OPINION: Federal overreach on North Slope Indigenous lands

On May 28, the leader of the Native Village of Kaktovik received a letter from Merben Cebrian, the federal refuge manager for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). In this letter, Cebrian explained that, based on requests from the Native Village of Venetie and Arctic Village, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering designating a portion of ANWR — specifically 1.5 million acres — as sacred grounds for the Gwich’in under Emergency Order 13007.

As mayor of the North Slope Borough and a proud member of the Inupiaq people, I feel compelled to address this affront to our people’s ancestral lands.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s attempt to designate land as religious grounds for the Gwich’in people, land that has never been part of their historical territory, is not only misguided but an affront to the sovereignty and history of the Inupiaq.

For thousands of years, the Inupiaq people have lived, thrived and stewarded these lands. Our deep connection to the land and its resources is woven into the very fabric of our identity. Yet, today, we find ourselves at the crossroads of a dangerous and paternalistic attempt by the federal government to undermine our rights and history. This is not a simple misunderstanding; it is a naked and transparent effort to advance a political agenda at the expense of our people.

Let me be clear: the land in question is not, and has never been, Gwich’in territory. If there is a claim that their ancestors are buried here, that is a result of territorial wars that occurred in a bygone era; and victors aren’t buried.

The historical territory of the Gwich’in is 150-200 miles away from the land in question. This is the same distance as that between New York and Washington, D.C. – or between Anchorage and Homer. The suggestion of designating these lands as sacred grounds for a people with no historical claim is more than just factually wrong — it’s a blatant misuse of authority. The Department of Interior has no business advancing such an egregious overreach. Using the Gwich’in as a proxy, this federal administration, together with extreme environmentalists, is attempting to reconfigure our land rights under the guise of environmental stewardship, once again trying to brush aside the Inupiaq people; as my Aaka says, “Shame on you.”

This is not about the protection of sacred sites; it is about control. It is about a federal government that thinks it knows better than the people who have lived on and cared for these lands since time immemorial. The Inupiaq have always been the best stewards of our land. We understand its rhythms, its challenges, and its gifts in a way that no outside entity, or peoples, ever could. To have our history and our rights dismissed by bureaucrats thousands of miles away is unacceptable.

The Inupiaq people have fought for our land and our way of life for millennia, and we will not stand by as the federal government attempts to erase our history and rewrite it to suit their own ends.

You want local buy-in for your proposal on the eve of the presidential election?

Well, you don’t have it: neither from the North Slope Borough nor from the only people who live in ANWR’s 1002 area, the people of Kaktovik.

We respect the Gwich’in and their right to manage their lands far to the south of us. In return, we expect the same respect for our land, rights and history — non-negotiable principles long recognized by Congress through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. We stand firm in defending them.

The Inupiaq are not mere inhabitants of this land; we are its guardians. In this case, we guard against this federal administration’s actions, which are a stark reminder of the ongoing struggles Indigenous peoples face around the country simply asking not to be ignored. The federal government must understand that any attempt to undermine our sovereignty will be met with fierce resistance. We will not allow our lands to be co-opted for purposes that serve neither our people nor our future.

Josiah Patkotak is the mayor of the North Slope Borough and a former member of the Alaska House of Representatives.

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