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 Bureau of Land Management is a federal agency that manages land within and/or near Native American Tribes and their reservations and communities, and is an organization that follows federal regulations passed by Congress; and
WHEREAS, the Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich’in Tribal Government (formerly known as the Native Village of Fort Yukon, IRA) is the federally recognized Native Governing body for the community of Fort Yukon, Alaska, whose Council represents some 1,500 Tribal Citizens; and
WHEREAS, the traditional homelands of the Gwich’in people are the Eastern Interior of Alaska from the Brooks Range Continental Divide to the north, the White Mountains watershed to the South, constituting the Yukon Flats and surrounding uplands to the east in the Upper Black River on into the Yukon and Northwest Territories; and
WHEREAS, the Bureau of Land Management is currently in the process of creating a new Eastern Interior Resource Management Plan; and
WHEREAS, the plan posits four alternatives for consideration; and
WHEREAS, only “Alternative B” establishes Areas of Critical Environmental Concern for the Upper Black and Salmon Rivers, establishes restrictions for OHV use in the White Mountains subunit and Steese subunits, as well as visual and leasing protections for the country; and
WHEREAS, the Gwich’in of Fort Yukon support “Alternative B” of the four proposed alternatives for the Bureau of Land Management’s holdings and the Tanana Chiefs Conference by resolution also supports “Alternative B.”
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the NCAI supports the Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich’in request for Government to Government consultation on the BLM’s Eastern Interior Plan; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NCAI supports adoption of “Alternative B” of the four proposed alternatives for each of the Bureau of Land Management’s subunits within this plan; establishing Areas of Critical Environmental Concern for the entire Upper Black River Subunit; the listing and approval of Wild Scenic River Status for the Grayling fork, Wood River, Salmon River, and the Upper Black River; the continued D1 withdrawal of the Upper Black River Subunit until such time as the customary, traditional, and subsistence uses of the region is adequately documented and researched; and the establishment of the Upper Black River as a National Conservation Unit by the United States Congress to protect subsistence uses; the protections it offers to the Gwich’in way of life; and
BE IT FINALLY 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 2012 Mid-Year Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at The Cornhusker Hotel from June 17-20, 2012 in Lincoln, Nebraska, with a quorum present.