TITLE: Adopting Guidance Principles to Address the Impacts of Climate Change
WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent sovereign rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the laws and Constitution of the United States, to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise promote the health, safety and welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution; and
WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was established in 1944 and is the oldest and largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments; and
WHEREAS, American Indian and Alaska Natives are leaders in the nation on the protection of ecosystems and the environment since time immemorial and have a sacred responsibility to protect our resources and ways of life for generations to come; and
WHEREAS, American Indian and Alaska Natives depend upon the health of their ecosystems and natural resources for social, economic, and cultural vitality; and
WHEREAS, American Indians and Alaska Natives are place-based people and recognize that climate change is one of the most critical issues we face since it is threatening and can destroy in the future, indigenous ways of life that has been sustainable for thousands of years.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NCAI commits to collaborating with ATNI to develop an action plan which lays guiding principles and action steps a to address the impacts of climate change upon tribal governments, cultures, and lifeways; that will protect and advancing our treaty, inherent and indigenous rights, tribal lifeways and ecological knowledge; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in the action plan, NCAI shall collaborate with ATNI to evaluate effectiveness of Executive Order 13175, and Secretarial Order 3289, and the United Nation Declaration of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), in protecting and advancing the principles in the action plan; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NCAI collaborates with ATNI and calls upon the federal government to provides tribes equitable opportunities and funding to participate meaningfully in the development and implementation of federal climate change policies and programs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NCAI collaborates with ATNI and calls upon Congress and relevant federal agencies to explore and advocate for tribal eligibility for federal energy and natural resource management programs that provide funding to states and local governments but exclude tribal governments and intertribal consortia by law, regulation, or practice; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NCAI collaborates with ATNI and commits to create a Tribal Climate Change Task Force, composed of tribal governments, intertribal organizations, and non-tribal partners to develop and implement the plan of action; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.