Alaska is a testing ground in our fight for Sovereignty and Land Back
The Interior Secretary recently announced the U.S. government’s plans to take more land in Alaska for oil and gas leasing and to lift restrictions on building a natural gas pipeline. The move came just months after the new administration vowed to “fully avail itself of Alaska’s vast lands and resources.”
Alaska has long been targeted for resource exploitation, at the detriment of the many Indigenous communities who belong to the land, as well as the rest of the planet. It’s a testing ground in our fight for Sovereignty and Land Back, at the center of our fights against climate change, extractive mining, and colonialism.
Alaska boasts one of the highest populations of Indigenous Peoples across Turtle Island, many of whom rely on hunting, fishing, and other traditional practices that are threatened by a warming climate. It also has a disproportionately high number of federal workers, many of whom have had their livelihoods attacked by cuts across the government.
With its recent decision to rename Mt. Denali from its Indigenous Koyukon name to Mt. McKinley after a white colonizer, the current administration laid bare its plans to erase and replace Indigenous Peoples.
Because its location in the far North, Alaska can be treated as a place outside of Turtle Island. But it’s not. It’s at the core of our fight, and we need to watch it closely because what happens there will happen to us too - and the rest of the planet.
In Alaska, where oil money runs deep, Indigenous communities run deeper, protecting sacred lands from extraction and colonialism. Indigenous organizers fight for sovereignty, survival, and self-determination.
Just last month, a federal judge ruled in favor of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state-owned investment bank, in a lawsuit that paves the way for more oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Honor supports our relatives at Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic (SILA, who have already spoken up about the decision.
“This decision disregards the fundamental human, Indigenous, and cultural rights of the Iñupiat people and other Indigenous communities whose lives and identities are intertwined with this land,” said Nauri Simmonds, executive director of SILA. “The Arctic is not merely a resource to be exploited; it is a living, breathing entity that sustains our culture, our traditions, and our future.”
Organizing among Indigenous Peoples has led to incredible victories in the past several years, changing the relationship between Tribes and the federal government.
Indigenous organizers have successfully protected the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the past. The refuge is critical to the Gwich'in and Iñupiat peoples, who have fought and continue to fight against oil and gas development.
Even in the fights they have not won directly, like efforts to stop the Willow Project, our relatives have built community and strong relationships with politicians that have prepared them for the fights to come.
What happens in Alaska will impact all of us.
As the climate continues to warm, melting glaciers will raise sea levels around the globe, threatening the lives and livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples everywhere. Our fight is Alaska’s fight, and it’s more important than ever.
- Ash Nicole LaMont, Co-Director, Department of Sovereignty and Self-Determination