Building a Pathway to Advance Alaskan

Inuit Food Sovereignty

2019 ATCEM

Presentation by: Vernae Angnaboogok

November 2019

ICC’s International Engagements

• CAFF

• SDWG

• PAME

• SAON

• Circumpolar Inuit Wildlife Committee & Network

• Circumpolar Inuit Health Steering Committee

• UNEP (incl. INC)

• UNFCC

• UNFPII

• EMRIP

• UNDRIP

• CITIES

• UNESCO

• WHO

• IMO

• FAO

• WIPO

• IPS

• EPPR

• AMAP

• CBD

• Commission on Human Rights

• Mercury Expert Group

• POPS Expert Group

• RAMSAR

Photo: Jackie Cleveland

Our Mandate 2018 Utqiagvik Declaration

• International Indigenous Human Rights and International Partnerships

• Food Security• Families and Youth• Health and Wellness• Education and Language• Indigenous Knowledge• Sustainable Wildlife Management• Environment• Sustainable Development• Communication and Capacity Building

Photo: Brian

Photo: Jackie Cleveland

The four Alaskan Inuit regions

that ICC Alaska advocates on

behalf. This is the homeland of

83 villages of which there are 96

federally recognized Tribes

across the four regions.

Our Inuit Ecosystem

Alaska Inuit Food Security is the natural right

of all Inuit to be part of the ecosystem, to

access food, to care-take, protect, and respect

all of life, land, water, and air.

Photo: Jacki Clevland

Food Sovereignty is the right of Alaskan Inuit to define our own hunting, gathering, fishing, land and water policies; the right to define what is sustainably, socially, economically and culturally appropriate for the distribution of food and to maintain ecological health; the right to obtain and maintain practices that ensure access to tools needed to obtain, process, store and consume traditional foods.

Photo by Mary Sage

Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty Initiative Project Goal:

To unify Alaskan Inuit through initiating a collective movement towards food sovereignty by developing an Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty Management Action Plan that advances traditional resource management practices.

Project Objectives

1. By the end of 24 months, Alaskan Inuit will unify and begin a collective movement towards attaining Food Sovereignty through convening 3 regional meetings and one statewide Summit to lay the foundation for creating an Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty Management Action Plan.

2. By the end of the 24th month, Alaskan Inuit will have completed the report from the Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty Summit and the Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty Management Action Plan.

3. By the end of 36 months, communications and outreach products promoting the Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty Strategy and Implementation Plan, including radio PSAs, video shorts for social media platforms, promotional flyers, and featured stories for relevant publications, will developed and disseminated throughout Alaskan Inuit communities and more Alaskan Inuit will join the movement.

Utqiagvik & Bethel Steering Committee Meetings

• Doreen Fog-Leavitt, Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope

• Willie Goodwin, Maniilaq Association

• Mary David, Kawerak, Incorporated

• Jennifer Hooper, Association of Village Council Presidents

• Nicole Kanayurak, North Slope Borough

• Nathan Hadley, Jr., Northwest Arctic Borough

• Marvin Okitkun, Alaska Beluga Whale Committee

• Arnold Brower, Jr., Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission

• Taqulik Hepa, Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council

• Millie Hawley, Alaska Nannut Co-Management Council

• Vera Metcalf, Eskimo Walrus Commission

• Billy Adams, Ice Seal Committee

• James Nicori, Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

• James Stotts, ICC Alaska President

• Merlin Koonooka, ICC Alaska Elder Board Member

• Chris Apassingok, Youth representative

• Thomas Napageak, Jr., Hunter representative from the North

Slope Region

Barriers to Advancing Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty

Regulations Too many Too restrictive Opportunistic hunt with regulations

o Emperor geese example, 3-4 years ago hunters were in trouble and hunting gear was confiscated

Conflict with timing of seasonsFragmented, Numerous Structures of Management

Divides us Different priorities not aligned or co-created Terminology used not aligned with us Lack of true understanding of resources Barriers differ per region Lack of communication

Lack of Authority or Voice Lack of management or even co-management authority No partnership at or with the State We are often viewed as a stakeholder Lack of respect in discussions Lack of respect for Indigenous Knowledge Co-management is not co-equal management

Federal Unpredictable and divided Trying to have authority in user agreements (i.e. beluga, polar

bear) However, feds have been easier to work with than the state

Funding Structure of funding Linear siloed organizations and agencies No adequate funding, staffing, and legal assistance

Other Japan pulling out of the International Whaling Commission (IWC)

