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Article: Gwich'in Say Petroleum Industry Violates their Rights in Arctic Refuge.(Originated from Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D.)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- December 11, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ARCTIC VILLAGE, Alaska--Dec. 8--The International Covenants on Human Rights state that "in no case may a people be deprived of their own means of subsistence." At a time when petroleum companies threaten to lay waste to an entire tribal culture, this has become a Gwich'in maxim.
Arctic Village is located at the northern extreme of the reservation, adjacent to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, nesting grounds of over 100 species of migratory birds and denning area for polar bears.
But, perhaps most important for the Gwich'in Indians, the refuge is also the sacred calving area of the Porcupine River caribou herd.
The Gwich'in are ...