Protecting the Subsistence Traditions of the Inupiat

Livable Communities: Protecting the Subsistence Traditions of the Inupiat

The Crag Law Center was recently approached by the North Slope Borough and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission. These two committees seek to preserve the Alaskan wildlife habitat and longstanding Eskimo traditions and they asked Crag to defend the rights and lifestyle of the Inupiat people. As a commercial company tries to oppress the Inupiats, Crag stepped up to support the Inupiats’ efforts to protect their way of life.

The Inupiat people have lived for thousands of years – since time immemorial – on the North Slope of Alaska. The Inupiat community is based on an egalitarian society that believes in self sufficiency. Each member of the Inupiat community speaks IÃ±upiaq, but their regional variation is distinguishable by their accents. An import aspect of everyday life for the Inupiat people is the qargi, a gathering place for families. Every individual settlement has one. In a qargi, men and women socialize through games, stories and dance.

The Inupiat have relied on subsistence hunting to sustain their communities and carry on their traditions and culture, and they continue those traditions today. The bowhead whale or “ice whale” is the most important subsistence resource for the Inupiat. “The Eskimo have been called “the people of the ice whale” because without the bowhead [they] would not exist” They respect the whale as if it were a member of their community, calling it their “brother.” They have such admiration for the whale since without its presence the Inupiats would cease to subsist. The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission has taken into account the safety of the future existence of the Bowhead species. Each year the AEWC places a limit on the number of whales the Inupiat people may hunt. Due to these precautions the population of the Bowhead is slowly increasing.

The whaling season is a busy one for the entire community. Each member contributes to the whaling process of hunting, hauling in a whale, cooking it, and distributing it. Similarly each member benefits from it. Not only is the whale hunt a source of food, but it also is a means of bringing together the community, through teamwork, leadership, acceptance of a niche in the community, as well as a right of passage.

At the beginning of the whaling season, after the first hunt, the captain of the hunt supplies the entire community with his catch, and for a few days everyone celebrates, plays games, dances and eats. The entire community is dependant upon the whaling captain to supply food for the entire community. At the end of the whaling season the longstanding traditions of the whaling festival and Nalukatak take place. Every hunting boat that caught a whale is dragged off shore and turned on its side to protect those celebrating from the wind, as well as provide temporary shelter.

After a period of relaxation the nalukatak, a blanket toss, occurs. During this blanket toss, 30 to 40 Inupiat used a blanket to toss the members of the hunting crews into the air. Those being tossed throw out candy. They are propelled into the air, until they lose their footing, and don’t land upright. When one goes down, another quickly rises to take their place. Following the nalukatak is a dance that would last well into the night. The purpose of the Whaling festival and nalukatak is to conciliate the sprits of the deceased whales, as well as pray for success in future hunting seasons.

Crag stands to protect the Inupiat whaling traditions and their community, the North Slope Boroughs, which are now threatened by the Beaufort Sea Outer Continental Shelf Lease Exploration plan set to take place 2007-2009. The plan, put in place by Shell Offshore Inc., is a blueprint for the exploration of the North Slope in hopes of finding oil. Oil drilling in the North Slope would have detrimental effects on the Inupiat community. Putting aside the risk of an irreparable oil spill, many fatalities may result from this plan.

Since Shell intends to drill directly in the migration path of the Bowhead and other species of whales, the noise from the excavation would scare the mammals and force them to alter their path by no less then 30 miles. This increase in distance from the shore would put Inupiat hunters in more danger as they attempt to pursue an essential source of their diet. It would force them to travel further, in more hazardous waters, in their tiny six-man boats. This change would also increase the chances that their catch would spoil prior to its harvesting. Since the Inupiat can only hunt an allotted number of whales a year, any spoilage decreases the amount of food for the community.

The oil exploration also places the whales at a greater risk, since although hunters would have a more difficult time reaching them, the whales would likely miss feeding opportunities that they would find closer to the shore. It would also cause the whales to expend more energy as they traveled many more miles to avoid the unrest caused by the drilling. Many young calves and calving mothers would be placed in jeopardy as they attempted their annual migration.

The exploration would also have an impact on other marine mammals. Prior to industrial activity in the Central Beaufort there was a larger presence of seals in the North Slope, however, due to the effects of the industrial activity, their presence is dwindling. The activity deflects the seals, who find a place there they can go without disturbance. Drilling for oil would likely decrease the amount of seals in the North Slope even more. The industrial activity in the North Slope has also displaced the caribou herds, who at one point passed right by the Inupiat villages along the coast. Now since they divert their patter to avoid activity the Inupiats are forced to go far off to the west so that they may obtain this part of their diet. However, if Shell drills for oil in the west the Inupiat communities would have no possible way of reaching the caribou, and would lose a source of food that they have relied on for decades.

On behalf of the North Slope Borough and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, the Crag Law Center has taken on the Minerals Management Service, the company marketing Shell, to stop harmful oil exploration on the North Slope. On July 20, 2007, the Crag Law Center secured its first big win for these local communities when the court issued a temporary restraining order preventing Shell from taking any action in the North Slope.

Ninth Circuit Opinion – Final Opinion.pdf

Opening Brief – Opending Brief.pdf

Reply Brief – Reply Brief.pdf

Motion for Stay 5.22.07 — Inupiat Urgent Motion for Stay (PDF)

Reply to Opposition’s Response on Stay Motion 6.16.07 — Response to Opposition (PDF)

Map of Bowhead Migration — Figure A: Bowhead Whale Areas (PDF)

Map of Bowhead Migration — Figure B: Bowhead Whale Areas 2 (PDF)

Declaration of Gordon Brower 5.15.07 — Final Declaration of Gordon Brower (PDF)

Anchorage Daily News 8.19.07 — Shell’s Rocky Return (PDF)

MSNBC News 7.20.07 — Court Blocks Shell drilling in Arctic Waters (PDF)

Anchorage Daily News 7.20.07 — Federal Court halts Shell Drilling Plans in Arctic (PDF)

Bloomberg News 7.20.07 — Shell’s Alaska Drilling Project Halted by Court (PDF)