I don’t know who needs to see this today, but I’ve put together a collection of caribou photographs—all of the Porcupine herd that migrates every year to the Arctic Refuge to have their young.
Let’s begin with this aerial view of the Niguanak River. Photo: Fran Mauer, 1986. (1)
Mauer estimates that there were 60,000 (!) caribou below him when he took that picture.
Here’s another aerial view—this one taken by Subhankar Banerjee in 2002. It shows pregnant caribou crossing the frozen Coleen River, and it's one of my favorite photos of all time. (2)
Wilbur Mills, one of the first photographers to visit what was then called the Arctic National Wildlife Range, took this photo in 1974. It shows two clusters of bulls, walking with apparent purpose, as they cross the frozen Kongakut River. (3)
The next images take us on the ground, offering closer views of the caribou. Malkolm Boothroyd’s photo shows a bull caribou in fog on the Arctic coastal plain. (4)
The fog and light purple color lend an aura of mystery to this photo by Banerjee—of cows and calves on the coastal plain. (5)
And this gorgeous late summer photograph by Keri Oberly offers a mid-range perspective on the caribou as they migrate toward their wintering grounds in Canada. (6)
Peter Mather’s recent migration photos offer close-up views of the animals as they journey back and forth across the US-Canada border. Mather took this photo in Alaska.(7)
And in this one, Mather photographed the caribou just north of Old Crow, Yukon. (8)
I hope you enjoyed these photos! The Porcupine herd currently numbers over 200,000--and takes the longest land migration of any animal.
BUT the herd is under threat, as the Trump administration plans to lease the Arctic Refuge—the caribou calving grounds--for oil drilling. (9)
I'm grateful to @brdemuth for suggesting that this thread on the Arctic Refuge might be useful in teaching. I thought I would add a few more sources in case you want to introduce students to this topic in #envhist and other courses.
The thread (currently pinned to my profile) includes many sources, most importantly a map produced by the Gwich'in Steering Committee (@OurArcticRefuge) as well as links to several videos and articles. But here are a few more I've used before in classes.
With yesterday’s announcement that the Trump administration plans to hold fossil fuel lease sales in the Arctic Refuge sometime this year, let’s consider what’s at stake in this fight.
At first glance, this might look like any other map—with a dotted line to mark the border between Canada and the U.S. Yet look closely at the two curvy lines, for they tell the map’s true story.
Map produced by the Gwich’in Steering Committee, @OurArcticRefuge. [2/n]
One line traces the transnational range of the Porcupine caribou herd, the other the homeland of the Gwich’in. What is most striking is how the two lines repeatedly intersect—showing the interconnections between migrating caribou and Indigenous communities. @ACaribouPeople [3/n]
Climate Justice is Racial Justice: On Fossil Fuel Development and the Right to Breathe
In reading this story about Trump administration plans for expanded drilling in the NPR-A, I am reminded of Rosemary Ahtuangaruak's powerful speech at The Last Oil in 2018 @UNM (1/4)
Ahtuangaruak had previously worked as a health aide in the Iñupiat community of Nuiqsut, Alaska, and had seen an alarming spike in patients suffering from asthma and other respiratory illnesses caused by the toxic pollutants emitted from the nearby Alpine oil field. (2/4)
“I had to start staying up all night to help people breathe," she said. "When you hold those little babies, and you see those sick little eyes, and you’re fighting for them to breathe, you get very active in the process about questioning what’s happening to our village.” (3/4)
Poster by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), 1962-1964, with photograph by Danny Lyon.
In a terrific article about SNCC photography, Leigh Raiford (@professoroddjob) writes about this poster: "The text … raises the question of whether this trooper defends the viewer against racial violence or if he is in fact the first line of terror. (cont.)
"Police and state troopers had long been 'official' perpetrators of violence against African Americans in the South, carrying out a brutal and lengthy legacy of maintaining peace through state-sanctioned coercion."
I look forward to reading @billmckibben's Climate Crisis Newsletter every week, but I was particularly excited to see the one that arrived today. It features @bernademientief of the Gwich'in Steering Committee talking about the Arctic Refuge struggle. (1)
"Many people are not aware that this is not just about protecting our polar bears but this is about the indigenous voices being ignored, this is about a whole identity, about a people’s entire way of life being destroyed for profit." (2)
"These lands, these animals, these waters are our survival . . . We stand up for our future generations, the ones that do not have a voice yet, and we carry on 'in a good way' the love, kindness, and strength of our ancestors." (3)
With the Trump administration claiming that they will hold lease sales for oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge this year, now seems like a good time to reup this piece from 2018. #ProtectTheArctic
It is based largely on testimony from Gwich'in leaders like @bernademientief and Tonya Garnett, environmental activists like @LenaMDC and @noel_johnny, and many others who urgently want to protect the Arctic Refuge from fossil fuel development. @OurArcticRefuge@ACaribouPeople
The Trump administration is trying to lease off this land before the political landscape changes. They are rushing to develop, even as evidence of climate change, species loss and other serious environmental problems continues to mount. We can’t let them pull this off.