- The All Africa Report
An excellent report on the Ogiek's struggle
- The Ogiek Homepage
Not the easiest site to navigate but worth the struggle. Plenty of good information here.
THE GWITCH'IN, ALASKA
The Gwitch'in are a tribe of native Americans with a language rather like that of the navaho. They lead a sustainable lifestyle, following the Porcupine Caribu Herd across their traditional homelands. The growth period for the food that the caribu eat is limited, so the animals need an enormous territory in Winter. During spring they migrate to the their carving grounds on the coastal plain of Alaska. And here is where the trouble starts. You see the Alaskan government has a vested interest in opening this caribu carving area to oil exploration.
While President Clinton was supportive in preserving these carving grounds from development, President Bush is far less accomodating. Even though these people may have lived their nomadic lifestyle for generations before European settlers first came to America, they are still struggling for the right to decide the future of their homeland. (For a potted history of their legal struggles with the United States, check out this link provided by Artic Circle.) Meanwhile opening this pristine area to oil exploration may well wipe out the Porcupine Caribu Herd but also the ability of the Gwitch'in to and the livelihood of the Gwitch'in people. It is also noteable that no such oil exploration has been considered by Canada.
What can you do?
Go to this page copy the Tanana Chief's resolution to your own computer in HTML format. Open a new email and address it to president@whitehouse.gov Put "Indiginous rights for the Gwitch'in people" as the subject line and then write a short and polite note saying that you would like to bring the issue of Gwitch'in rights to the president's attention. Tell him you are attaching a file detailing the Tanana Chief's resolution and this can also be found at http://articcircle.uconn.edu/ANWR/tanana... (Do include this address so he has no excuse to ignore your message.) Now attach the file you copies and send it to him.
For additional information on this subject, check the following links:
- Jody Rave's Column
An good article covering the Gwitch'in issues
- The Old Crow Homepage
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