(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - In May 2022, Ketchikan Indian Community (KIC) submitted a proposal to the Federal Subsistence Board requesting a change in designation of Ketchikan from urban to rural. This change in Ketchikan’s status would help realize the Tribe’s mission to enhance and protect the interests of its Tribal citizens by increasing access to traditional fish and wildlife. Additionally, rural status would grant subsistence rights to all residents of Ketchikan and support more efficient food collection methods. 

The determination process is a three-year process, starting in 2022, with final determinations made in Spring 2025. In October of 2022, the Regional Advisory Council meets in Ketchikan to consider the proposals before them and hear from members of the public who wish to provide comments. At the conclusion of this meeting, the Regional Advisory Council will determine whether to recommend KIC’s proposal for further consideration by the Federal Subsistence Board.

Currently, the Federal Subsistence Board adheres to a federal-state dual management system for subsistence rights that does not allow differentiation between Alaskan Natives and non-Alaskan Natives for subsistence purposes. 

As the Ketchikan’s Native citizens are striving to live and revive their heritage, Ketchikan Indian Community has been focusing their efforts on ensuring the revival and continuation of “Our Way of Life.” That way of life is directly tied to the Tribe’s ability to hunt, fish, gather and share their traditional foods. This ability is currently hampered by the inappropriate actions of federal agencies that continue to fail to meet their trust responsibilities to the indigenous peoples of this land.

The Alaska Native Settlement Claims Act of 1971 and the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act of 1980 both demonstrate an expectation that the State of Alaska would uphold a promise to protect and ensure the subsistence needs of Alaska Natives, granting them subsistence priority. Ketchikan’s Tribal citizens have yet to receive sufficient access to their traditional foods so they can sustain themselves and their families throughout the year. Far from fulfilling their obligations, both the state and federal regulations and policies regarding hunting, fishing and gathering, heavily restricts the rights of Ketchikan’s Tribal citizens to safely and efficiently provide for the food needs of their families on their traditional lands.

By designating Ketchikan rural, the Federal Subsistence Board would essentially grant our Native community more access to their traditional foods. Ketchikan already has rural classification by a number of other federal departments and programs, such as healthcare, housing, and agriculture. Other Southeast Alaska communities similar in size, economy and population to Ketchikan have already received rural status. In Sitka, citizens are able to harvest in federally- and state-managed waters and to hunt on federal lands. This provides safer and more effective hunting and fishing opportunities that result in more food in residents’ freezers.

As recently as 2012, the Organized Village of Saxman (OVS) sought and received a change in status for residents of the City of Saxman, setting a precedent in support of Ketchikan’s current rural status proposal. In September, OVS Council passed a resolution supporting a change in Ketchikan’s status to rural. Located within the boundaries of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Saxman’s rural residents have access to the same food suppliers as the non-rural residents of Ketchikan. However, rural status allows Saxman residents to harvest ooligan in the traditional Unuk River while Ketchikan’s Tribal citizens are not qualified to do the same due to its urban status. 

Today, federal subsistence halibut permits are the only resource in Ketchikan’s Tribal citizens have flexibility in harvesting. Based on the rise in the number of permit granted to Ketchikan’s Tribal citizens over the last couple of years, it is clear that Tribal residents are using this option more and more to secure the fish necessary to feed their families throughout the year. Rural status would also allow our local fishers to harvest a wide array of fish closer to town, saving them money considering the high fuel prices and keeping them safer since smaller boats can remain in more protected waters.  

Should the current harvest restrictions remain in place, Ketchikan’s Native community is at risk of losing the opportunity to impart their knowledge surrounding the harvesting, processing, eating, and sharing of traditional foods to the next generation of Tribal children. The Tribe’s young people have already lost the opportunity to learn and enjoy the unique cultural experiences around fishing, preparing, and eating ooligan.

Gaining more access to traditional foods will also support the physical health of Ketchikan’s residents by improving the regular foods included in their diets. This is especially true for its Tribal citizens. Studies have proven the need for diets high in traditional foods in order to support and preserve this population’s health. Countless peer-reviewed studies have shown that indigenous peoples are healthier when they limit the intake of preserved westernized foods. Deer, salmon, halibut, moose, plants and other types of locally harvested foods are central to good health among our Tribal citizens. 

Federal management of resources in our community must be changed as soon as possible in order to stop and reverse the damage that has already been done to the Tribe and its children as their connection to the Tribe’s traditional way of life is being lost. If restored, the Tribe believes that sharing of traditional knowledge between generations will instill in Tribal youth a connection to their culture and heritage, providing a purposeful path forward in the future as keepers of their ancestors’ traditions and culture.

Food security in Ketchikan is also a growing issue for both our Native and non-native residents. Since the closure of Tatsuda’s, Ketchikan is now limited to two grocery stores, Walmart’s small selection of mainly processed-food; and a few convenience stores. Since the onset of the Covid pandemic, local stores have experienced regular shortages of staple food items, often resulting in barren shelves. 

At the same time, many residents are struggling to cover rising food costs. Shortages in Ketchikan’s marketplace paired with rising food costs further underscore the need to be prepared should supply chain disruptions occur in the future. By providing Ketchikan’s residents the right to access locally available foods, area residents can supplement their food supplies by more efficiently and effectively gathering fish and game in our area.

Members of the public are encouraged to review the Proposal NDP25-01 on page 36 of the 2023-25 Fisheries Proposal Book and present their comments and support before the RAC at the upcoming meeting.





Edited By: Ketchikan Indian Community


Source of News:

Ketchikan Indian Community
www. kictribe.org

Ketchikan Indian Community is the second largest tribe in the state of Alaska, Ketchikan Indian Community’s 6000+ tribal citizens are descendants of Tlingit, Haida & Tsimshian as well as Aleut and many other tribal nations. Ketchikan Indian Community incorporated in 1940 under the Indian Reorganization Act and is now a federally recognized Indian Tribe and a sovereign nation.

 

 

Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.

SitNews ©2022
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews are considered protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper freelance writers and subscription services. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.