Alaska’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling in the Kuskokwim River Intertribal Fishing Commission vs. the State of Alaska, affirming that tribes have priority subsistence fishing rights on federal lands.
In non-native communities, the term subsistence is often associated with lack: “barely getting by” vs. accruing wealth. However, in native communities it’s identified with taking what you need and not more–a more sustainable approach. The state had argued that that the subsistence priority should only apply to non-navigable waters, which would have significantly weakened protections for rural subsistence fishing, particularly for salmon.
In series of historic cases called the Katie John Trilogy, the courts had decided that state had illegally usurped traditional fishing rights that had been assured to those who had lived there for generations before Alaska became a state. The Ninth Circuit resolved the meaning of “public lands” as used in Title VIII, and the geographic scope of the rural subsistence priority.
“This victory preserving the rural subsistence priority is a testament to our collective resilience and determination to protect our rights and culture for future generations,” said Ana Hoffman, Alaska Federation of Natives Co-Chair in an article in Native News Online.
