Episode 8: Oil and Water
Episode Length: 33:53
Focus
Whalers in Utqiagvik, Alaska and the tension between dependence on whale hunting and the income from oil, gas, and coal development in Alaska’s North Slope
Locations
Utqiagvik, Alaska
Keywords
whales, whaling traditions, oil development, history
Episode Outline
These outlines are intended to help you locate ideas and topics more easily, but these are narrative episodes with many interlocking themes and ideas, so you may want to share segments that cross multiple points in the outline.
MINUTES: 00:00 - 04:33
Whales have been an important source of food in Utqiagvik but there’s a cultural stigma around killing whales.
04:34 - 07:23
Arctic whalers have long known how to live and hunt on ice but a warming planet has reduced the extent and thickness of ice making whaling more dangerous, while also impacting animals who depend on ice.
07:24 - 09:03
Melting permafrost threatens food storage, roads, and buildings:
Everyone is trying to adapt but it’s happening faster and faster
09:04 - 12:54
Whaling tradition is still strong here despite whales almost being exterminated by past commercial hunting:
Bowhead whales are the most commonly hunted here
Inuit groups fought to maintain subsistence hunting of whales because imported food is very expensive—they use every part of the whale
Festival to celebrate whales in community
12:55 - 19:29
Price Leavitt grew up wanting to hunt and become a whaling captain but his parents wanted a different life for him:
Leavitt went to college in California but felt disconnected from his culture so he moved back to Alaska
Fate of the community is tied up with hunting and protecting whales
19:30 - 21:55
Oil and gas development on North Slope moving ahead:
Oil spill could devastate the community’s ability to care for itself
BREAK
22:02 - 25:59
Oil and gas money has made a really big impact on the community but fossil fuels are also causing sea ice to melt sooner:
Inupiat people worked hard to make sure they maintain some control over the land, get money from development, and hold industries accountable so they can continue to practice their traditions
26:00 - 33:53
Many oil projects throughout the Arctic:
The money from these projects funds communities now but is also threatening their future