BARROW, Alaska - As mayor of Alaska?s oil-rich North Slope Borough, Edward Itta understands that developing the region?s energy resources can pay for better schools and much-needed infrastructure improvements.
But Itta also sees how greed for oil money can break down local Inupiat Eskimo culture and traditions that date back thousands of years and lead to drug use and other ills found in a modern society.
Having to walk a fine line to balance those two forces, the soft-spoken mayor is diplomatic and measured with his words -- except when it comes to drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean and the threat this poses to Inupiat whaling traditions.
?We are emphatically and adamantly against offshore drilling,? said Itta, who is also a whaling captain. ?We do anything and everything to protect the whale. I shudder to even think what would happen in the event of a catastrophic spill.
?If they (oil companies and the federal government) destroy our way of life, what?s their alternative? They don?t have any and we don?t have a recourse.?
?We are still very much a subsistence-based community. We live off the land, we live off the sea. It?s a big part of our diet and culture,? said Itta. ?We were here before oil and we will be here after oil.?
For the complete article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13440847/
Life in Barrow, Alaska is not an easy one. The sun doesn't set for months, and then it doesn't rise above the horizon for months. Like their mayor said, money leads to excesses for these people - my friend has told me MANY stories. When we were in college together, they outlawed alcohol there, because so many struggled with addiction. Suicide is rampant. Just two days ago, another man killed himself in their community, someone my friend was close with. She posted this blog, and it shows the true kinship they feel with the earth, something most of us do not feel because we are so industrialized and technologized (if that's a word).
"Why do we keep losing our young Inupiaq men and women? Why can't they stand tall on the nuna or on the siku and know where they come from, know who they come from? Where did we leave our ancestors? I cant help but think that I could have done something. Something, anything. I want there to be a category in the blog category called ancestors. I want to see a day when all my Inupiaq family will remember who they are. I want to see everyone wake up. I want to say to those out there who are having a hard time, yes life can get difficult, life can get painful, I know Ive been there too, but you are not alone---you are never alone. We walk with our grandparents, our great grandparents our great great aunts and uncles, our namesakes from millennia ago who knew not what the function of television was but know deeper fundamental truths. They knew the secret of life, the great power that is the connection to the land, the connection to each other. And they live inside us, they live with us, they watch what we do and reach out to whisper in our ears. All we have to do is listen and be there to remind each other that we are a strong people who have much to be proud of, that we are wise and old souls who have given the precious gift of life again."
