first Gwich'in gathering that was held in over 100 years.
00:28:22.720When the U.S. and Canada separated and they put that border in, they separated the Gwich'in nation.0.56
00:28:32.600We got separated by this invisible line.0.88
00:28:37.020So we have half of the Gwich'in nation in Canada and half in Alaska.
00:28:42.540and we all subsist on this one same caribou herd which doesn't see the border
00:28:50.580so we held the Gwich'in gathering in arctic village in 1988 and our elders well our young
00:29:00.580leaders back then they asked the eldest Gwich'in woman her name was Myra Kiyikovic
00:29:05.960they went to her and they asked her long ago when there was a threat to the Gwich'in
00:29:12.540how did we address it and she said that they would hold a traditional gathering
00:29:20.100and so we did that we called the gathering an arctic village and it was called Gwich'in Ninsah
00:29:27.460and that's the gathering of our people every one of our communities in Canada and Alaska
00:29:35.480came together and we discussed this issue and they did it in a very traditional way
00:29:43.720and at the end of that meeting it was unanimously decided that we're not going to allow the oil
00:29:52.280companies to drill in the arctic refuge because it was such a threat to our nation0.98
00:29:58.660and at that time they created a political body to be the voice for the Gwich'in people
00:30:07.580and that was the Gwich'in steering committee and once the members of the steering committee were
00:30:16.000chosen they were taken to the front of the people and they were given directives by the elders and
00:30:24.960by the leaders and there was two main things that they told them one was go out there tell our story
00:30:34.780do it in a good way and we're going to be successful that was one part of it but the
00:30:42.940other part of it was when we're going out there talking about this issue and telling our story
00:30:50.720we need to let them know that we're not trying to protect that area for ourselves
00:30:58.280we are standing and protecting the arctic refuge for all humanity and when i think about that
00:31:08.000directive i think about global warming and this time that we're in we see the changes so rapid
00:31:16.580we are like in climate chaos and the arctic refuge is one of the last places it is the actual last
00:31:27.360piece of land of alaska's north slope that's still protected everything else 95 percent of
00:31:35.940alaska's north slope is already open to oil and gas development and so standing for that area
00:31:44.900and when our people say we're doing it for all humanity they were talking about and prophesying
00:31:51.620global warming but also they were talking about this time of transition because we have a story
00:32:01.100and a prophecy about this time and in our prophecy it says that
00:32:07.300we have to protect that area and if that area is ever open to development
00:32:15.980it's the beginning of the end and so that's why we stand up for that area and that's why this0.97
00:32:24.740issue is so critical to the Gwich'in people but to humanity itself you know what does it say to0.95
00:32:33.820our future generations if we allow the last 5% of the North Slope of Alaska to be developed.0.98
00:32:42.880So this issue is very, very, very critical. Everyone has a say what happens to it, not just
00:32:50.940the Gwich'in. It's one of the most controversial issues in Congress. They've been debating it for
00:32:58.380the past 30 years and it will take an act of congress to open it to development or to protect
00:33:06.880it permanently and so that's why we organized ourselves to try to educate as much americans
00:33:15.420as possible because every american has a say what happens well i can't thank you enough for
00:33:25.200organizing and fighting for this and protecting for all of us in the United States and beyond
00:33:33.680on a global level for climate change, for the biodiversity. And I'm wondering when you were
00:33:40.580talking about this act of Congress, I know that back in January 2015, I believe, Obama recommended
00:33:46.840protection for over 12 million acres, including the coastal plain. But just last month, Obama
00:33:53.920announced a joint US and Canada agreement to combat climate change and prioritize Arctic
00:33:59.780conservation for the benefit of indigenous peoples, but then days later proposed new
00:34:05.320offshore leases in the Arctic. So what do you make of this political mind game? And
00:34:10.680what is the true prospect for protection? I think the politics of what's happening right now,
00:34:17.600and that was fantastic that the Obama administration came out with this official
00:34:23.060recommendation for wilderness, which changed the last official recommendation that was for oil and
00:34:29.920gas development on the coastal plain. And that was years, I believe, three plus years that went into
00:34:36.460public commentary on the comprehensive conservation plan for management of the refuge. And
00:34:44.040overwhelmingly, people really came out and said, we want to see further protections for the coastal
00:34:51.300Plain. So then from there, Obama makes that official recommendation to Congress to designate
00:34:58.260wilderness for the coastal plain. And then the job is to get it through Congress, which is the
00:35:05.340same thing that the people have been trying to do for over 30 years is get a wilderness designation
00:35:10.780for the coastal plain. It just hasn't happened. So I think there's a lot of doublespeak. And we
00:35:18.460saw from Paris that there's a lot of firm talk to wanting to act on climate change, but there's not
00:35:28.360in my eyes enough political will to get us there. And I'm definitely behind the keep it in the
00:35:36.980ground campaign. And I think that politicians need to understand that we just simply cannot
00:35:43.140afford to do business as usual. So until we start really putting a different system in place that
00:35:49.900doesn't look at corporations as citizens, that understands that people need to come first and
00:35:56.080that we need to have an economy that is reflective of our morals and ethics around really being
00:36:04.660sustainable and aware of the fact that we are dependent upon these critical ecosystems,
00:36:09.920Until that transformation happens, we're not going to get to where we need to be. But in terms of permanent protection, on the upside, we have more co-sponsored than ever before for a wilderness designation. And it is bipartisan. And then the only other option would be for President Obama to use his executive authority and do a monument designation for the coastal plain.
