There’s a lot of talk about what we’d gain from the Ambler Road. But what would we lose?

Shield Downey

COMMENTARY

My name is Shield Downey.

I am Iñupiaq. I grew up in a nomadic lifestyle as my parents were reindeer herders around Noorvik, Selawik and the Baldwin Peninsula. I now live in Ambler. I am an enrolled tribal member of Native Village of Ambler, the first chief of the tribal council, and a shareholder of NANA Regional Corporation. I’m also on the Regional Elders Council and the chair of the Kobuk Valley Subsistence Resource Commission.

My feeling about the Ambler Road is sadness. It makes me sad that people aren’t thinking about how this Ambler Road will open up the whole mountain range to mining. Miners will just keep exploring, building roads and mines and making more tailings ponds. Our leaders are not thinking about how this development is going to affect Native people and our culture.

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