Subsistence
AFN urges the Secretary of Interior and the Congress to resist attempts by the State of Alaska and others to weaken the current federal law protecting subsistence in Alaska. In 1980, Congress understood that the economic and cultural survival of Alaska Natives is tied directly to our ability to continue to engage in our centuries-old tradition of hunting, fishing and gathering. Today, the only significant protection for our way of life is Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) which provides a priority for “subsistence” over sport and commercial uses of fish and game to residents of rural Alaska. The federal protections in ANILCA were the fulfillment of promises made by the United States to Alaska Natives during the settlement of our land claims. Powerful anti-subsistence forces at work in Alaska seek to weaken or even repeal this law. Given this Administration’s desire for more self-sufficiency in impoverished communities, it must stand as the bulwark against efforts to undermine this 30- year-old federal law. The Secretary of Interior and Congress should support efforts by the Native community to strengthen federal protections for subsistence and oppose any legislative effort to undermine these essential federal protections.
• Alaska v. Norton, No. 05 CV 12 (RMC), D. Columbia, filed 1/6/05. AFN also urges the Department of Interior to vigorously defend the subsistence regulations that were adopted by the Departments of Agriculture and Interior in January 1999, to implement the Katie John decision. A recent State of Alaska lawsuit seeks to have the court reduce the waters subject to Title VIII of ANILCA, and thus the overall scope of federal jurisdiction over subsistence fishing. If the State succeeds in its efforts, Alaska Natives will be left with near meaningless protections for subsistence fishing. The Native community stands firmly opposed to the State’s efforts to undermine the protections for subsistence currently in place in federal law, and urges the Secretary to broadly interpret the scope of federal jurisdictionin order to fulfill its trust responsibility to Alaska Natives.
• Migratory Birds – Federal Duck Stamps: Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, commonly known as “Duck Stamps” were originally created in 1934 as the federal licenses required for hunting migratory waterfowl. All persons over the age of 16 must purchase a Federal Duck Stamp each year if they want to hunt migratory birds. At the time this legislation was enacted, Alaska Natives were prohibited, by the migratory bird treaty between the U.S. and Canada, from engaging in their customary and traditional spring and summer subsistence harvest of migratory birds. In 1996, however, the treaty was amended to recognize a customary and traditional spring and summer subsistence harvest of migratory birds and their eggs in Alaska. The protocol amending the treaty required that any “regulations implementing the non-wasteful taking of migratory birds and the collection of their eggs by indigenous inhabitants of the State of Alaska shall be consistent with the customary and traditional uses of such indigenous inhabitants for their own nutritional and other essential needs.” Canada Protocol, Art. II, § 4(b)(1). The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 16 U.S.C. § 708 implements the Treaty. Despite the fact duck stamps are inconsistent with the customs and traditions of Alaska Natives, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has insisted on grafting the requirements of the 1934 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act into the regulations governing the subsistence hunt. Unless that Act is amended, the customary and traditional spring and summer harvest of migratory birds and their eggs will be deprived of an important part of its customary and traditional character, as Native hunters and egg gatherers find themselves subjected to a regulatory requirement that makes little sense in the context of this unique harvest. AFN urges Congress to amend the Duck Stamp Act, 16 U.S.C. § 718a, by adding an exemption for “eligible indigenous inhabitants of the State of Alaska engaged in the customary and traditional harvest of waterfowl and their eggs.”
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