For The Wild

This week, the U.S. Department of the Interior formally opened up Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, an unprecedented decision that threatens Gwich’in lifeways and sacred lands, while exacerbating both climate and extinction crises. In recognition of this, we are choosing to re-air our critically relevant conversation with Faith Gemmill and Princess Lucaj, originally aired in September of 2016. The fight to protect these life giving ground has been going on for decades and will continue to do so as the first leases to drill for oil and gas could be sold by the end of this year. As the decision to open up 1.57 million acres of the refuge’s coastal plain was only formalized this week, protectors of place are rallying to stop this move, and so we are asking you to remain vigilant for calls to action over the coming months.Faith Gemmill is a Pit River/ Wintu and Neets’aii Gwich’in Athabascan earth defender from Arctic Village, Alaska. She is a part of REDOIL (Resisting Environmental