Summit held in Inuvik discusses drilling in calving grounds

Parties that signed the 1985 Porcupine Caribou Management Agreement gathered for the Porcupine Caribou Summit II at the Mackenzie Hotel in Inuvik April 6-7.

Representatives from the Gwich'in Tribal Council (GTC), the Inuvialuit Game Council, the Yukon Government, the Vuntut Gwitchin Government, the Aboriginal Caucus, the Government of Canada, and the Government of the Northwest Territories were present at the summit.

The summit was organized following a U.S. tax reform bill that passed in December which included a provision that will allow for drilling lease sales in parts of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in December 2017.

"The GTC continues to be opposed to any development as this is a critical threat to the herd in its … calving grounds," said Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan, grand chief of the GTC. "We do support sustainable development, but there are sensitive areas, specifically the calving grounds where we are opposed to development."

The U.S. government will release a call for submissions as part of its environmental assessment process before developing the ANWR lands. Greenland-Morgan said one of the action items discussed at the summit was that each party that signed the 1985 agreement will make a submission to the environmental assessment.

"We will also continue to share our concerns with both the MPs, and the premiers," she said. "We will also seek continued support and advocacy from these leaders to help us continue to advocate for the herd."

She said the group is still determining the next step in their strategy after the submission is complete.

The Porcupine Caribou herd is important to Gwich'in because historically the two coexisted, Greenland-Morgan noted.

"The herd is really the foundation of who we are as Indigenous people," she said. "It's not just a food source for us, but traditionally, in the past, Gwich'in people identified with caribou. If you look at a map, and you follow the migration of the Porcupine Caribou herd, you'll see our communities and villages follow the migration pattern."

She said it is important for these grounds to be protected.

"We don't want to lose more than we already have because of government-imposed policies on our people."