U.S. Senate threatens Indigenous ways

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United States President George W. Bush got closer to accomplishing one of his long-standing goals when the U.S. Senate passed a budget bill in March that prevents any effective opposition by Democrats who would speak against allowing oil and gas drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

The Senate vote could set in motion a series of events that will have a disastrous effect on an Indigenous people who live on the Canadian side of the Alaska/Yukon border.

As Alaska's crucial oil supply slowly, but surely, decreases and gasoline prices rise across the United States, government and industry look to a huge natural gas deposit under the state's northern coastal plain. The gas deposits under Alaska's North Slope are estimated to be three times as large as the deposits that will feed another oil and gas project, Canada's Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

Plans for a new drilling operation-and a new $20 billion U.S. pipeline to move the gas to southern markets-are in the works in Alaska, but there are a few problems. One, the gas lies below the surface of protected U.S. federal lands, the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. Two, the refuge is on the migration route of the Porcupine Caribou herd. Three, the Gwitch'in people of Northern Yukon and Alaska rely on the caribou to sustain their traditional subsistence lifestyle.

The caribou spend all but two weeks each year in the Yukon. But each June, like salmon returning to the streams where they were spawned, the herd of more than 100,000 migrates westward to the wildlife reserve for the calving season. The planned gas drilling operation and pipeline could interfere with that migration. Environmentalists say the 10,000-year-old migratory pattern is so imprinted in the animals that even a brick wall would not stop them from trying to return to their calving grounds. Any obstruction on the migratory path could prove disastrous for the herd and for the Gwitch'in people.

Esau Schafer, a councillor with the Vuntut Gwitch'in First Nation in Old Crow, Yukon,?told Windspeaker on March 23 that the community will soon meet to discuss what to do now that the U.S. government has taken a step towards drilling in the wildlife refuge.

"It's been just about 20 years now. We're in the process of protecting our Arctic lands and it's finally come to something that we don't want to hear. We have to make some changes and those changes have to come from the community on which route do we take now," he said. "We haven't given up any hopes yet, but it's kind of scary for this community."

Development is a very serious issue in Old Crow.

"As soon as you mention development within our traditional area and with the Arctic refuge, it's a very sensitive issue for this community," he said. "Our community is very dependent on the Porcupine Caribou herd. The First Nation is always looking forward each year to the comeback of the caribou. Our culture here is very strong on that sense."

The community is isolated and very much still in touch with its traditional lifestyle, he added.

"This is really a threat to us," said Schafer. "And we rely so much on the caribou herd, so much because of the high cost of living."

The Elders in the community were "saddened" to hear of the Senate vote.

"Now that we're effected, how are we going to change our life," he said. "We just hope that we can stall them in different ways."

The Gwitch'in will have a lot of questions to ask if the drilling does go ahead.

"If there's a human error within that sensitive area, the calving grounds, who would be responsible for it and how would they treat it? If that area is affected, how would they heal all those species?" he asked.

The Canadian government is on the record against drilling in the refuge. The lobbying effort in the U.S. has spread out beyond official Washington with the Enhanced Implementation Initiative, a five-year, $118-million project that has seen the creation of seven new Canadian onsulates in the United States in Philadelphia, San Diego, Raleigh-Durham, Phoenix, Denver, Houston and Anchorage. That brings the total number of Canadian consulates in the U.S. to 22.

Fighting against an initiative the oil and gas industry in Alaska wants will not be easy.

"Oil and gas revenues make up 80 per cent of government revenues," said Karen Matthias, Canada's consul in Anchorage. "The change in the price of oil per barrel has incredible impact on a daily basis."

Every Alaskan has a stake in seeing oil and gas production in the state flourish. Part of the royalties paid by the companies goes into what's known as the Permanent Fund, which was established 30 years ago. Every man, woman and child receives a portion of the proceeds each year. And since the state balances the budget by using some of the Permanent Fund monies when the price per barrel is low, Alaskans want new oil and gas production to continue.

"The Permanent Fund was established as an income investment from the original oil royalties. There's a portion that goes into the fund each year. It's currently at somewhere between $28- and $30-billion (US). That's the state of Alaska, not the federal government that has this $30-billion pot of money," Matthias said. "Anybody who's been a resident here for a year or more can apply to receive their Permanent Fund dividend, which comes out yearly in the fall, about October. Last year it was around $900. The highest it's ever been is around $2,000. And it's something that Alaskans expect, that they plan for, and that they are extremely protective about."

Knowing it will be a tough struggle to keep drilling out of the wildlife reserve, Foreign Affairs Canada has adopted the strategy of helping the Gwitch'in people get to Washington, D.C. to lobby on their own behalf. In consulates outside of Washington, Canadian officials seek to demonstrate to American legislators and business leaders that "Canada matters."

"Alaskans are very knowledgeabe about resource issues but probably very few would know that the United States buys more crude oil from Canada than it does from any other country and that we're the largest natural gas supplier to the U.S. as well," Matthias said.

American leaders are told that trade between Canada and United States amounted to $440 billion U.S. in 2003 and, for 37 states, Canada is their largest export market. The implication is that Canada's position on issues such as the refuge should be considered.

Lobbying goes on throughout the U.S. because the decision to drill in the wildlife reserve will not be made in Alaska.

"While people in Alaska have very strong views on [the refuge], it's not a decision the state can make because it's on federal land," Matthias said. "So the Canadian government's lobbying efforts have been most concentrated in Washington and at the grassroots level and at the congressional delegation level in the states in the lower 48 to try to raise awareness about the issue of the Porcupine Caribou and the importance of them to the sustainable lifestyle of the Gwitch'in people."

The governor of Alaska and all three of the state's congressmen have come out in favor of drilling, so influence is being exerted elsewhere.

"With the enhanced representation initiative, the fact of being able to talk to the legislators who come from places like [the state of] Washington, where they tend to be quite focused on conservation issues and Aboriginal issues, that's where you can have an influence and make an impact," said Jeffrey Parker, Canada's consul general to Seattle.

Judy Brady, the executive director of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, leaves no doubt that oil and gas companies have a lot of influence in the state. She said 70 to 90 per cent of Alaska's economy comes from oil and gas. There's no state sales tax and no personal income tax in Alaska, so royalties and taxes paid by her group's members account for that large number.

Brady said oil an gas has a $1.4 billion annual payroll and contributes another $1.8 billion to the economy.

As you might expect, she stated wholeheartedly that the industry will find a way to exploit the gas under the refuge without endangering the caribou herd. Working in Arctic conditions to tap the oil reserves on the North Slope forced the companies to perfect the art of working in a delicate environment and the lessons learned will be employed to make the gas operation environmentally friendly, she said.

"It was necessary that we be the best in the world and we are," Brady said. "We have done it right and we can do it right."

Environmentalist Scott Brennan is the campaign director for Alaskans for Responsible Mining. He said most Alaskans support the resource sector activities without hesitation.

"You can't be here as an environmentalist and not sense animosity," he said.

Complicating matters further is the fact that the Native peoples of Alaska are divided on the development question. Because of a unique land claim law in the state, 12 per cent of Alaska-44 million acres-is Native land. There are 13 Native regional corporations that have control over resource development on their lands. Many of the corporations and the local communities that they represent are like most Alaskans; they stand to benefit from resource development.

Some support the 300 people in Old Crow who depend on the caribou herd; some don't.