Tikigaq Corporation, an Alaska Native village corporation, supports off-shore drilling despite official opposition from the Native Village of Point Hope, a federally recognized tribe.

Sayers Tuzroyluk, the chairman of Tikigaq, says energy development in the Arctic Ocean is inevitable. But village residents are worried about the impact on subsistence whaling.

“That’s our garden out there,” Susie Frankson, 65, told The New York Times. “Don’t mess with our garden.”

The village is part of a lawsuit that seeks to stop Shell Oil from drilling exploratory wells in the Arctic Ocean.

Get the Story:
Arctic Village Is Torn by Plan for Oil Drilling (The New York Times 10/26)

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Alaska Natives ask 9th Circuit to block off-shore drilling plans (9/30)