Sacred Place not worth the oil underneath it

Pat Wade is a good friend and a very special person. She is an Alaska Native Indian of the Chickaloon Tribe. The Chickaloon Tribe is a part of the Athabascan Nation. Pat is a marvelous storyteller and uses that role to communicate the values of her Indian heritage. The Chickaloon Tribe has done an amazing job of preserving and living their culture under the horrible pressure of the whites who have taken possession of Alaska.

Recently Pat traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby for Native. While there, she attended a discussion of The Sacred Place Where Life Begins. She reported on the session in the Chickaloon News, which she edits.           

This sacred area is more widely known as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This area is in the far northeast corner of Alaska. It is a special place for a variety of reasons. For tens of thousands of caribou, it is their summer home and the birthing place for their young. Very large caribou herds migrate across Alaska and Canada. For the migrating herds, it is their home base.

The Sacred Place is also the nesting and birthing grounds for an incredible variety of birds. Birds from six nations and all 48 contiguous states make an annual migration to this sanctuary.

The nearest humans are the Gwich’in. It is the Gwich’in who have named the area The Sacred Place Where Life Begins. The Gwich’in, like other people, have a creation story. In their creation story the Gwich’in and the caribou retain a piece of each other’s heart. Because of their faith and values, a Gwich’in never enters the Sacred Place. Three times in their history the Gwich’in suffered severe famine, but still they would not enter The Sacred Place Where Life Begins.

For the Gwich’in this special land is their holy of holies. It is their Jerusalem. It is their Vatican. It is their Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

The pressure to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been constant for several years. Always the argument is about the enormous wealth waiting to be tapped.

In some ways the federal government has treated Natives very well. In the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, signed into law in 1971, Natives were granted large tracts of land and hundreds of millions of dollars. Native corporations, in which only Natives can hold stock, were formed. Some of those corporations are now Fortune 500 companies.

Under the guiding hand of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, millions of dollars have been poured into meeting the health and education needs of Natives. (Much of that money came by way of earmarks.) Although some would disagree, one can argue that there has been an honest attempt on the part of the federal government and Sen. Stevens to be fair with Natives.

While an attempt at fairness with property, money and wealth is evident, the sacred values of Natives have been battered without conscience. The argument over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a perfect example. It is strongly suspected that there are huge oil deposits under ANWR, The Sacred Place Where Life Begins. With billions of dollars at stake, who can support the religious peculiarities of a few hundred Natives? It is a classic clash between values and wealth.

Every where I look, I see this same clash between wealth and values. It is an age-old story that keeps repeating. Recently I re-read the Bible story of the conversation between Jesus and the young rich man. Jesus asked him whether he had kept the whole law of God. The man declared that he had kept the whole law from the time of his youth. Further in the conversation he reiterated the commandments that he had kept. He conveniently left out the first three. These are the ones about his relationship with God. The first one was especially critical. No other gods. Jesus’ point was obvious. The man had made a God of his wealth. When Jesus told him to go sell everything he had and give it to the poor, he left sorrowful.

According to Jesus a person cannot serve God and wealth.

Just now I believe that if the federal government tried to give the Gwich’in a half interest in all the oil extracted from The Sacred Place Where Life Begins, they would give a firm, “No.” Their values will not be abandoned.

The Gwich’in are setting a good example and may well be special prophets to our nation. We need to listen.

The Rev. Howard Bess is an American Baptist minister now living in retirement in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.