Management Would not be so confusing Varies from village to village, down to the details, specific rules Need for modern management, research game management together with Inuit traditional

management Meshing Indigenous management with what “they” are doing, make it understandable Current framework needs to change to support adaptive management: seasons, changing

environment, our own ways of identifying when to go out and hunt Combination of Inuit, federal , state, international management needs to come together There are different practices in different areas over time Need management to take account for sharing, preparation, butchering, processing

Need for new, out of the box thinking

Bring old and new ways together eye opening for our youth to identify and be able to learn/practice what our ancestors have

laid down for us Their (Outside managers) views of hunting does not capture the spiritual/cultural

underpinning, hunting is way more for us than what they define, Spiritual, cultural, family.Management needs to be done at the global level- Inuit ecosystem management

We need International collaboration on wildlife management, cross border organizing within an ecosystem

We need cooperation Need partnerships across boundaries

Shared Vision to Advance Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty

Indigenous Knowledge We have access to the best information about our animals, their health and population numbers Focus on what is taught to youth by elders

o Example: Take only what you need or what you can share with elders/widows Utilizing IK to build better plans for research - population estimates etc. If we were managing a lot more of the management roles would be filled by our own people

(scientists, researchers, etc.)o Example: in Canada you have to get permission from Inuit. With the Inuvialuit Game Council

(IGC) they define what and who will be involved. Too often we are told you don’t have “the skills, capacity, capability to do it.” We have precedence, and

it is already being done. (Canada & Greenland) Important to share our knowledge across borders

o Example: sharing knowledge about whaling with communities who are having a hard timeOwnership of unwritten laws Governs over resource management

Self-governance with no outside imposed restrictions – we know our own restrictions Documentation of customary laws- proof of how we have managed years before the government took

overSet the rules and the foundation to manage our own resources

Ugruk tagging example, showing them we are in the lead, listen to us or nothing will be done right In our traditional ways to hunt, it was cooperation of hunting together – reducing struck and

loss. Quotas changed mindset/ways. Use our traditions and values to create Tribal ordinances

Education Bring back families teaching and giving youth an opportunity to learn from experienced hunters and family, preparing both roles – men and women

Bring back a lot of our culture Put pressure on parents Ensure no one is left behind – make pathways for those without a pathway to learn

Shared Vision to Advance Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty

Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty Summit“Akarpagmun Neqkaput” “Neqevut Tazimavek”“Niqivut Taimufa” “Neqkarkaput Akwarpak”

OUR FOOD FOREVER - September 10-12, 2019 – Nome, Alaska

Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty Summit

“We need to be at the management tables as equals, rather than as advisors.”

“Our Strengths: We have common customs, traditions, cooperation and teamwork, spirituality, celebrations, sharing (across our four regions).”

“We take only what we need. We are natural conservationists. Our approach is the ecosystem approach and considers everything is related, our people are part of the environment. Our food activities provide health, wellness, and spirituality.”

“Everything we do through our Indigenous Knowledge”

“Co-management must be done through consensus. We must have the right to say NO.”

“True co-management will bring back unity to our people. Our people want this change, everybody wants this.”

“

Alaskan Inuit Youth Priorities

• Importance of sharing, respecting all of life and each other

• learning from the animals and the elders, and the importance of our traditional foods to our identity

• Expressed the need to build pathways to always engage and include youth in resource management

• Work together, communicate, and cooperate more

• Make sure decisions are being informed by our Indigenous Knowledge

• Engage both male and female youth to bring their perspectives, unique to their roles and experiences

Dolly Swan from Kivalina, Donovan Okitkun from Kotlik, Chris Apassingok from Gambell, and Jakylou Olemaun from Utqiagvik

• Inuit to move forward with unity and solidarity

• importance of our Knowledge and traditional laws: that animals have remained healthy for thousands of years because we manage from our cultural values

• Our animals know no boundaries, need to manage in a holistic way, across ecosystems

• Participants called for the harmonization of the regulatory framework and approaches to the management of our traditional food resources in order to have adaptive, holistic management.

• Recommendations from the Summit are meant to inform an Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty Management Action plan to be drafted in 2020.

• Steering Committee will meet in Kotzebue to draft the Action Plan in April of 2020

Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty Summit Outcomes

Quyanaq, Quyaana, Taikuu

Photo: Noah F. Naylor

The Alaskan Inuit Food Sovereignty Initiative is supported by Grant #90NA8335-01-00 from ACF. Its content

are solely the responsibility of ICC Alaska and do not necessarily represent the official views of ACF.