The participants of the Alaska Federation of Natives conference in Anchorage have voted on Saturday to call upon Congress along with the government of America to ensure protection as well as increase the subsistence fishing and hunting rights of Alaska Native residents living in rural Alaska.
The largest state’s Alaska Native organization at odds with the state government which’s constitution is against laws that grant rural residents a higher subsistence right than urban residents, and most likely prohibits the giving of Native residents a higher priority over other residents.
AFN has previously sided with Federal government officials in a subsistence fishing suit against Alaska’s state. Alaska, and the decision on Saturday suggests that the dispute could escalate into trapping and hunting, and last longer than the legal case.
Participants at the conference ratified 27 of 29 resolutions listed on the agenda, with one urging the retention of Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system. People who oppose the system were present during the convention, collecting signatures to support a ballot measure aimed at its removal.
A different resolution which is supported by the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, calls for an independent federal investigation regarding Alaska Native deaths that occurred in Alaska state prisons and jails.
Alaska Native individuals comprise 22% of Alaska’s population, yet they comprise more than 41 percent of the Alaskan prison population. In the last year, 18 people were killed in state prisons and jails. Half of them of them were Alaska Native.
The only resolution that did not get a final vote on was one that asked for the Environmental Protection Agency to not extend further water treatment waivers for cities municipalities. This proposal was put to the committee for further consideration.
Previous AFN Conventions in the past have witnessed AFN delegates split by resolutions. Since the beginning of 2019 Three regional Alaska Native corporations and two major group of tribal members have left AFN.
The year before, heated discussions about salmon shortages led to certain Native groups in conflict.
Resolution debates in this year’s session were more sombre and concluded one hour earlier than the timetable in the agenda.
The issue of subsistence — dealing with traditional harvests of game and fish for personal, noncommercial uses received the most attention at the three-day conference.
Prior to the vote on Saturday, the delegate’s group spent the entire Friday afternoon debating the need to protect traditional subsistence fishing in the midst of the dramatic reduction in the returns of salmon to the mainland Alaska rivers.
As per the legislation of 1980, known as Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act The federal government has guaranteed subsistence benefits for Alaskans living in rural areas but not Alaska Native individuals specifically. AFN Delegates argue they believe that Alaska Native people should be granted a special permit, something the state does not want.
“A native-only option is a no-go for the state, and is a questionable issue under both the federal and state Constitutions.” declared Patty Sullivan who is the communications director of Alaska Department of Law. Alaska Department of Law.
The federal and state governments are also disputing in court over who should be given the power to regulate fishing in rivers that flow through federal parks and reserves.
In its defense the state has proposed that a federal judge should reconsider the cases together as Katie John in the aftermath of the case of an Ahtna elder who was involved in an extended legal dispute.
Katie John decisions Katie John decisions underpin current subsistence management. AFN is joining the federal government in saying that they should remain in remain in place.
On its own the state claims it’s being required to revisit Katie John because of federal actions, and not just because it is trying to reverse the precedent.
The ongoing disputes are still unresolved in the federal District Court in Anchorage. If the judge decides for the Federal government as well as AFN the precedents currently in place be in place.
This isn’t enough it seems, as certain Alaska Native people said at the convention. That’s the reason they’re urging Congress to take actions that will grant more rights to the rural Alaska Native people.
This article was originally published in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
