‘To honour our most fundamental relationship’ : exercising Gwich’in rights and responsibilities to Caribou in a transboundary context

Abstract

In this thesis, I examine how overlapping layers of law mediate the relationship between Gwich’in and the caribou that have sustained them for millennia. I address Gwich’in legal responsibilities to caribou within the Gwich’in legal order, practical challenges arising from the imposed Alaska-Yukon border and ensuing State laws, and the role of rights-based legal framings in Gwich’in efforts to uphold their legal responsibilities to caribou despite those challenges. Many Gwich’in consider themselves bound to protect the caribou. I frame these protective responsibilities as legal ones and make the case for taking Gwich'in law seriously as a binding source of legal obligations. I argue that State-based laws have complicated Gwich’in efforts to uphold these legal responsibilities, and I offer a Gwich’in-centric historical account of the border’s cumulative effects on Gwich’in lifeways. I consider domestic legal tools’ potential to mitigate constraints on Gwich’in-caribou relations and conclude that they are largely inadequate. I then address Gwich’in advocacy against proposed fossil fuel development in the caribou calving ground, including border-related complications, and I argue that Gwich’in rhetoric has the power to disrupt the border’s normative legitimacy. Finally, I consider the extent to which international human rights law mechanisms can help Gwich’in fulfill their legal responsibilities to caribou. I examine the potential utility of two human rights mechanisms Gwich’in have not yet employed, and I discuss the potential drawbacks of relying on largely unenforceable mechanisms that may tacitly legitimize the colonial power dynamics they aim to alleviate. Despite these systemic issues, I encourage Gwich’in to consider using these mechanisms as part of their advocacy toolkit.