Film: “Welcome to Gwichyaa Zhee” at Patagonia Palo Alto

Just north of the Arctic Circle, the Gwich’in people are fighting to protect the lands and caribou from oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—a place that has provided them with a rich and bountiful existence since time immemorial. Indigenous groups in southeastern Utah are doing much the same, seeking to defend their homeland and cultural heritage from energy and mining exploitation in Bears Ears National Monument.

Join Patagonia Palo Alto and San Mateo Surfrider for Welcome to Gwichyaa Zhee, a short film that explores the commonalities and differences between the two, and why the Gwich’in people need our support, followed by a Q&A with the film’s narrator Len Necefer and filmmaker Greg Balkin.

Prior to the film screening, join us for a nonprofit meet and greet—we’ll have several environmental nonprofits from the community in the store, sharing the work that they do and ways to get involved. Refreshments are provided.

For more information on the film, see https://www.gwichyaazhee.us/.