The Last Hunters

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The Gwich'in Athabascan peoples—a small group of Native Americans whose 15 villages pepper areas along the Canada-Alaska border—are not known for their political activism. But now they are fighting a fierce politcal battle as the very survival of their culture hinges on the outcome of the November elections.

Their newfound political passion concerns a proposal to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil exploration. Congress passed a resolution to allow drilling in the protected federal reserve as a rider to the 1995 budget, which President Clinton subsequently vetoed. (Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole is in favor of the drilling proposal.) Clinton has promised to veto any legislation that supports oil drilling in the refuge; however, his veto power may be restricted in a Republican-dominated Congress.

To complicate matters further, the Gwich'in face opposition within the Alaskan community of Native Americans. Both the Inupiat Eskimo and the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) are in favor of drilling in the refuge. Opponents of drilling in the refuge claim the Inupiat and the AFN are pawns of the oil cartel.

Caribou People

The Gwich'in are the last surviving native people in North America who live almost entirely by hunting and gathering. Subsisting largely on the Porcupine Caribou Herd, the Gwich'in claim they're fighting Big Oil and Congress to preserve the very essence of their people: Porcupine Caribou. Gwich'in culture centers both materially and spiritually on caribou. "We are caribou people," says Sarah James, spokeswoman for the Gwich'in Steering Committee. "We have a ritual connection with that herd." James believes the Gwich'in will face "cultural genocide" if drilling in the refuge goes forward.

The Porcupine Caribou migrate yearly to the North Slope of Alaska, where caribou cows give birth during the months of May and June. The majority of their birthing grounds lie within the refuge, specifically on the coastal plain. The oil drilling complex would stretch directly across this coastal plain, which has the most promising onshore potential for oil in North America. Most caribou biologists believe the massive industrial equipment that accompanies oil drilling will diminish the Porcupine Caribou's population.

Pamela A. Miller In 1997 there will be a major push in Congress, by both the oil juggernaut and the Alaska congressional delegation, which includes Republican senators Ted Stevens and Frank Murkowski and Congressman Don Young, to open this area for oil prospecting. The Alaska congressional delegation wishes to rename the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge the National Oil Reserve.