Native Brotherhood welcomes continued federal subsistence oversight

Published on March 4th, 2010

By DIMITRA LAVRAKAS

Calling the joint federal and state management of subsistence rights in Title VII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 "broken," Alaska Native Brotherhood president Willard Jackson said the organization supports the federal government's management of subsistence on its lands and waters.

Founded in 1912, ANB was the first organization to represent the rights of Alaska Natives. It has a counterpart, the Alaska Native Sisterhood.

Since October, the Department of the Interior has been reviewing the Federal Subsistence Management Program in Alaska and has conducted meetings in communities across the state.

At the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in October, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the review and also at a conference with Tribal Nations and President Obama in November.

"I traveled to Washington, D.C., and met with Obama and Secretary Salazar," Jackson said by phone from Ketchikan. "The meeting gave every region a chance to talk about what we were concerned about, and we certainly talked about our way of life, about subsistence."

ANB sent out a letter to President Obama, but Jackson said they haven't heard back yet.

Federal viewpoint

Pat Pourchot, special assistant to the Secretary of the Interior for Alaska Affairs, said the draft recommendations will likely be ready to send to Salazar by mid-March.

"We've received 115 comments covering a wide variety of concerns," Pourchot said.

Pourchot suggested people go to www.doi.gov/whatwedo/subsistencereview to view a summary of the issues that have been raised so far.

For instance, the site identifies Title VIII statutory issues that address restriction of subsistence priority to "rural residents": "Limiting subsistence priority to rural residents undermines ability of Alaska Natives to engage in practices necessary to long-term survival of their cultures. Title VIII should be amended to provide for 'Native plus rural' or 'tribal plus rural.'

"I feel that Alaska IRA tribes should be given back their fisheries and their subsistence rights," he said.

IRA tribes are those tribes covered by the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which was initiated by the New Deal to strengthen tribal governments.

Jackson also believes that commercial fishing within the 200-mile limit affects subsistence catches. He is concerned that his grandchildren may not have any fish available to catch in the future.

In a December news release, ANB stated: "From the Tongass Forest to the Yukon River country, the State of Alaska has limited the number of fish per household per year while allowing a disproportionate allocation of fish catch to commercial fishermen and sports users. This policy has made a mockery of the subsistence priority provided to Alaska Natives and rural people under Title VIII of ANILCA."