The Sacred Place Where Life Begins

The Gwich’in Nation is right now fighting to defend not just their land and animals but their own culture. The Gwich’in, also known as the Caribou People, live in 13 villages along the Porcupine Caribou Herd’s migration route in Northeastern Alaska and Northwestern Canada. They have been physically and spiritually tied to the herd for over 20,000 years. They rely on the herd to sustain and continue their way of life. Caribou are the main food source for most of the surrounding villages in the Interior. A threat to the health of the Herd is a threat to the Gwich’in way of life. Without the Herd, communities would be forced to move to urban areas because the cost of living is too expensive without the caribou to depend on for sustenance and nutrition. “There is no satisfactory substitute for the cultural, spiritual, and nutritional value that the Porcupine Caribou Herd delivers to the Gwich’in People.” (Bernadette Dimientieff)

The fight to protect the Porcupine Caribou Herd’s calving grounds from oil and gas development has been going on for decades but now, time is running out. Last December, the Tax Bill was passed. Pro oil development players used this as a back-door means of opening the Arctic Refuge to the oil and gas industry. The bill put oil before everything, including the Gwich’in people and the wildlife on which they depend to survive. The department of Interior has fast tracked a process that usually takes five years and condensed it down to one year. They are rushing and cutting corners, and not listening to the public to serve their purpose. Seismic testing could happen in the Refuge as early as December 2018. The world needs to stand with the Gwich’in now.

The area that is at stake for oil and gas development is known by the Gwich’in as “the Sacred Place Where Life Begins” because it is the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd. Every year this 200,000 animal herd migrates to the coastal plains and 40,000 calves are born. The herd uses the coastal plains as its nursery because of the abundance of food, because the cool breeze from the Arctic Ocean gives them relief from mosquitoes, and because the open landscape makes it easier to watch for predators. Calf mortality rates skyrocket on the years that the herd is not able to make it here. Studies of female caribou from neighboring herds have shown that their use of developed areas has dropped by 78%. The Central and Western Arctic caribou herds were able to move elsewhere when Prudhoe Bay was developed because the coastal plains are much more extensive in this part of the Arctic. In the Refuge, however, there is only 18 miles between the Brooks Range and the Arctic Ocean. Development would be enormously disruptive to the herd, potentially causing them to change their migration route which would be devastating to Gwich’in villages. 

Across Canada, caribou herds populations have been decreasing and wildlife biologists like Catherine Gangnon, who we interviewed for the film, are increasingly convinced that this is due solely to development. The Porcupine Caribou herd is the last herd in North America with healthy numbers because its migration route is untouched by industry. 

The coastal plains of the Arctic Refuge are also the thickest polar bear denning sight in all of Alaska. Five to eight million shorebirds forage here and rest each spring on their way to arctic breeding grounds. More than 200 different species of bird migrate to the Refuge. Five species of loons, tundra swans, golden plovers, snowy owls and the Arctic tern (which migrates from Antarctica) all depend on the Refuge. The Refuge is also home to musk oxen, wolves, arctic fox, lynx, wolverines, moose, grizzly bear, black bear and many other species. 

The Gwich’in are not against oil and gas development altogether but they are 100% against it on the coastal plains of the Refuge because they know how much it will impact the animals that they have lived alongside for thousands of years. The United States has other oil resources and it is unnecessary to destroy this important culture for the sake of oil and gas. 

When I was 25 years old, I bushwhacked across the state of Alaska by myself and witnessed a corner of the Porcupine Caribou Herd migration. It is the holiest sight I have ever seen and just being out there has changed the course of my life. Jeremy Là Zelle and I headed into the Refuge this spring to visit every Gwich’in Community we could and document the migration of the Porcupine Herd and as much of the wildlife as possible. We are creating media for the Gwich’in Steering Committee to help in the fight and doing everything we can to stand with our Gwich’in friends during this difficult time. We are the best people to tell this story because we have lived with the Gwich’in, we have lived with the Porcupine Caribou, and we have the filmmaking skills necessary to tell the story in a powerful way. So much is at stake. There is so little time to make a difference. Please help us to stand with the Gwich’in and share their important story before it is too late.