‘The oil industry routinely sends Santa Claus into the village with presents for the kids,’ reveals Robert Thompson with a will-they-stop-at-nothing roll of the eyes. We’re sitting in the Waldo Arms, Kaktovik’s makeshift hotel. It’s more of a sprawling shack and the heating isn’t working in my room – thank goodness for thermal underwear – but my warm welcome here has made up for it.
‘The companies send us watermelons and fruit,’ Robert continues. ‘They have come in and put radios on the whale boats. They provide free gasoline. They send people here to be friends with the locals – Exxon came to town for high school graduation and gave laptops to every graduate! It’s public relations, part of the strategy. They don’t really care about us, they just want the oil.’
