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62 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, March 18, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 25, 2005 An environmental struggle: Activist Sarah James visits the valley this week opposing drilling in her native Alaska By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune The debate over whether to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) isn’t some distant philosophical argument for Sarah James. It’s about a way of life for the Gwich’in Indian tribal leader from Arctic Village, Alaska. "The coastal plain is a sacred place, a place of birthing for many animals — one is the caribou," she explained in a telephone interview Monday. "We don’t disturb that place. Without caribou we wouldn’t exist today." James, 60, is touring Oregon this week to speak out against drilling in the nearly 20-million-acre refuge. She will be accompanied by Amy Gulick, a writer and photographer, in presenting "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: an American Treasure." The program will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Rogue Building at Rogue Community College, 3345 Redwood Highway, Grants Pass. Advertisement It is also scheduled for 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday in the Ashland Springs Hotel, 212 E. Main St., Ashland. There is no charge for either event. The Siskiyou Audubon Society is hosting Wednesday’s event. The Thursday program kicks off the 14th annual Forest Conference in Ashland, hosted by the Headwaters environmental coalition. James is a board member of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, the International Indian Treaty Council, and has served as a member of the Arctic Village Traditional Council. "This is in the hands of all Americans now because it belongs to all of us," she said of the refuge. "It doesn’t belong to President Bush or Alaska. It belongs to all of us." Although the Bush administration supports drilling in the refuge, that view isn’t shared by all Republicans who now have control of Congress, she said. "We do have some Republican friends on our side," she said. U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Oregon, stated in a town hall meeting in Salem on Jan. 10 that he remains opposed to drilling in the refuge. James, who travels the world speaking on behalf of indigenous people, said it’s vital for the Gwich’in way of life to protect the caribou calving grounds on the coastal plain where drilling is proposed. Members of the Gwich’in Nation, which includes 15 villages and several million acres of northeastern Alaska and northwestern Canada, depend heavily on caribou for their subsistence, she noted. The Porcupine River herd alone includes more than 125,000 caribou that use the coastal plain for calving each spring, she said. "If that ground is disturbed, they would have to move up to the foothills where there are predators — grizzly and wolf," she said. "If they go out on the (frozen) ocean, there are polar bears and no food. The only safe place is the coastal plain." James, whose first language is Gwich’in Athabascan, said many Americans don’t understand the importance of subsistence hunting to native people. About 75 percent of the food eaten by the Gwich’in people comes from subsistence hunting and fishing, she said, noting that includes caribou, moose, mountain sheep, fish and small animals. "That’s our way of life," she said. "It’s a good life." The area covered by the refuge is about the size of South Carolina. It contains no roads, no lodging and no established campsites. A dozen rivers pour out into the plain that supports more than 165 species. "This is where an ecosystem still works," she said. The environment remains healthy because it has been largely untouched by what some would call progress, she said. "We believe a creator put us there to take care of it," she said. "We believe that is our responsibility." While the debate over protection or oil drilling in the refuge has been going on for 25 years, native people have been there for thousands of years, she said. A bone tool found in the region has been determined by scientists to be about 30,000 years old, she said. "It was the same kind of tool my mother used in tanning," she said. "We have always been there," she added. "We never came from anywhere. We’re never going anywhere. We are here to stay." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Advertisement s