| In February 2002, one of the largest gathering of Native Leaders
representing 2/3 of all Native people in North America, united on
Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to express their steadfast
opposition to oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,
and reasserted their solidarity with the Gwich’in people of
Alaska’s North Slope. The Gwich’in have been vocal opponents
of oil drilling in the Refuge’s coastal plain,
which is vital to the
130,000- strong Porcupine Caribou herd on which the tribe’s
traditional subsistence culture depends. |
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Following
this powerful gathering, Sarah James (Gwich’in Athabascan
Native, Gwich’in Steering Committee spokesperson, and 2002
Goldman Award winner), Dune Lankard (Eyak Athabascan Native,
Eyak Preservation Council Founder and Executive Director), and
Robby Romero (Apache Athabascan Native, Native Rock Star and
founder of Red Thunder and Native Children’s Survival)
resolved to tour Alaska and the continental United States with a
collaborative message of hope for the Arctic Refuge using music
as the messenger and speaking to raise public awareness with
support from The Wilderness Society, Aveda Corporation,
Intelligent
Nutrients, the HMR Foundation and private individuals. |
| The
three, connected by Athabascan ancestry, brought together by
environmental injustice, began the musical journey on March 24,
2002 in Alaska to mark the 13th anniversary of America’s worst
oil spill, Exxon Valdez, and draw a parallel between the oil
disaster in the Prince William Sound and what could happen to
the land, animals and Gwich’in people as a result of oil
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. |
The
Goal
Together we stand with the Gwich'in in their fight for "Human Rights, Cultural Survival and Permanent Protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," while also empowering youth to take
political and personal action about issues of indigenous rights,
environmental justice, corporate accountability, alternative
energy and consumer choice. |
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| We
are asking Congressional leaders to guide America to energy
independence by developing alternative energy resources and
conservation programs. Rights of all peoples can be recognized and
environmental balance maintained by continuing the ban on oil
development in the public Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. |
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