Non-Subsistence Hunting

Compounding its effects on how Alaska Native subsistence customs are practiced, climate change is further altering the traditional foods that Alaska Native people in the Interior depend on.53 Warmer summer temperatures are causing wild berries to ripen earlier in the season,54 and warmer winter temperatures are resulting in fewer berries with a decrease in taste.55 Rain-on-snow events caused by warming winter weather have been linked to mass die-offs of caribou.56 Perhaps most profoundly, the size of wild salmon species have steadily decreased over the past six decades due in part to warmer ocean temperatures, with Chinook salmon shrinking by 8% on average since 1990.57 The cascading effects of climate change on Alaska Natives’ access to fish, game, and other traditional foods threaten the ability of Interior Alaska Natives to sustain their families and honor their subsistence traditions. And as Alaska’s ecosystems continue to undergo rapid changes due to accelerating climate change, the pressure on Alaska Native food security, livelihoods, and cultural integrity is certain to grow.

Non-Subsistence Hunting

Alaska Native ways of life are further challenged by the competing interests of non-subsistence sport hunters and fishers. Recreational hunting and fishing in Alaska are major industries with a substantial economic impact. In 2019, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game generated nearly $40 million in revenue—approximately 20% of the Department’s annual operating budget—from

53 Lynn, Kathy, John Daigle, Jennie Hoffman, Frank Lake, Natalie Michelle, Darren Ranco, Carson Viles, Garrit Voggesser, and Paul Williams. "The Impacts Of Climate Change On Tribal Traditional Foods." Climatic Change 120, no. 3 (2013): 545-556. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-0130736-1. 54 Rosen, Yereth. "Climate Change Is Affecting Wild Berries, And The People Who Depend On Them." Arctic Today, 2018. https://www.arctictoday.com/climate-change-affecting-wildberries-people-depend/. 55 Kellogg, Joshua, Jinzhi Wang, Courtney Flint, David Ribnicky, Peter Kuhn, Elvira González De Mejia, Ilya Raskin, and Mary Ann Lila. "Alaskan Wild Berry Resources And Human Health Under The Cloud Of Climate Change." Journal Of Agricultural And Food Chemistry 58, no. 7 (2010): 3884-3900. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021%2Fjf902693r. 56 Rosen, Yereth. “Apparently stable for now, Alaska’s biggest caribou faces a tough future of industrial development and climate warming.” Arctic Today, 2019. the issuing of more than 800,000 big game tags and fishing and licenses.58 More than half of the licenses and tags issued and over three-quarters of the revenue generated by ADF&G were from non-resident fishers and hunters. On top of outof-state (participants), nearly 300,000 Alaska residents, about half of the state’s adult population,59 bought hunting and fishing licenses. According to a 2014 report commissioned by ADF&G, spending on hunting and wildlife activities in Alaska generated $4.1 billion in economic activity and more than 27,000 jobs in 2011 alone.60

On the ground, Interior Alaska Natives engaged in traditional subsistence activities must compete with the thousands of recreational hunters and fishers who take valuable subsistence resources for sport in the region each year. Contrary to Native cultural values of sustainable stewardship, kinship with nature, and respect for all living things, some non-Native hunters wantonly waste game by failing to salvage all, or sometimes any, of the edible meat. Numerous high-profile incidents of sport hunters recklessly leaving game meat

https://www.arctictoday.com/apparently-stable-for-nowalaskas-biggest-caribou-faces-a-tough-future-of-industrialdevelopment-and-climate-warming/. 57 Oke, K. B., C. J. Cunningham, P. A. H. Westley, M. L. Baskett, S. M. Carlson, J. Clark, and A. P. Hendry et al. "Recent Declines In Salmon Body Size Impact Ecosystems And Fisheries." Nature Communications 11, no. 1 (2020): 1-13. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17726-z.pdf. 58 Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 2019 Calendar Year Licenses and Tags Issued, 2020. https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/license/pdfs/licenses_st amps_tags_issued_2019.pdf. 59 “U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Alaska.” U.S. Census Bureau, 2021. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/AK. 60 Woodford, Riley. “The Economic Importance of Alaska’s Wildlife: Wildlife Generates Billions for Alaska.” Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 2014. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.vi ew_article&articles_id=664.

