PIPELINE DREAMS Pipeline Dreams People, Environment, and the Arctic Energy Frontier

IWGIA PIPELINE DREAMS PIPELINE DREAMS people, environment, and the Arctic energy frontier Interest in the Arctic as one of the world’s last energy frontiers is increasing. The indigenous peoples of the circumpolar North have People, Environment, and long been involved in struggles to make sense of, adapt to, and negotiate the impacts and consequences of resource exploration and Mark Nuttall the Arctic Energy Frontier development but they have also been involved in struggles to gain some measure of control over development as well as to benefit from it. With a focus on the North American Arctic and sub-Arctic, this book discusses how dreams of extracting resource wealth have been sig- Mark Nuttall nificant in influencing and shaping relations between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, as well as in the opening up of northern frontier regions to economic development. Through a detailed discussion of plans to explore for oil and gas and to build pipelines across northern lands, it considers and reflects upon the idea of the Arctic as PI P a resource frontier and the concerns expressed by a variety of groups ELI and commentators over the social and environmental impacts of the oil and gas industry, as well as the opportunities development may N bring to the sustainability of indigenous and local livelihoods, cultures E DREA and societies. Mark Nuttall is a social anthropologist who has worked extensively M S in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, Scotland and Finland. He is Professor and Henry Marshall Tory Chair in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta and is author and editor of several books, in- cluding the three-volume Encyclopedia of the Arctic (Routledge, 2005). He also holds a visiting position as Academy of Finland Distinguished Professor at the University of Oulu, Finland. INTERNATIONAL WORK GROUP FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS PIPELINE DREAMS PEOPLE, ENVIRONMENT, AND THE ARCTIC ENERGY FRONTIER Mark Nuttall IWGIA – Document 126 Copenhagen – 2010 PIPELINE DREAMS PEOPLE, ENVIRONMENT, AND THE ARCTIC ENERGY FRONTIER Author: Mark Nuttall Editorial Production: Kathrin Wessendorf and Cæcilie Mikkelsen Copyright: © Mark Nuttall and IWGIA 2010 – All Rights Reserved Cover and layout: Jorge Monrás Cover Photo: Trans-Alaska Pipeline by Travis Shinabarger Maps: Jorge Monrás Proofreading: Elaine Bolton Prepress and Print: Eks-skolens Trykkeri, Copenhagen, Denmark ISBN: 978-87-91563-86-7 ISSN: 0105-4503 Distribution in North America: Transaction Publishers 390 Campus Drive / Somerset, New Jersey 08873 www.transactionpub.com Hurridocs cip data Title: Pipeline Dreams: people, environment, and the Arctic energy frontier Author: Mark Nuttall Corporate Editor: IWGIA Place of publication: Copenhagen, Denmark Publisher: IWGIA Distributors: North America: Transaction Publishers – www.transactionpub.com UK: Central Books Ltd. - www.centralbooks.com Books also available from IWGIA - shop.iwgia.org Date of publication: December 2010 Pages: 223 – maps Reference to series: IWGIA Documents Series, no. 126 ISBN: 978-87-91563-86-7 ISSN: 0105-4503 Language: English Bibliography: yes Index terms: Indigenous peoples/ Hydrocarbon extraction/ Environment/ Sustainable development/Indigenous rights Geographical area: Northern America Geographical code: 0204 INTERNATIONAL WORK GROUP FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS Classensgade 11 E, DK 2100 - Copenhagen, Denmark Tel: (45) 35 27 05 00 - Fax: (45) 35 27 05 07 E-mail: [email protected] - Web: www.iwgia.org PIPELINE DREAMS Contents Chapter I Introduction ..........................................................................................8 Arctic Oil and Gas .........................................................................9 Social and Environmental Impacts of Energy Development .............................................................13 History, Process, Experiences, Perspectives ............................19 Acknowledgements ....................................................................27 Chapter II The Arctic Energy Frontier ...............................................................30 19th Century Canadian Frontiers ...............................................35 The Trail North ............................................................................38 The Modern Resource Frontier .................................................45 Looking North: the Last Frontier? ............................................52 Chapter III Treaties, Land Claims and Berger’s Legacy The Legacy of the Berger Inquiry .............................................62 Current Oil and Gas Activity in Northern Canada and Traditional Knowledge .......................................................72 Energy Development and Land Claims ..................................78 Treaty-Making and Canada’s Great Resource Storehouse ...................................................................83 Sharing the Land and the Sacred Nature of Treaties .....................................................90 The Duty to Consult and the Right to Benefit .........................94 Chapter IV The Mackenzie Gas Project and Canada’s Energy Future ....................................................................98 The Mackenzie Gas Project ......................................................101 Aboriginal Participation: the Aboriginal Pipeline Group ................................................108 Divided Perspectives ................................................................ 113 The Dehcho and the Dene Tha’: Livelihood Rights ............. 117 The Dehcho First Nations of the Central Mackenzie Valley ............................................ 117 The Dene Tha’ of Northern Alberta .................................120 Cumulative Impacts .................................................................125 Pipe Dream? ...............................................................................129 Chapter V The Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline and the Last Wilderness ..................................................................136 The Alaska Highway Gas Pipeline: Current Status .............139 The Last Wilderness: People, Caribou and Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) .............147 ANWR and Oil ..........................................................................152 Opening up ANWR ..................................................................153 Alaska Native Interests in Oil and Gas ..................................155 Caribou People ..........................................................................159 Are there real benefits to developing the 1002 area? ...........161 Chapter VI Water, the Thick Black Oil and the Gateway to Asia ................164 An Ecosystem in Crisis? ...........................................................165 Oilsands Development, Arctic Gas and the Alberta Hub .........................................................................170 The North Central Corridor Pipeline .....................................175 The Northern Gateway Pipeline Project ................................179 Chapter VII Conclusions: Communication, Legitimacy and Dialogue ................................184 Notes ..................................................................................................198 List of acronyms ...............................................................................205 Bibliography .....................................................................................208 Maps ..................................................................................................220 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION reams of extracting oil, gas and minerals and developing the Dresource potential of the circumpolar North have been signifi- cant in shaping relations between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, as well as in the opening up of Arctic frontier regions in Canada, Alaska, Siberia and other northern areas to economic development. Yet oil and gas development is only one event in a chain of historical events that have transformed indigenous societies and communities throughout the world’s Arctic and sub-Arc- tic regions. In northern North America, understanding the history of the fur trade, of settlement by non-indigenous people, of push- ing back the frontier, of the Gold Rush, of searching for minerals and fossil fuels, or the construction of military infrastructure dur- ing the Cold War—in Alaska, Yukon and the Northwest Territories (NWT) as well as in northern Alberta and northern British Colum- bia—is extremely relevant to contemporary discussion of oil and gas exploration and energy development because the experience of past development and the impact of megaprojects tells us a con- siderable amount about the sustainability of industrial economies, the impacts of resource exploitation in fragile ecosystems, and the profound consequences of environmental, social and economic change in northern communities (Piper 2009). Indigenous peoples have long been involved in struggles to make sense of, adapt to, and negotiate the impacts and consequences of resource development and the extractive industries, but have also been involved in struggles to gain some measure of control over development as well as to benefit from it.1 Flyvbjerg et al. (2003: 5) argue that “project promoters often avoid and violate established practices of good governance, transparency and participation in political and administrative decision making, either out of ignorance or because they see such practices as counterpro- 8 ductive to getting projects

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