Our Right to Consultation Will Not Be Ignored

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By Doreen Leavitt

May 01, 2024

Guest Opinion. Nearly 4,000 miles separate Alaska’s North Slope, the ancestral homelands of the North Slope Iñupiat, and Washington D.C. But after multiple trips between the two to advocate for our self-determination in our ancestral homelands before the vast bureaucracy of the federal government, it feels like we live on different planets. 

This disconnect is not just physical – it can be measured by the number of policies affecting our lands and people crafted by Washington without first consulting with the North Slope Iñupiat. Most recently, the federal government unilaterally curtailed development opportunities in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) while shamefully cutting Regional Alaska Native tribal governments like mine out of discussions to informing the policymaking process. As a result, the administration’s NPR-A actions do not reflect our Indigenous communities’ wishes, will roll back progress for our people, and imperil our Iñupiaq culture.

To be clear, this is not only a dangerous dereliction of duty and disrespectful to the North Slope Iñupiat, who have been the ancestral stewards of our lands for over 10,000 years. It is a violation of the federal government’s obligation to consult with Regional Alaska Native tribal governments, like the Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope (ICAS), on all matters that affect our land.  Without federal consultation, it is impossible to adequately exercise our sovereign rights for the benefit of our communities.

On April 19, 2023, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced that it would finalize its decision to restrict development in more than 50% of the NPR-A. DOI did so without consulting our elected leadership about the impact of its decision on the North Slope Iñupiat. Had the department taken the time to speak with us, it would have learned that our communities do not support this decision— a fact that the federal government was and continues to disregard due to its lack of consultation with the North Slope Iñupiat. 

This decision will have massive implications for the future of our regional economy, our communities, and our culture. The North Slope relies on tax revenue from resource development – more than 95 percent of our region’s tax base comes from taxation of land development. These funds support essential services like modern water and sewage systems, schools, health clinics, and world-class research and monitoring of subsistence resources vital to our culture. Our communities will struggle without these services, and our culture will become imperiled as a result.

Several North Slope entities have shared detailed letters highlighting these risks and the urgent need for the federal government to reconsider the faulty economic analysis supporting its NPR-A rule. The White House’s current study does not sufficiently examine the severe financial impact the rule will have on our communities and its downstream effects on our ability to provide essential services. There is a direct correlation between increased development in the region and drastic increases in our average life expectancy from just 34 years in 1969 to 77 years today. By finalizing its NPR-A rule, DOI’s is undoing decades of progress.  

We would have readily shared these facts with DOI had it fulfilled its legal obligation to consult with us ahead of their mandates, and we remain committed to educating DOI and the federal government about the unintended consequences of their actions. But ICAS and other North Slope Iñupiat elected leaders have repeatedly been ignored by DOI and other agencies. In fact, Secretary Deb Haaland herself has ignored or denied at least eight meeting requests from us and other leaders on the North Slope, even after we traveled thousands of miles to D.C. on multiple occasions.

We have also joined with other North Slope entities to issue unanimous resolutions on topics ranging from condemning the federal government’s actions and urging on the White House to reevaluating its incomplete economic analysis, which does not explore the economic and cultural impacts its policy would have on our people. Notably, the North Slope is not alone in its protest. The Alaska State Legislature passed the bipartisan HJR20, a joint resolution that calls on the federal government to reverse its September 2023 decision on the NPR-A, further demonstrating the widespread support in our state and region for responsible development.

Given the growing chorus of dissent, it is unacceptable for Indigenous communities like ours to be tuned out by leaders in Washington – especially by an administration that purports to care about our voices. This administration has issued multiple policy memos and federal strategies claiming Indigenous people are best served when Tribal governments are empowered to lead. The federal government’s treatment of ICAS and the North Slope Iñupiat, however, show that this administration’s actions fall far short of its words.

It’s time to close this policymaking and communication gap between Washington and the North Slope Iñupiat. The federal government must do right by our communities by fulfilling its legal consultative obligations to regional governments before issuing edicts that could put the future of our communities and culture at risk. Our people are not some distant civilization beaming messages to Washington from afar. We are Americans, and we demand that our voices be heard. 

Doreen Leavitt is director of natural resources for the Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope (ICAS), secretary of the Tribal Council, and a resident of the North Slope Borough.