Earth bound thoghts...

"We know that we are the Earth and the Earth is us...The Creator put us (here) to take care of this part of the world...We know that the right thing to do is to stand up and speak out against the desecration of the environment. This is our only chance."

Sarah James, Gwich'in

Sarah James is a Neets'aii Gwich'in Indian from Arctic Village, Alaska, the northernmost Indian tribe in North America. Gwich'in is James’s first language. She grew up traditionally, following the caribou migration. As a Gwich’in, she was born with motivation to care for her land. “Loss of the caribou would mean the end of my people, much like the loss of the buffalo resulted in the decimation of many indigenous cultures in the Great Plains over a century ago,” she says. But James did not choose to become a leader for the Gwich’in; that choice was made for her. For almost 20 years, Sarah James quietly served her people as a community health aide, in a log cabin with no running water, and founder of a preschool. Then, in 1988, the elders and spiritual leaders of the entire Gwich’in nation – encompassing 15 villages and several million acres of remote land in northeastern Alaska and Canada – chose her to become the public spokesperson for preserving the caribou, the land they travel, and the Gwich’in culture.

Read more about Sarah James.