unharvested have occurred in recent years.616263 Trail and land damage from all-terrain vehicle use during sport hunts also poses challenges for Alaska Natives hunting to feed themselves and preserve their ancestral customs.6465 With road and access improvements, non-Natives trespassing and attempting to hunt on Native allotments and ANCSA Corporation lands in the Interior have become increasingly problematic. As a result, Tanana Chiefs Conference passed a 2018 resolution opposing the trespass of non-Native hunters on traditional hunting grounds and has organized trespass mitigation efforts on Native land in the Interior.6667

Heightening the offense of food waste and intrusion on Native lands by sport hunters and fishers, Alaska Natives are subject to unjust surveillance, harassment, and criminalization by state and federal authorities for practicing their traditional subsistence customs. Native fishers and hunters in the Interior report being regularly ticketed and fined for violating the restrictive, often conflicting regulations imposed on them by Alaska’s dual subsistence management system. Walter Peter, Jr.’s story of criminalization in a report issued by the Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments in partnership with the Alliance for a Just Society is chilling:

“Us native hunters have been made to feel like criminals just to honor our traditional ways and feed our families.

61 Johnson, Patrick. “2 Massachusetts men charged in Alaska with illegally killing moose just for antlers.” MassLive, 2018. https://www.masslive.com/news/2018/10/2_massachusetts _men_charged_in.html. 62 Joling, Dan. “Alaska moose poacher fined $100,000, sentenced to jail.” Associated Press, 2018. https://apnews.com/article/6e1c6c84795b47fc9979fe11ee87 1ada. 63 Friedman, Sam. “Troopers investigate waste, issue dozens of citations in Fortymile Caribou hunt.” Fairbanks Daily NewsMiner, 2017. https://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/troopersinvestigate-waste-issue-dozens-of-citations-in-fortymilecaribou-hunt/article_4cc1be24-8f73-11e7-b68f6f4fb1e3ee3c.html. 64 Medred, Craig. “Moose hunt sparks worries about Indian Creek Trail.” Anchorage Daily News, 2016. https://www.adn.com/outdoors/article/moose-hunt-sparksworries-about-indian-creek-trail/2008/10/19/. A couple, three times I felt harassed by state and federal officers. One time a State trooper came to my work, to question me about my hunting and fishing. He made me look as if I were a fugitive, the way he conducted himself and did his business running around crazily in search of me […] Another time, I was accused of shooting a grizzly bear. I was surrounded by two Fish and Wildlife officers, and a city police officer. They cornered me and questioned me like a criminal. On a different occasion, a State Trooper came to my home under the accusation I had taken a cow moose. When I was friendly and helpful he asked to see my harvest ticket […] He ticketed me $160 for not punching my harvest ticket.”68

While state and federal agencies shape regulations to fulfill the agendas of non-subsistence sport hunters and fishers who routinely desecrate Native lands, resources, and values, Alaska Natives face harassment and criminalization for keeping with their sacred traditions. Under the compounding pressures of a regulatory regime warped by powerful interests and competition from outside hunters and fishers, Alaska Native subsistence lifeways in the Interior face an uncertain future.

65 McGroarty, Erin. “Massacre on the Steese: Hunters leave foot trails wrecked and littered with carcasses after expanded caribou hunt.” Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 2020. https://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/massacreon-the-steese-hunters-leave-foot-trails-wrecked-and-litteredwith-carcasses-after-expanded/article_08ff88ea-ed96-11ea963a-c33e2a52e102.html. 66 “Resolution 2018-32: Prevent Outside Hunters from Trespassing and Intruding on Native Traditional Hunting Grounds.” Tanana Chiefs Conference, 2018. https://www.tananachiefs.org/resolution-2018-32/. 67 “Resolution 2019-21: Protecting Opportunities to Hunt for Local Village Residents.” Tanana Chiefs Conference, 2019. https://publicdocushare.tananachiefs.org/docushare/dsweb/ GetRendition/Document-44348/html. 68 Alliance for a Just Society and Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments. Survival Denied: Stories from Alaska Native Families Living in a Broken System, 2010. http://allianceforajustsociety.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/03/Survival-Denied2.pdf.