For Alaska’s indigenous people, especially those living in isolated, rural areas, climate change threatens to bring the end to their way of life. Hunting conditions have become dangerous and unpredictable. Whale, walrus, seal, caribou and salmon are dying off and migrating in new patterns, and the communities who depend on them for nutrition, income, and spiritual practices are being pressured in countless ways. Hunting, fishing and foraging for food, known as “subsistence,” is the anchor of culture and economy for Alaska’s many native groups, some of which are so fragile that only a handful of living elders still speak their native tongues. Villages and communities across Alaska and the North American arctic are at the front lines of climate change; and what is happening to them can be seen as early indications for the rest of the world’s future.
