The vitality of the land in Nuiqsut, Alaska, is barred underneath seemingly endless metallic oil pipelines. Gravel roads fragment the landscape, leaving this small community caught in the center of an industrial spiderweb.
For Nuiqsut’s 500 Iñupiaq residents, the expansion of industry has come at a steep cost. Caribou paths are replaced by pipelines, native place-names fade into industrial jargon, and the community faces growing health concerns. But development has also brought revenue to fund services like education and accessible health care. It has brought heated homes and job security for residents.
“Our people are reserved, but they're forgiving, just trying to live off this land and adapting to the Western world,” said Dora Leavitt, 59, whose family helped establish Nuiqsut in 1973. Nuiqsut continues to strive for balance between the old and the new. This project showcases a community’s constant resilience to changes brought on by oil drilling and climate change. The project captures the voices of village leaders and a climate policy expert to highlight the complexity of oil drilling in the Arctic.
