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Photo: Hoonah Head Start students try herring eggs. (Courtesy Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska)
The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska has announced that its annual traditional food distributions were canceled this year. In March, the federal government canceled a funding agreement with the tribe.
KTOO’s Yvonne Krumrey reports.
For the last three years, the tribe distributed herring eggs, salmon, and black cod to tribal citizens in each of its recognized communities — from villages in Southeast to cities like Anchorage and Seattle.
But the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cancelled funding that provided the tribe’s food assistance program.
A USDA notice to Tlingit and Haida said that the tribe’s community food distribution “no longer effectuates agency priorities and that termination of the award is appropriate”.
Aaron Angerman is Tlingit and Haida’s food security program manager.
He said the community distribution program started in 2022 to promote self-sufficiency and to reduce reliance on food shipped from the Lower 48.
“Our answer to that, and then our heavy reliance on barge systems and things like that, was to turn back the clock a bit about food sovereignty, which is something that our people have relied on since time immemorial.”
The tribe planned to use more than $500,000 from USDA for the distribution.
The money was allocated to the tribe in January, but USDA sent Tlingit and Haida a notice in March that said the agreement had been canceled.
The money was part of a program called the Local Food Purchase Assistance Agreement which was intended to encourage local governments to buy from farmers and food producers.
And that aligned with the tribe’s goal to keep more traditional foods that are harvested in Southeast Alaska in the fridges and freezers of tribal members.
“For us to be able to take a food that was purchased from commercial vendors, to contract those vendors who are tribal citizens, to keep not only that funding within the tribe and the region, but also take a food source that was harvested in our area and typically sent overseas to bring that food back to our people and to be shared.”
The herring egg distribution is special for this reason: because of overfishing and exporting of herring and herring roe, the fish now only spawn in very limited areas.
Angerman said his team is working to get more secure funding. But there’s a lot of other work they are doing to further the understanding and use of traditional foods in the meantime.
“We need to work with elders and those with traditional ecological knowledge to see why and where and how we harvested previously, then to not only do that, but to teach people how to harvest themselves, how to process that food, how to put up or prepare that food.”
Because, he said, if a salmon ends up on someone’s doorstep, and they don’t know how to process it, that isn’t food sovereignty.
Angerman said Tlingit and Haida was able to purchase enough herring eggs to bring to some of their tribally run preschool classrooms this year, so the youngest tribal citizens can still learn about the importance of traditional food and land stewardship.
And some distributions in Washington and Oregon will still happen, according to the tribe’s release.
The local tribal council in Seattle used different funding sources to set aside money for distributions to reach elders outside of Alaska.
Western Native Voice advocates at the Montana State Capitol. (Courtesy Western Native Voice / Facebook)
On the heels of a busy Montana legislative session, the advocacy group Western Native Voice is setting its sights higher and opening a Washington D.C. office next week.
Kathleen Shannon reports.
The nonprofit formed in 2022 to advocate for equity and opportunity for Montana’s Native people.
Since then, the group has gained members in, and collaborated with tribes across, many western states.
Keaton Sunchild, director of government and political relations for the group, said it can be difficult to operate at a national level from 2,000 miles away.
“Being able to be right there, be on top of the action and be able to use our voice in Washington is going to help us be a little bit more proactive.”
He pointed out top issues at the national level include criminal justice funding for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and drug crises disproportionately affecting tribal communities.
Sunchild noted the national office will open May 12.
Sunchild called this year’s Montana legislative session “pretty successful” for Western Native Voice, but highlighted one area of continued concern is voting rights.
Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) is expected to decide Tuesday on Senate Bill 490, which would add restrictions to same-day voter registration, but Sunchild has a plan for that too.
“It’s a road we’ve been down before. Trying to figure out the best way forward for that, whether that’s through the courts in Montana, maybe if there’s some sort of backstop we can look at federally.”
Other voting access issues Sunchild plans to work on are funding for more satellite elections offices and blanket protections for tribal IDs as valid voter registration identification.
Events were held across the country Monday to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous people.
Leaders of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs also recognized the day.
U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), chair of the committee, and Brian Schatz (D-HI), vice chair, acknowledge the families and communities who have lost loved ones, and said actions need to continue to raise awareness and seek justice.
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