The National Congress of American Indians
Resolution #PHX-16-056
TITLE: Calling for Consultation with the Department of Labor on Disaster Relief for Dislocated Fishers
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, the Point Elliot Treaty of 1855, ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1859, Article 14, states that the federal government will establish schools to provide tribal members with job training; and
WHEREAS, the objective of the Magnusson Stevens Act as revised in 1996 and operated as the National Emergency Program (NEG) by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), is to restore continuous self-sufficiency, not short-term employment; and
WHEREAS, self-sufficiency requires the engagement of the individual, their family unit, home community, in the local and/or regional economy and ecosystem; and
WHEREAS, recurring fisheries’ economic disasters is harmful for tribal citizens and their way of life; and
WHEREAS, tribes are not responsible for the combination of factors that have challenged their access to their reserved fisheries, but tribes want to resolve the economic fisheries crisis in favor of its citizenship and seek continuous funding for ongoing problems; and
WHEREAS, tribes have successfully managed their resources for thousands of years, and have stated their willingness to participate in a process to resolve current issues with fisheries as true partners with federal government agencies; and
WHEREAS, tribes want to work with other governments, their people, and their financial and technical resources in a collaborative process to reverse depletion of salmon and related fisheries stocks and restore the abundance that is our heritage.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Congress of American Indians supports the request for consultation with the U.S. Department of Labor on its 2018-19 budget request currently under development to engage in discussions on how program services function and how they meet the needs of the dislocated fishermen, their families and their communities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.
CERTIFICATION
The foregoing resolution was adopted by the General Assembly at the 2016 Annual Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Phoenix Convention Center, October 9th- 14th 2016, with a quorum present.