TITLE: Reinstate the Provisions of the Executive Order Creating the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area
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 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 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, we, through our federally recognized tribal governments, have the right to participate fully in all levels of decision-making in policies that affect our tribes, and to exercise our government-to-government responsibilities; and
WHEREAS, the Bering Sea is part of the identities as Yup’ik and Inupiaq people, and is as important to us as the land; and
WHEREAS, the tribal consortium Bering Sea Elders Group (BSEG) passed a resolution in June 2016 asking President Obama to issue an Executive Order protecting the Bering Sea and listing the features we wanted in that Order; and
WHEREAS, on December 9, 2016, President Obama issued Executive Order 13754 creating the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area, and its provisions were substantially similar to those BSEG requested in our resolution; and
WHEREAS, the Executive Order calls for a comprehensive approach to enhancing the resilience of the northern Bering Sea region; and
WHEREAS, the Executive Order calls for creating the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area Task Force within the White House’s Arctic Executive Steering Committee and creating the Northern Bering Sea Intergovernmental Tribal Advisory Council; and
WHEREAS, the Executive Order requires the consideration of traditional knowledge in decisions affecting the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area; and
WHEREAS, in January 2017, members of BSEG went to Washington, D.C. to urge Alaska’s congressional delegation to protect Executive Order 13754 and not allow it to be revoked; and
WHEREAS, on April 28, 2017, with no notice or consultation with the Tribes, President Trump rescinded Executive Order 13754 in a new Executive Order called “Implementing an America First Offshore Strategy;” and
WHEREAS, Kawerak, Inc. and the Association of Village Council Presidents have passed resolutions requesting that Executive Order be reinstated as it was originally issued.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) urges the federal government to take comprehensive administrative or legislative action to protect the resilience of the northern Bering Sea region; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Executive Order 13754, which created the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area, be reinstated exactly as originally issued; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that traditional knowledge should be incorporated into all federal decision-making that would affect the northern Bering Sea region; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.