The declaration came after a meeting of Indigenous Nations at the annual Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) Summit, a consortium of 15 Tsimshian, Tlingit and Haida Nations “upholding their sovereign rights to steward traditional lands, waterways, and sacred sites.”
The focus of the meeting was the apparent decline in salmon populations and how Indigenous communities can work together across borders to preserve the stocks.
A working group was recently formed to determine how to move forward, with the goalto assert Indigenous authority over traditional territory, and have a greater say over big resource development projects that might threaten salmon stock.
“We’re just exploring the idea at this point, to see how we can work together to manage salmon for our future generations,” said Guy Archibald, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC).
“This is an emergency. We can no longer wait. We have to act now.”
Delegates at the SEITC summit
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