00:36:35.020and if we're really looking at climate change and we're looking at the fact that our species is not
00:36:41.480gonna be able to exist on this planet if it warms up more than you know 1.5 degrees celsius and we
00:36:46.880are not doing what we need to do to get there yet keeping fossil fuels in the ground is the only way
00:36:54.280to do it and we're just not seeing I don't think the political will to get us there because it
00:37:02.140needed to happen yesterday and the communities that depend on the oceans that have been put in
00:37:12.100the five-year plan of the federal government their outer continental shell five-year plan
00:37:18.800there's three places here in Alaska that are at threat under that plan and that's one in the
00:37:26.760Beaufort Sea one in the Chukchi Sea and one in Cook Inlet and all these places there's indigenous
00:37:35.500communities that rely on the marine ecosystem to provide all their essential subsistence needs0.59
00:37:43.240and so it's the same fight that the Gwich'in are facing they are going to face as they stand up
00:37:52.280and oppose fossil fuel development in their ecosystem that provides for their food security.
00:38:01.880And the other thing is the Beaufort Sea is directly adjacent to the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge.
00:38:10.720I've always thought that drilling offshore is a direct threat to the Arctic Refuge as well
00:38:20.100if there's going to be offshore drilling in the Beaufort Sea
00:38:24.800because once they access the resource offshore in the Beaufort Sea,
00:38:30.920they're going to have to bring it to market,
00:38:34.940and they're going to want to access land
00:38:40.480and try to connect to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline,
00:38:45.960and it would just be a backdoor approach in opening up the arctic national wildlife refuge
00:38:54.060and the thing about the arctic refuge is it's not really about the oil there
00:38:59.000because they estimate that at current consumption rates of the united states it's
00:39:06.840basically whole six months worth of oil that we would not even be able to bring to market for
00:39:15.06010 years so the arctic national wildlife refuge does not solve our energy needs now as they'd
00:39:23.300like to tout it but the primary push for the refuge is actually for precedent setting of access to
00:39:33.480these places that are protected by such stringent environmental laws if they can access the arctic
00:39:42.420refuge they can access any other public lands anywhere exactly and they've admitted that
00:39:50.560themselves that it's about the precedent but as for offshore development like we stand
00:39:58.500and oppose offshore development here in Alaska because of climate change
00:40:04.720and because there should not be any more fossil fuel development here in the state.
00:40:13.880We have enough fields operating currently that are already online
00:40:19.220that would take us through a transition period.
00:40:23.460If we start to transition now, but that's where our work comes in
00:50:44.200how colonialism is at work in the resource grabs going on
00:50:49.100in Alaska, beginning with, and probably even before that, but with the Alaska Native Claim
00:50:55.200Settlement Act in 1971. And I'm wondering if you could explain how this act has divided tribes and
00:51:03.560opened up those lands to destructive industries and continues to create havoc.
00:51:09.780here in Alaska in 1968 Prudhoe Bay was discovered and in order to bring the resources to market
00:51:19.700they needed to settle land claims and so they put forward the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
00:51:28.620and it was approved unilaterally in 1971 most Alaska Natives did not even have a vote or a voice
00:51:38.040But when it happened, what it basically did was set up for-profit Native corporations.
00:51:47.920There's 13 for-profit Native corporations divided by regions in the state of Alaska.
00:51:55.300And these for-profit corporations hold title to the subsurface, right?
00:52:01.340And then we also have village corporations, which were created in every native village in the state. So there's over 200 native village corporations. They have surface rights.
00:52:19.400At the time, there were governments, and we had our own traditional governments in place, our tribes, tribal governments.
00:52:31.980the tribal governments were ignored basically and the land transferred to these new entities
00:52:40.880that were created under the act because they wanted to do something different here in Alaska
00:52:48.520than the lower 48 and so these corporations these newly created native corporations
00:52:57.860there was a clause that if they didn't prosper and if they went under they could be bought out
00:53:06.020any corporation could buy them out and if that happened that also jeopardized land
00:53:14.580and land would be moved out of native hands totally and i believe that was the intent
00:53:23.680except Alaska Natives mobilized and realized the threats
00:56:40.640But ANCSA, to me, was one of the worst acts created by Congress.
00:56:46.540And now the same type of legislation is being promoted
00:56:52.040in other areas of the world where there's resources.
00:56:55.040I was down in the Amazon, and the Amazonian leaders there said they had been approached and asked whether they wanted to do land claims similar to Alaska.1.00
00:57:09.180And we cautioned them, don't make that mistake, don't let it happen, because we're still dealing with angsa here.
00:57:17.940and now the legacy of angsa is we have polluted lands we have fracture we have
00:57:26.140divisions because there's tribes that want to protect certain areas and then there's
00:57:31.600corporations that want to exploit that same area and so that creates division
00:57:40.040so we told them the story in the amazon of what happened to alaska natives and
00:57:47.780told them don't allow it to happen to them
00:57:50.400but that's what the United States is promoting