As environmentalists fight to keep oil companies from drilling on the
Arctic Refuge, the Gwich'in are being pulled in two directions,
according to Murray. They need the byproducts of resource development,
like hospitals and schools, but they also realize that it could cost
them the caribou herds and salmon runs that they treasure.
"Their lives are in genuine turmoil," Murray says. "Most want to enter
the 20th century, but they want it to be on their terms, with some
self-determination. That usually requires economic wherewithal, which
implies development."
Nyitray was introduced to the Gwich'in while making his trek across the
Brooks Range. During "spring breakup," a time when neither rivers or
the backcountry are fit for travel, he stayed with a 70-year-old
Gwich'in elder at his remote sod-roofed log cabin. Together the two men
hunted caribou, cut and hauled wood, and made repairs to the old man's
homestead.
"At any homestead a spare pair of hands is always welcome, and when one
lives isolated from people, loneliness, as it's been said, becomes the
fountainhead of hospitality," Nyitray points out.
During his month-long stay, the young adventurer was gradually schooled
in the Gwich'in culture and heritage. He learned first-hand how closely
the people's lives were tied to the annual migrations of the Porcupine
Caribou Herd and became deeply committed to stopping the oil
development on the Arctic Refuge that threatens to put an end to their way of life.
"The Gwich'in are a very open and generous people with strong ties to
the land and a high degree of respect for their elders and children,"
Nyitray passionately explains. "So strong is their culture, and the
programs they've established to combat the social ills of alcoholism
and drug abuse in their community, that they've become role
models for other Native Americans."
If they knew what was happening, Nyitray asks, would Americans allow
the Grand Canyon to be dammed for hydropower or the geothermal
resources of Yellowstone to be tapped by developers? Will they allow
oil wells on the Arctic Refuge if they know it will interrupt the
caribou
migrations, exterminate the Gwich'in culture, and violate the wilderness that makes it so special?
"While there are several places that hold aspects of the Arctic Refuge
-- Glacier National Park, the high slopes of the Rocky Mountains, the
northern regions of Maine -- what exists in the Lower 48 are remnants
or pockets of wilderness," Nyitray points out. "As we continually
develop and divide entire ecosystems, we lose sight of the intricate,
interwoven beauty of the world as it was created. The Arctic Refuge is
a true wilderness in a world where little wilderness remains."
After calving, the great herd of caribou on the Arctic Refuge slowly
begins moving south, breaking up into smaller groups as it heads toward
the short-timbered forests where it will take shelter for the winter.
The migration parallels the sun's retreat from the heavens and the
lengthening darkness that will become, by mid-November,
all-encompassing.
In this place time as we know it ceases to exist. There is only the
slow passage of the sun, the migrations of fish and game, the freezing
and thawing of rivers, and the ethereal lights of the aurora borealis
that go on and on, seemingly without end. |
by MichaelHofferber@outriderbooks.com
Copyright © 1996. All rights reserved.
|
Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge
101
12th Ave.
Room 236
Fairbanks,
AK 99701
Email:
Phone:
907-456-0250 and 800-362-4546
Web Site
This Moment on Earth
I Am the Grand Canyon
|
|