The Gathering: Arctic Village -Bill

Upon my arrival in Arctic Village I was told the twenty year anniversary of when all fifteen Gwich'in tribes sent elders to Arctic Village to make decisions concerning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was being celebrated the following week. Representatives from each village would be traveling to Arctic Village along with state and national media. Also a production crew from Los Angeles would be taking an aerial photo to be used in Bonn, Germany at a conference on climate change and global warming. What I wasn't aware of is we would be used to make this aerial photo. This four day event was so informative, interesting,and just amazing to see all the love shown to so many in the Gwich'in nation. People in the Government, environmental groups and the Garth Brooks of native Americans Mr. Robby Romero was there. Daryl Hannah (movie star ) had planned to attend, but a minor injury prevented her from traveling to the gathering. I feel so fortunate to be present at this event, and so many went out of their way to thank me for coming so far out of my comfort zone to do this work. The question I was asked over and over again was, WHERES PENNY?
To see all the people from the village in a prayer circle at the runway was incredible. As Tremble Gilbert ( Village Priest ) said, " never before and probably never again will he see this site" , then we prayed