It is interesting that back then, just a few years ago, when the concern was that the coastal plain of ANWR would be drilled, and so disrupt the migration of the caribou, the principal opponents were the Gwich'in, the northernmost Athabascan Indians, whose traditional lifestyle is dependent on hunting caribou.  The Inupiat, the Inuit of Alaska's north coast, did not protest so strongly or unanimously, since they did not feel themselves so directly affected; and some seem actually to have believed they might profit from the presence of the extraction crews.  So the pro-drilling people in DC unfortunately were able to point to a few Inupiat from Kaktovik and say, "See, even the Native Alaskans support drilling in ANWR!"

So things look different now.

Matthiessen writes:

<<
Like most coastal Inupiat villages, Kaktovik had been allotted a quota of three bowhead whales in an annual noncommercial hunt, a traditional event authorized by the International Whaling Commission. Even five years ago, when I first met Thompson in the Arctic refuge, he was already worried by the growing threat of offshore oil activity, fearing that it might dislocate the whales' migration paths: like the caribou of the Gwich'in Athabascans that calve and summer in the refuge, the whale is a sacred animal and cultural symbol of the hardy, industrious Inupiat, whose ancient subsistence culture has always depended upon a wild harvest.
>>

Senator Lisa Murkowski, in her message to Gristmill earlier today, expressed concern for the interests of Native Alaskans, including the preservation of the migration routes of animals.  We shall see how impressed she is by Matthiessen's essay.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.