I live in Homer, Alaska, a fishing and art community relatively near Bristol Bay. The vast Bristol Bay watershed is home to the largest wild salmon run in the world and feeds one of the richest fisheries in the world. This watershed is still a pristine wilderness and one from which subsistence, commercial and sport fishing are absolutely vital to this state. It is home to one of the largest concentrations of brown bears in the world, vast herds of caribou and countless species of migratory birds. It is also where there are plans to open up this region to a huge mining district the likes of which have not witnessed before. The size of the first proposed open pit gold mine will be the largest in North America and it is proposed at the very head waters of the most important rivers in this watershed. The organization, American Rivers, has included the Bristol Bay watershed on their list of Most Endangered Rivers for 2006 because of the proposed Pebble Mine and the larger mining district. If this mine is allowed to go forward, the region will be irreversibly damaged forever.
As an artist who uses gold in my work, I am confronted with the environmental consequences of gold extraction and how this mine will change my home forever. I am confronted with knowledge and a dilemma that has changed my focus entirely, what I want to say with my work and my use of materials. This piece, titled ‘Hanging by a Thread’, speaks to the fact that the largest salmon run in the world is indeed hanging by a thread. How intelligent are we to risk our very food and water for the lure of gold? What is truly precious to us after all? What are our real values? If we continue down this road are we too hanging by a thread?
