A Cry from the Top of the World-Alaska's Native People Plead Their Case

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Alaska's Native People Plead Their Case
A Cry from the Top of the World

By BRENDA NORRELL

With the sea ice melting in the Arctic at an alarming rate, the whales, walrus, seals and polar bears are threatened with the loss of their homelands and changing migrations of their food sources as water temperatures rise.

"This is really affecting the communities that rely on the bowhead whales," said Nikos Pastos, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in Montana, born and raised in Alaska. He is cofounder to the intertribal network group Alaska's Big Village Network.

"As we advocate for sacred sites and human rights, we realize that it all comes back to water," Pastos said.

Recent studies show black carbons from smokestacks and tailpipes in North America, Europe and Asia in the melting Arctic ice. Pastos said the changing climate, combined with expanded oil drilling, threatens to bring an end to the diversity of the planet.

Currently, there is an unprecedented amount of mining on Alaska Native lands. Further, as the Arctic melts, the United States and other countries are rushing to claim the homeland of the whales, walrus, seals and polar bears for new oil drilling.

"There are changing salinity levels and changing wind patterns. It makes the polar bears have to go further for food. It is also changing fish migration patterns and the patterns of sea birds," Pastos said.

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