Photos from the 2018 bicycle film tour from Bellingham, WA to Portland, OR with support from the Gwich’in Steering Committee, the Sierra Club and Patagonia
In the summer of 2019, I took my film and We Are The Arctic book on the 6th annual bicycle tour from San Antonio to Houston, Texas. Why Textas? Since the provision to drill the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge passed in Congress, things are moving very quickly. We thought it was important to:
- Deliver broad comment from public opposing the drilling to all oil industry corporations in Houston, Texas. (ex. BP, Phillips 66, ConocoPhillips, Kinder Morgan, SAExploration)
- Build and invest in existing indigenous led activism in the state of Texas by building a more cohesive public lands/fossil fuel narrative.
- Send a broad message to oil industry that any attempt to drill the Refuge will face substantial public opposition..
I had an honor to have a Gwich’in representative joining me on this tour. Together, our goal is to build a strong community of people who stand with the Gwich’in nation in solidarity to defend the Arctic. Please come join us!
Public event schedule
These are public venues we hosted in San Antonio, Austin and Houston.
We spoke at multiple venues, drawing powerful parallels and connections between Arctic and Texas. These events were free and included:
- Land acknowledgement
- Q&A with the Gwich’in representatives
- Gwich’in Women Speak film screening
- We Are the Arctic book signing
ROUTE: 259 miles on a bicycle
In the past five summers, I have toured with bicycle about 3,000 miles from Seattle to San Francisco (2014), Washington D.C. to Bar Harbor, Maine (2015), Boston to Bar Harbor (2017) and Bellingham WA to Portland OR (2018). In 2016, I toured in Hawai’i and Oahu.
My film project gained so much momentum that I had the privilege to become one of 25 authors of a book called We Are The Arctic. With stunning images of the coastal plain, the book showcases a fascinating array of diverse voices, including a Gwich’in elder, a young activist, writer Terry Tempest Williams and former president Jimmy Carter. The book aims to reach Americans of all walks of life to form strong public support for the Arctic.
The 2019 Bicycle Film Tour was sponsored by the Sierra Club in collaboration with the Gwich’in Steering Committee. Gear donated by Liv Cycling and Patagonia, signers of CEO Outdoor Equity Pledge.
