Editing Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (section)

== People ==
The people who live in this Refuge have become accustomed over thousands of years to both survive and prosper in these harsh conditions. There are two villages whose history are tied to the Arctic Refuge and have been for thousands of years which are the [[Kaktovik, Alaska|Kaktovik]] and the [[Arctic Village, Alaska|Arctic Village]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/ANWR/anwrculthistory.html|title=Arctic National Wildlife Refuge|website=arcticcircle.uconn.edu|access-date=2018-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206232430/http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/ANWR/anwrculthistory.html|archive-date=6 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kaktovik is an Inupiaq village of about 250 current residents located within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge along the [[Beaufort Sea]]. The Inupiaq Village is used as a traditional summer fishing and hunting location. Furthermore, this location also became a usual place for commercial whalers in the late 1800s, which led them to become permanent residents in the Refuge.

The Arctic Village is a [[Gwichʼin|Gwich'in]] village <ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Amy |date=2022-08-23 |title=Preserving Iizhik Gwats'an Gwandaii Goodlit |url=https://narf.org/arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-2/ |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=Native American Rights Fund |language=en-US}}</ref> found just south of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s borders. The Gwich’in people are Indigenous to the Arctic regions of Alaska and Canada and have a profound connection to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). For centuries, their livelihoods and cultural practices have been intertwined with the land and its wildlife, particularly the [[Porcupine caribou|Porcupine Caribou Herd]], which migrates annually to the refuge’s coastal plain to calve .<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Holland |first2=Eva |title=For the Gwich'in People, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Isn't a Political Issue, It's Home |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/gwichin-people-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-180979001/ |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> This area, known to the Gwich'in as “Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit” or “the sacred place where life begins”, <ref name=":0" /> is central to their subsistence and spiritual and cultural traditions. Given this deep relationship with the land and its wildlife, any threat to the refuge reverberates through the Gwich’in community in profound ways.

The proposed oil and gas development in ANWR’s coastal plain poses significant threats to the Gwich’in way of life. <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Graybeal |first=Pam M. |title=Framing and Identity in the Gwich'in Campaign against Oil Development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt2m42j5g6/qt2m42j5g6_noSplash_8eac113420b117196b368465bf007583.pdf?t=krnmnp |journal=EScholarship}}</ref> The Porcupine Caribou Herd’s reliance on this calving ground means that any disruption could lead to adverse effects on the herd’s health and migration patterns,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Chris |last2=Russell |first2=Don |title=Long-term distribution responses of a migratory caribou herd to human disturbance |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320714002341 |journal= Biological Conservation|date=2014 |volume=177 |page=52 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2014.06.007 |bibcode=2014BCons.177...52J |url-access=subscription }}</ref> thereby impacting the Gwich’in’s primary food source and cultural practices. This concern is not only about environmental preservation but also about protecting human rights and food sovereignty. In their advocacy, the Gwich’in emphasize the inseparable bond between their identity and the caribou. <ref>{{Cite web |last=protectthearctic.com |title=Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic Refuge {{!}} Gwich'in and Iñupiat |url=https://www.protectthearctic.org/indigenous-peoples-arctic-refuge-gwichin-and-i%C3%B1upiat#:~:text=The%20Gwich'in%20creation%20story%20tells%20that%20long%20ago,%20the,the%20other's%20heart%20within%20themselves |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=www.protectthearctic.org |language=en}}</ref> This deep-seated connection drives their ongoing resistance to [[Arctic Refuge drilling controversy|oil exploration and drilling in ANWR]], as they strive to protect both their cultural heritage and the ecological integrity of their ancestral lands.