Gwich’in tribes sue to block oil drilling in sacred arctic refuge caribou calving grounds

Three Gwich’in tribal governments are fighting in federal court to prevent the first-ever oil and gas lease auction in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), defending both their ancient way of life and a critical caribou habitat they consider sacred. The Bureau of Land Management recently opened nominations for drilling rights in the refuge’s 1.56-million-acre coastal plain—an area the Gwich’in call “the sacred place where life begins,” where Porcupine caribou herds give birth and forage.

The lawsuit, filed by the Native American Rights Fund on behalf of three Gwich’in communities, argues that proposed oil development would devastate caribou migration patterns across roughly 100 miles of coastal plain. For the Gwich’in, who call themselves “the caribou people,” this threatens their primary food source and cultural survival. Tribal Chief Raeann Garnett of the Native Village of Venetie explains that expensive groceries and high fuel costs make subsistence hunting essential for her community of 200 people living above the Arctic Circle.

The legal challenge claims the Department of Interior violated federal laws protecting Gwich’in subsistence rights and failed to adequately consult with tribes or assess environmental impacts. A 2024 study supports their concerns, finding caribou are more sensitive to human activity than previously thought. The case highlights how oil development plans clash with Indigenous rights while the Arctic experiences unprecedented warming—this winter marked the warmest temperatures Garnett has witnessed. “I feel worried for the next generations,” she said. “I want them to have what we have now.”