Two members of the Gwich'in Tribe of Canada and Alaska, which opposes drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, will speak on their views here tomorrow. Visiting tribe will
voice its opposition
to Alaska oil drilling
Star-Bulletin staff
The Bush administration plans this year to again seek approval from Congress for oil drilling in the refuge.
The 10,000-person Gwich'in Nation spans Northwest Canada and Northeast Alaska, Faith Gemmill said, and she and Gladys Netro are in Hawaii seeking support for "our inherent rights to continue our ancestral way of life."
That way of life revolves around the herd of 123,000 porcupine caribou that spend summers and bear their young in the refuge. The animals winter in Gwich'in territory, where the people's subsistence hunting, spirituality and entire culture revolve around the caribou.
"Our people feel we have a kinship, a very strong relationship with the caribou, kind of like the Hawaiian nation feels about the taro," Gemmill said. "We came from the caribou."
Translated into English, the Gwich'in name for the caribou calving area of the refuge is "the sacred place where life begins," she said.
Fearing a Republican majority in Congress will approve oil drilling on refuge land, the Gwich'in are renewing their efforts to convince the Hawaii congressional delegation to oppose it.
U.S. Sens. Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye have supported drilling in the refuge, while the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink opposed it, Gemmill said. She was unsure where U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case, Mink's replacement, stand on it.
According to Gemmill, the coastal plain of the refuge is the last 5 percent of Alaska's North Slope that is closed to oil drilling.
Gemmill and Netro will speak from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday in Weaver Hall at the Church of the Crossroads, 1212 University Ave.
For more about the talk, contact Chuck Burrows at 595-3922 or ahahui@hawaii.rr.com. For more about the Gwich'in Nation, see www.alaska.net/~gwichin.
