They want to ask Congress to change the law so the protection applies “up and down the river,” not just sections associated with federal lands such as parks or refuges.
Advocates for Alaska Native interests say they see an opening to significantly broaden a key federal subsistence protection across Alaska amid aWith support from Alaska’s 200-plus tribes, Congress could expand the protection to new swaths of Alaska, say attorneys with the Native American Rights Fund and Alaska Native groups.
Also, the priority for rural residents should be expanded to include Alaska Natives, to ensure it benefits Indigenous people living in urban and rural areas, they say. AFN President Julie Kitka told delegates in the convention hall on Thursday that the matter is among the most important issues Alaska Natives have faced.Delegates listen to Cook Inlet Region, Inc. CEO Sophie Minich deliver the keynote address during the Alaska Federation of Natives convention on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023 at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage.
The resolution was proposed by the Association of Village Council Presidents, representing 56 tribes in Southwest Alaska, and combined with similar resolutions from the AFN board. “It’s not a state fish, it’s not a federal fish, it’s a Yup’ik fish,” said Thomas Tilden, a Native leader from the Yup’ik region in the Bristol Bay area.
The proposed expansion seeks “to apply federal jurisdiction upstream of the refuge where there are no adjacent federal lands,” Vincent-Lang said.
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