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"The caribou is not just what we eat; it's who we are. It is in our dances, stories, songs, and the whole way we see the world."
— Sarah James, Gwitchin Leader, Arctic Village, AK
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The coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the critical calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd. The survival of the herd is essential to the culture and way of life of the Gwitchin Native people.
Located in northeastern Alaska, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the most northerly terrain of America's National Wildlife Refuge System, as well as one of its largest. Nature remains essentially undisturbed by industrial development
in this scenic, pristine land.
The Arctic Refuge's primary mandate: To protect the wildlife and habitats of this area for the benefit of people now and in the future.
The Arctic Refuge is part of the range of the Porcupine caribou herd. In addition to the caribou, the Refuge supports a diverse community of life, including a significant population of Gwitchin Indians and Inupiat Eskimo. Both Native communities continue to live off the land in the traditional way and depend upon the natural resources around them, as they have for thousands of years.
While adopting and incorporating Western technology and economy into their lifestyles, the majority of northern Native communities continue to participate and rely upon traditional food harvesting activities such as hunting, fishing, and sharing their catch with the elders and children of their communities.
For many Native people, life without traditional foods is unthinkable. They believe that without traditional ties to nature, their social and economic practices would lose their basis. The sustainable harvesting and use of animals is part of a respected way of life, and also serves as a way of communicating tradition and cultural practices to the next generation. Communal sharing of food is a widespread practice among many Native cultures, as are the beliefs concerning the respect due all animal life.
"We can't feed our children oil when they're hungry."
— Sandra Newman, Gwitchin, Old Crow, Yukon
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The prospect of losing traditional food sources puts northern Native communities at risk of developing the chronic health problems that plague many southern Native communities. There is evidence suggesting a direct relationship between the loss of traditional diets and lifestyles and a rise in disease occurrence. Studies have shown that the shift from a lifestyle based on harvesting traditional foods towards one largely dependent on a wage economy and buying imported foods has lead to an increased rate of illness among Native people.
Until recently, the incidence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity has been relatively low among northern Native communities, mainly attributable to the fact that many of these communities still actively practice their traditional food harvesting methods.
While Inupiat Eskimo communities depend largely on whaling as a traditional food source, the Gwitchin and Inuvialuit to this day rely heavily on the Porcupine caribou herd to provide their communities' needs. Up to 80% of the Gwitchin's traditional protein diet is sourced from the Porcupine caribou herd, and items such as clothing, home implements, and medicine are derived from the caribou. The Gwitchin's cultural practices are closely tied to the migratory cycle of the Porcupine caribou herd which travels annually from Alaska to the Yukon and Northwest Territories and back.
"If the oil companies go into the calving grounds it would be like drilling in a hospital nursery."
— Norma Kassi, Gwitchin, Old Crow, Yukon
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The Gwitchin people consider the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge, the birthing grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd, to be a sacred place. Should the critical habitat of the Porcupine caribou herd be disturbed by oil exploration and development, this would be a loss not only to the herd itself, but to the people who depend on the viability and health of the herd for nutritional, cultural and spiritual needs.
In 1987, Canada and the United States signed an agreement to protect the Porcupine caribou herd and its habitat. Canada remains committed to this Agreement, and has established Vuntut and Ivvavik National Parks to protect our portion of the calving ground habitat.
Canada supports responsible development in habitats which are not critical. The calving grounds of the Arctic Refuge's coastal plain are critical to the survival of the Porcupine caribou herd and to the culture and way of life of the Gwitchin people.
Canada remains committed to protecting the Porcupine caribou herd, and urges the U.S. Congress and Administration to provide permanent wilderness protection to the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd.
"If we destroy the land and the resources on which we depend, and with which we live, then we are destroying ourselves. We depend on the caribou and our survival depends on their protection. We cannot tolerate any harm to the renewable resources that have sustained my people and our ancestors for many thousands of years."
— Norma Kassi, Gwitchin, Old Crow, Yukon
To view the Canada-U.S. Agreement on the Protection of the Porcupine Caribou Herd go to: http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/ANWR/anwrindex.html
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