Defending the Arctic Refuge: A Photographer, an Indigenous Nation, and a Fight for Environmental Justice (Flows, Migrations, and Exchanges)

Tucked away in the northeastern corner of Alaska is one of the most contested landscapes in all of North America: the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Considered sacred by Indigenous peoples in Alaska and Canada and treasured by environmentalists, the refuge provides life-sustaining habitat for caribou, polar bears, migratory birds, and other species. For decades, though, the fossil fuel industry and powerful politicians have sought to turn this unique ecosystem into an oil field. Defending the Arctic Refuge tells the improbable story of how the people fought back. At the center of the story is the unlikely figure of Lenny Kohm (1939-2014), a former jazz drummer and aspiring photographer who passionately committed himself to Arctic Refuge activism. With the aid of a trusty slide show, Kohm and representatives of the Gwich'in Nation traveled across the United States to mobilize grassroots opposition to oil drilling. From Indigenous villages north of the Arctic Circle to Capitol Hill and many places in between, this book shows how Kohm and Gwich'in leaders and environmental activists helped build a political movement that transformed the debate into a struggle for environmental justice. In its final weeks, the Trump administration fulfilled a long-sought dream of drilling proponents: leasing much of the Arctic Refuge coastal plain for fossil fuel development. Yet the fight to protect this place is certainly not over. Defending the Artic Refuge traces the history of a movement that is alive today--and that will continue to galvanize diverse groups to safeguard this threatened land. Tucked away in the northeastern corner of Alaska is one of the most contested landscapes in all of North America: the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Considered sacred by Indigenous peoples in Alaska and Canada and treasured by environmentalists, the refuge provides life-sustaining habitat for caribou, polar bears, migratory birds, and other species. For decades, though, the fossil fuel industry and powerful politicians have sought to turn this unique ecosystem into an oil field. Defending the Arctic Refuge tells the improbable story of how the people fought back. At the center of the story is the unlikely figure of Lenny Kohm (1939–2014), a former jazz drummer and aspiring photographer who passionately committed himself to Arctic Refuge activism. With the aid of a trusty slide show, Kohm and representatives of the Gwich’in Nation traveled across the United States to mobilize grassroots opposition to oil drilling. From Indigenous villages north of the Arctic Circle to Capitol Hill and many places in between, this book shows how Kohm and Gwich’in leaders and environmental activists helped build a political movement that transformed the debate into a struggle for environmental justice. In its final weeks, the Trump administration fulfilled a long-sought dream of drilling proponents: leasing much of the Arctic Refuge coastal plain for fossil fuel development. Yet the fight to protect this place is certainly not over. Defending the Arctic Refuge traces the history of a movement that is alive today—and that will continue to galvanize diverse groups to safeguard this threatened land. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Map and Figures 10 Prologue. At Lenny Kohm’s Memorial 14 1. On the Road 27 2. The Last Great Wilderness 33 3. The Sacred Place Where Life Begins 46 4. Lenny’s Epiphany 58 5. Glendon Brunk’s Epiphany 67 6. Delivering Bosco 72 7. The Little White Man Who Never Sleeps 80 8. The Slide Show at the Art Farm 87 9. Science and Skulduggery 93 10. I Hope People from the South Listen 109 11. Rebirth of a Nation 117 12. The Arctic Refuge in a Broader Frame 126 13. Grassroots versus Goliath 135 14. Catastrophe and the Coalition of Conscience 144 15. Native Corporations and Arctic Drilling 151 16. A Victory for the Grassroots 159 17. Gwich’in Recruits, Gwich’in Lives 168 18. Budget Showdown 182 19. Turning Spectators into Activists 192 20. 9/11 200 21. Flat, White Nothingness? 206 22. How the Refuge Survived the W. Years 222 23. Building a Bigger Choir 236 24. The Slide Show in Old Crow 247 Epilogue. History and the Ongoing Struggle 256 Acknowledgments 274 Notes 278 Bibliography 316 Index 332 A 332 B 333 C 333 D 334 E 335 F 335 G 335 H 336 I 336 J 337 K 337 L 337 M 338 N 338 O 339 P 339 Q 339 R 339 S 340 T 341 U 341 V 341 W 341 Y 342 Z 342 Back Cover 343 In a time of escalating climate change, species extinction, and threats to Indigenous lands and cultures, this book demonstrates the power of collective action to defend human rights and ecosystems and the ability of diverse alliances to take on multinational corporations and change the world.