Ray Bane

This interview with Ray Bane took place at his office in Anchorage, Alaska on August 3, 1992. Ray was working in the Subsistence Division of the National Park Service, and he generously took time out to discuss his role in the early subsistence research that provided baseline data for establishing management policy in the area that was to become Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Ray was happy to find that the Jukebox project was aimed at elucidating multiple viewpoints on a critical period of Alaskan history and National Park formation. In particular, he expressed his hope that a permanent record such as this would be available to help people understand and remember the complex issues surrounding subsistence, land management, and the preservation mandate of the National Park Service. Ray expressed concern over the direction of the Park Service itself, and he also detailed the vehement local opposition to the parks when they were first formed. Importantly, he also discussed the profound impact of his experiences with Native peoples in altering his own vision of the relationship between humans and the natural world. He hoped that his contribution to subsistence policy reflects the deep cultural and spiritual ties to land and animals that he witnessed and participated in while working in Native communities throughout the Arctic.