Alaska Inter-Tribal Council : Advocating for Alaska Tribal Governments

Resolution 95-021 AI-TC

WHEREAS; the Chefornak Traditional Council is a federally recognized Native Government responsible for the social welfare and governance of the local tribal members and is an active member of the AI-TC, an inter-tribal non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the tribal capacity to assume management authority over the issues that impact the community and its tribal members; and

WHEREAS; the council recognizes that the natural resources that the community depends upon for its subsistence and community economy must be protected and preserved through a Traditional Resource Management approach that utilizes local people, traditional knowledge, and local tribal government in defining the extent of use of the resource, and the impact of outside influence on the3 resource and the Traditional use area; and

WHEREAS; the council has not received the technical assistance nor the financial resources to establish a Tribal Natural Resources Management Program but is subjected to State of Alaska and U.S. Federal rules and regulations that are imposed with little regard for the needs and desires of the local residents; and

WHEREAS; the tribal members have an interest in becoming trained and employed in the many areas of Environment and Resource Management because of the close affiliation of these work responsibilities to the traditional lifestyle of t he local tribal members and the importance of the protection of the resource and environment for continuing the subsistence lifestyle for future generations;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT; the Chefornak Traditional Council hereby requests that the AI-TC establish a Traditional Resource Management Program that will assist its member tribes in establishing a local Tribal Resource Management Program, train local members for employment in the various occupations associated with fisheries and Wildlife Management, Conservation Codes and Ordinances, Tribal Resource Court Systems, and Biological and Social Resources Comprehensive Planning; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED; that the council hereby requests that the Administration for Native Americans provide a grant to the AI-TC to develop and provide the necessary professional resource management technical support, assistance in establishing curriculum for use in the appropriate education and training delivery systems, and comprehensive planning assistance to provide our tribal government with the rightful opportunity to be co-managers of the natural resource while providing community members with viable career employment opportunities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED; that the AI-TC receive and administer the grant to coordinate the efforts of the member tribes to facilitate the maximum participation, to the extent possible, of all of the Alaska Tribal Governments and their common resource protection and preservation objectives.

Dated this 27 day of November, 1995

Chairman

Attested by:

Secretary/Treasurer