Sarah James, a Gwich'in from Alaska's Arctic Village, said during a speech on campus Friday that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is in grave danger of being exterminated.
James discussed the threat oil drilling in the refuge poses to her culture. She spoke on behalf of the Gwich'in Steering Committee, which she founded in 1988 to establish Gwich'in cultural survival as a major issue in the debate over oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
"We are a nomadic culture, and we used to live a simple life based on our needs and not greed," she said. "We will do everything we can to continue to live a healthy and balanced life. My people live off the land, and we don't want it tainted."
Known as the "people of the caribou," the Gwich'in have lived for more than 20,000 years in the Arctic, along the Porcupine caribou route. The caribou, which travel every year to the Arctic Refuge coastal plain to calve, are their primary source of food, clothing and shelter. James said drilling in the Arctic Refuge would disrupt the life cycle of the caribou, leaving the Gwich'in without their staple sustenance.
"Our only major set-back since we organized and put up a fight against drilling came when George W. Bush was elected," James said. "We do not normally take action like this, but we had to do something. We had to take a stand because the land is part of our culture. It is part of who we are. Without the land, the Gwich'in people would die."
James said drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve is both an environmental issue and a human rights issue because the land is so vital to the Gwich'in people's way of life.
"We do not want to change, and we will not change," she said. "We live off of the land and believe that the creator put us there to take care of our part of the world. We will not allow it to be destroyed."
James said she could best articulate her people's emotions by playing a drum she made and singing a traditional Gwich'in song. She said those who wished to hear the song again and support the protection of the Arctic refuge should call 1-800-93-PEACE to buy a copy of a compact disc featuring traditional Gwich'in songs.
After telling her story, James asked her friend Bill Sparks to speak about the role the New Mexico congressional delegation plays in deciding the fate of the refuge. Sparks said that he has been working with the legislators, who each sit on a committee involved in federal energy policy.
"I believe Sarah single-handedly convinced the Clinton administration to flatly reject any legislation related to the refuge," he said.
Sparks said that Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., was forced to help remove language about drilling in the wildlife refuge from the budget bill, but still supports drilling.
"Senator Domenici can be good on environmental issues, but he has been really bad on this one and hasn't given us his support," Sparks said.
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Sparks said Rep. Joe Skeen, R-N.M., has been supportive of the Gwich'in people and does not favor drilling. Sparks said that Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., is pretty open-minded and could probably be convinced to support protecting the reserve.
"Heather hasn't really made up her mind yet, as far as I can tell, so she is an important vote people really need to work on," he said.
Sparks said that Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., are among the refuge's strongest supporters.
"Representative Udall introduced a bill to protect it forever, and Senator Bingaman took a tour of Alaska, called the drilling that already happened a disgrace and pledged his support of protecting the refuge," he said.
Despite a fair amount of support from a divided Senate, Sparks said that danger still looms for the wildlife refuge.
"There's talk of President Bush allowing for drilling through a series of executive orders and appropriations from the Department of Energy," Sparks said. "Bush could set it up so that Congress just has to renew the drilling and increase spending for the preliminary drilling he already would have in place. It isn't over until everyone agrees to protect the wildlife refuge and President Bush will never agree to that."
James closed her presentation by answering questions and showing public service announcements and films about the Gwich'in people and the refuge.
The first public service announcement alternately flashed images of the refuge, wildlife, the Gwich'in people and oil derricks. The second showed a Gwich'in woman covered in oil screaming while a message about protecting the refuge flashed across the screen.
James encouraged people to get involved in protecting the refuge.
UNM's chapter of the New Mexico Public Interest Research Group sponsored James' speech. The group has begun a campaign to protect the refuge. For more information, call 277-2757.
