Caribou Migration 1 Flashcards
Born in Calcutta
Subhankar Banerjee
Studied electrical engineering in India before moving to the US to complete a master’s degree in physics and computer science at New Mexico State University
Subhankar Banerjee
What career did Banerjee begin with
Career in science, working first for the Los Alamos National Laboratory and then for the Boeing Company
What club did Banerjee join while living in New Mexico
the Sierra Club
What did Banerjee begin doing while living in New Mexico
He began hiking in the mountains bringing along a camera and studying photography as a hobby
What was the major transition that turned Banerjee’s career towards the visual arts
Banerjee visited Churchill in northern Manitoba, Canada to take pics of polar bears and there were many others there to do that too. He had a desire to see polar bears in the wild untrammeled by tourism or industry
Described Banerjee’s career transition
Scholar Finis Dunaway
What did Banerjee do after quitting his job at Boeing
He cashed out his retirement savings and traveled to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska
How long did Banerjee spend at the ANWR
14 months
When was ANWR established
1960
How big did ANWR get
It doubled in size and comprised nearly of 20 million acres
What portion of the ANWR maintains ecological protection
The vast majority of the inland territory of the ANWR is ecologically protected, while a small strip along the Beaufort Sea does not maintain the same level of protection
What did the discovery of oil in the coastal plain trigger
Decades-long political battles over whether the land should be environmentally protected or drilled for oil
Campaigned on a pro-drilling platform along with advocated attempted to initiate drilling in the ANWR
President George W. Bush
An advocate for President Bush to initiate drilling in the ANWR
Alaska’s Senator Frank Murkowski
Pros on drilling
Potential economic impact, contending it could create new jobs and lower the price of oil for consumers, and it could make the US less reliant on foreign oil
What did opponents of drilling say
They expressed concern about the environmental repercussions of drilling in terms of its impact on the ecosystems as well as on Indigenous people in the area and argued that the US should find other ways to become less reliant on fossil fuels
Where did Banerjee publish many of his photographs to
The book “Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land”
“Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land” includes tests contributed by
Environmentalists
“Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land” caught the attention of
Curators at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
What did the curators at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History arrange
An exhibition of Banerjee’s arctic photographs to open in spring 2003
When did the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History want to open an exhibition of Banerjee’s arctic photographs
Spring 2003
During a debate on the U.S. Senate floor, what topic was being discussed that involved the ANWR
drilling in ANWR
What did Senator Barbara Boxer do in the debate about drilling in the ANWR on the Senate floor
held up a copy of Banerjee’s book during the debate
held up a copy of Banerjee’s book during the debate
Senator Barbara Boxer
What did Senator Barbara Boxer cite in the copy of Banerjee’s book
one of its photographs of a polar bear as evidence of the presence and fragility of life on the Refuge
What claims did some pro-drilling advocates have
ANWR was an arctic wilderness and therefore empty and lifeless
How did Alaska Senator Frank Murkowski emphasize the point that ANWR arctic wilderness and therefore empty and lifeless.
compared it to a blank white poster, which he similarly held before his
colleagues
Introduced an amendment to block drilling in ANWR
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator Barbara Boxer’s amendment to block drilling narrowly passed
52-48
When did the Refuge come closest to drilling
when the Department of the Interior officially opened 1.5 million acres of the ANWR to the oil and gas industry on August 17, 2020
Opened 1.5 million acres of the ANWR to the oil and gas industry on August 17, 2020
Department of the Interior
How many acres did the Department of the Interior officially open in ANWR to the oil and gas industry
1.5 million acres
When did the Department of the Interior officially opened 1.5 million acres of the ANWR to the oil and gas industry
August 17, 2020
When did the federal government sell oil and gas leases in the
amount of $14.4 million
January 6, 2021
For how much did the federal government sell oil and gas leases for in January 6, 2021
$14.4 million
Who would have entirely funded the oil and gas lease for the federal government
Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority
Issued an executive order to place a moratorium on oil and gas extraction in the ANWR
President Joe Biden
a measure that has subsequently been bolstered by the Interior Department formally suspending oil and gas drilling leases in the area
President Joe Biden issuing an executive order to place a moratorium on oil and gas extraction in the ANWR
Became one of the most iconic images of the continued struggle to ecologically protect the ANWR
Caribou Migration I
What type of photograph is “Caribou Migration I”
An aerial photograph
What does “Caribou Migration I” depict
a herd of caribou crossing a landscape marked by patches of white snow and blueish green ice
The lines created by the herd generates
a striking, nearly abstract composition
The lines created by the herd plays against
those of the ice and snow
The lines created by the herd reiterates
the point that the ANWR is not an empty land but is a fragile ecosystem inhabited by various species
The lines generated by the traveling caribou shows patterns
through which animals move and live within this landscape
Writer Finis Dunaway notes that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge publication includes connections between
the migration of caribou and the coastal plains that have been the contested site of potential oil drilling
What is the significance of the area where the caribou are heading in “Caribou Migration I”
The area where the caribou are heading is the site where they will calve
What do the text and image suggest about the caribou’s relationship to the coastal plain
the caribou’s dependence upon the coastal plain
what could threaten the survival of a tremendous herd of animals
radical alteration of the habitat
Indigenous population that’s dependent on caribou within the ANWR
Indigenous Gwich’in population
What do caribou provide for the Indigenous Gwich’in population of the region
key source of food
What does a broader understanding of the ecological connections within the ANWR recognize
the dependence of the Indigenous Gwich’in population on caribou
What do the caribou depicted in Caribou Migration I depend on to sustain life generation to generation
the coastal plain
What do the Gwich’in people depend on to sustain their lives
the caribou
How did Gwich’in leaders respond to the protections put in place in June 2021
Gwich’in leaders lauded the protections
What do Gwich’in leaders acknowledge about the protections put in place in June 2021
the protections will not be secure until further backed by the U.S. legislature
According to Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, when will their work stop
their work will not stop until their lands are permanently protected through legislation
