Lay of the Land

The Gwich’in people (“Keeping Faith in Caribou Country,” December 2021) speak from 10,000 years of experience living with the nature of the land, the caribou and the whole environment. They should be heard with serious intent. They haven’t spoiled their land, as our seemingly “cultured” nations have. We need to learn from their patience, intelligence and understanding. Their way of life is difficult by comparison to ours, yet the Gwich’in have answers to preservation of life that deserve our respect and from which we need to learn.

— Irene K. Bierer | Ontario, New York

To be clear, the Gwich’in live outside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)—the Inupiat live inside. The North Slope Inupiat support responsible oil and gas development in the limited area called the Coastal Plain of ANWR. ANWR is not a debate about oil versus caribou. Where we’re from, oil and gas have been developed responsibly for 50 years, right alongside thriving caribou herds, polar bear, abundant waterfowl and a subsistence whaling harvest. The article was right about the beauty and bounty of our home. But does that mean my people should sacrifice rights to manage our lands and lose our desire for an economy so wealthy elite outsiders can take a rafting trip or come to our community for polar bear viewing? The answer is no. The refuge development issue is about real people, and as much as the article highlighted the human angle, it was the wrong humans and the wrong angle.

— Eddie Rexford | Kaktovik, Alaska