Episode 4: Do It In A Good Way, Pt. 2
Length: 35:12
Focus
Gwich’in relationship with the caribou and how that is threatened by oil development
Locations
Arctic Village, Alaska
Keywords
Gwich’in, caribou, reindeer, drilling, traditional Western diets, native land claims
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 - 06:02
Gwich’in relationship with caribou goes back thousands of years. They depend on caribou for food and spiritually:
How caribou and reindeer are similar and different
Decline in caribou herds in the last two decades, primarily because of climate change
06:03 - 09:01
Earliest evidence of human habitation in North America in Gwich’in lands:
People have been relying on caribou to survive for thousands of years
09:02 - 14:24
Population of the herd in Prudhoe Bay is said to have grown since drilling began there but is that true?
Drilling in Prudhoe caused the caribou herd there to shift calving grounds but it is not as simple for the Porcupine herd to find other calving grounds
Scientists say you can’t use conclusions about one herd to determine what will happen to any other
Every herd in Canada is in decline because of human action
Passage of the 2017 bill allowing drilling in Alaska was cause for mourning for Gwich’in way of life
BREAK
14:26 - 19:59
Back in Arctic Village to meet up with Gideon James, Sarah’s brother, to check fishing nets:
Gideon doesn’t support drilling in the Refuge because he doesn’t see lives improving as a result of the development
19:00 - 21:59
Indigenous Alaskans wanted a land claim agreement for a long time but they were ignored until oil discovery and development:
Government made a lot of promises about improving lives in exchange for land agreements
22:00 - 27:06
Changing climate is visible in the Arctic from melting permafrost to disappearing birds:
Replacing traditional Gwich’in diets with Western diet has increased disease and mental health issues
Caribou had been the main source of food for thousands of years
27:07 - 30:07
There are many similarities between caribou, bison, and the people who depend on them:
Starvation can be cultural as well as physical
Development on the coastal plain is a cultural genocide for Gwich’in
30:08 - 35:12
What it means to “do it in a good way” to the Gwich’in:
Deep concept about what you value and respect, and the violations that come from trying to change someone else’s home without their consent