WASHINGTON The Arctic coastal plain of northeastern Alaska serves as a summer safe haven for the porcupine caribou herd. It is here that cows come to give birth , and it is where the herd forages and escapes predators.

For thousands of years, the Gwichin people, an indigenous tribe of northern Alaska and Canada, have relied on the caribou as a primary food source. But even when Gwichin were facing starvation, they kept out of the herds calving grounds, tribal member Bernadette Demientieff told HuffPost at a rally Wednesday outside the U.S. Capitol.

The Gwichin call the coastal plain part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Iizhik Gwatsan Gwnadaii Goodlit, or the sacred place where life begins. And today they are fighting once again to keep oil and gas development out of this fragile landscape.

Our voices need to be heard, Demientieff told HuffPost, adding that the Gwichin people think theyve been ignored by Alaskas all-Republican congressional delegation.