\n\n“The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an expanse of public land in Alaska the size of South Carolina, is one of the last untouched landscapes in the world. The native Gwich\u2019in people \u2014 who have lived in harmony with the area\u2019s migratory Porcupine caribou herd for centuries \u2014 call the refuge\u2019s vast coastal plain Iizhik Gwats\u2019an Gwandaii Goodlit, or \u201cThe Sacred Place Where Life Begins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the past few years, the fate of the refuge\u2019s roughly 19.5 million acres has become rather bleak:Its permafrost is melting rapidly<\/a>, along with the rest of the Arctic region. The refuge\u2019s coastal plain also remains at risk to oil and gas development, which companies have long had their eye on but have been barred from doing \u2014 until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drilling in the US Arctic is what President Trump has longed to do, in hopes of making the US the No. 1 energy producer in the world. And in early December, the administration madea stunning, last-ditch announcement<\/a> that it will auction off drilling rights in the refuge on January 6 \u2014 two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.It\u2019s the administration\u2019s final attempt to turn a profit on Indigenous lands with little regard for the environmental or cultural ramifications.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “For centuries, the Arctic refuge \u2014 particularly the coastal plain \u2014 has been central to Alaska Natives\u2019 way of life<\/a>. The ancestral name of the plain refers to the calving grounds for the caribou, whose migratory path still guides the Gwich\u2019in and other Indigenous people today. If oil drilling rights in the sacred land are sold, Alaskan Natives fear it would disrupt the caribou\u2019s migratory patterns<\/a> along with other wildlife. It would also interrupt the way the Gwich\u2019in people prepare for sacred harvest as their ancestors have thousands of years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not just a Gwich\u2019in issue; there are a lot of Alaska Natives who depend on the caribou and the animals that migrate there,\u201d Bernadette Demientieff, a Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich\u2019in and the executive director of the Gwich\u2019in Steering Committee, told Vox. \u201cOur identity as Gwich\u2019in is not up for negotiation and our culture is not up for sale. We will fight this every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Already, the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline<\/a> on the west end of the national refuge, which has had multiple hazardous oil spills<\/a> in the region, provides a stark reminder of the fossil fuel industry\u2019s menacing presence on Indigenous lands. Fossil fuel operations emit tons of greenhouse gases that contribute to the planet\u2019s warming temperatures. And to do so on Indigenous lands in the Arctic \u2014 already dubbed ground zero for the climate crisis<\/a> \u2014 only adds insult to injury for communities most vulnerable to climate change, like the Gwich\u2019in people.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n