OPINION: Many people in Northwest Alaska fear what Ambler Road will bring

Has been updated: 16 few minutes ago release date: 16 few minutes ago

Ubanga Atiga Nunuruk, Iraguk. Hello, I’m Iva Baker from Kotzebue. Looking back at past leaders in the NANA region, we witnessed our elders guarding our land. I was born in his 1970s and lived here all my life. When I was young, I always thought, “Why don’t we do something on our own land?” Our young generation needs help with jobs and education. Fast forward to the 1980s, and we heard about the Canadian company’s promise to the nation: the Red Dog mine. I didn’t know much about mining. All I heard was money, money, money, but I also heard that people were leaving the area because of the high cost of living and the high pay from Red Dog.

I think it’s fast forward now. There are over 220 job openings in our area, but no one applies. I can go on and on about jobs in Kotzebue. No matter how many jobs there are in a state, people will always look for cheaper ways to live. People who move to big cities still go back to their hometowns to hunt and fish, and then go back to the big cities.

Once you put in that Ambler Road, there’s no going back. It will become a permanent structure encroaching on numerous rivers, natural springs, wildlife, and now our communities. Due to changes in hunting regulations by the Department of Fish and Game, hunting of caribou (i.e., one animal) is already restricted. They just had a big meeting here in Kotzebue in February.

There are many destroyed lands around the world. I once heard a First Nations person in Canada say, “They took our land, they took our identity. We can’t hunt or fish anymore.” I’ve heard there are also problems in our area near the Red Dog Mine. There are already problems with hunting and fishing there. Drinking water is cut off, plants and vegetation are continuously bombarded with dust, and caribou migration is not the same.

I feel discouraged and let down. We think about those who will follow us after we die. How do they live with the Iñupiaq way of life?

Who will be the next Katie John to fight for our survival? We hear that governors and top officials support Ambler Road, but so many fear what it will lead to. I’ve always been afraid of retaliation, but I can’t think of that now.

Iva Baker I am a lifelong resident of Kotzebue.

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