We’ve lost count — that’s what Gwich’in tribal leaders say about the number of times they’ve travelled to Washington, D.C. to discuss the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Seventeen representatives of the Gwich’in Nation from across Canada and the U.S. are in Washington this week to meet with the Biden administration and congress about protecting ANWR from oil and gas drilling.
Three of those representatives spoke with the News from D.C. on Dec. 4.
Karlas Norman was one of them.
“We want to make it as easy to protect [that land] as it is to open it to development,” said Norman, a council member with the Arctic Village Council. “It should be as easy to protect life as it is to start an oil rig.”
Norman was joined on the phone call by Bernadette Demientieff, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, and Tonya Garnett, special projects coordinator with the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government.
The impetus for the trip was the introduction of Alaska’s Right to Produce Act, which was sponsored by Republican congressman Peter Stauber in November.
The act would reverse a decision made by the Biden administration to prohibit oil and gas development on 13 million acres within the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, and reinstate cancelled leases within ANWR.
Demientieff said it was nice to be in Washington with such a large group this time. She said there are usually only one or two representatives. This week, there are youth, elders and every age in between. She said there was a good feeling among the group that they were going in with good hearts and doing their best to represent their people.
It’s an immense sense of responsibility, all three agreed. One they were born with, but shouldn’t have to shoulder. They’d like to ensure future generations don’t have to.
That’s another one of the reasons they made the trip. When they think about their kids and the generations that come after that, they want those kids to be able to focus on getting ready for high school, not having to fight for their way of life, said Norman.
“We should be teaching them our culture and how to respect the land, not to be vigilant in crisis and fight our own country,” he said.
Garnett said people have the misconception that talking about the Gwich’in way of life is akin to teaching a history lesson. When she talks about her connection to the land and to the caribou on it, she says she’s not talking about the way it once was—she’s talking about a culture that’s alive today.
“It’s frustrating and emotional,” said Demientieff, whose great-grandmother is from Old Crow. But she feels they do get through to people when they try to focus on culture.
Norman agrees. Part of the goal this week will be to bring U.S. politicians “home” to Alaska by way of story-telling that will help congress understand how each of them grew up. The hope is that will give politicians some understanding of what it is to live life in the Gwich’in way, and what will be lost if the land is threatened by drilling.
Ultimately though, they said the goal is permanent protection. It should already be protected, they said. It’s a life source for the Gwich’in Nations. And they know it can be done. There’s plenty of examples of people in different parts of the country protecting their way of life, said Norman.
Even the introduction of drilling in ANWR provides protection of a certain way of American life, he said. That’s the way some people know and grew up with. He’s hopeful that once politicians understand other ways of life, they’ll be open to protecting them as well.
Representatives will remain in Washington to the end of the week.
The News reached out to the Council of Yukon First Nations, as well as to the community of Old Crow. No one was available for comment.
Contact Amy Kenny at amy.kenny@yukon-news.com