Tlingit & Haida Knowledge in Governance, Stewardship, and Advancement of Alaska Fisheries

The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida) supports 19 communities in Southeast Alaska and represents Alaska’s largest federally-recognized Tribe with over 37,000 tribal citizens in communities spanning 35,000 square miles across the coastal region of Southeast Alaska. Since time immemorial, they have stewarded their homelands and waters and sustained themselves through traditional and customary fishing practices, as well as ways of life that support physical health, mental well-being, spiritual well-being, food sovereignty, culture, and language. Despite this, Tlingit and Haida knowledge, practice, and stewardship are still underrepresented in fisheries management in the region. Alaska fisheries are managed by myriad institutions, including the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. While engagement with Tribal leaders, experts, and community members has increased through the consultation process, opportunities still exist to strengthen relationships and co-create reliable, relevant and robust data to support Tribal communities in implementing fisheries policy decisions.

To meet this challenge, the project team seeks to identify and protect Tlingit and Haida Indigenous Knowledge and ways of knowing in Southeast Alaska through regional outreach, strategic planning, and sustained engagement to elevate regional tribal fisheries stewardship, co-management, and policy-making at tribal, state, and federal levels. The project team will establish a Fisheries Advisory Committee to support, advise, and guide the team’s work through a data inventory and assessment process. The regional assessment of existing fishery programs, monitoring, or partnerships will synthesize and quantify existing gaps of information and identify opportunities for future collaborative work between the Tribe and state/federal agencies or other organizations. Building on the regional assessment, the project team will also develop and publish a southeast Alaska Tribal Fishery StoryMap that identifies and documents regional fishery project locations of tribal communities that are active in state and federal fisheries management, or community-led monitoring programs. Finally, this project will also establish support tools for Tlingit and Haida’s Native Lands and Resources (NLR) Division and communities, including a tribal fishery data portal and fisheries “toolkit” to support southeast Alaska tribes in navigating the science-policy interface through state and federal fishery processes.

To explore more about the role of Indigenous Knowledge in fisheries governance across Southeast Alaska, view the interactive Southeast Alaska Tribal Fisheries StoryMap, developed as part of this project.

Project Team

• Karli Tyance Hassell (Anishinaabe) - Senior Policy Coordinator, NLR Division, Tlingit and Haida
• Heather (Kootink) Douville (Tlingit) - Senior Program Coordinator, NLR Division, Tlingit and Haida
• Ralph (Góos’k’) Wolfe (Tlingit) - Director of Indigenous Stewardship Programs, NLR Division, Tlingit and Haida
• Jill Weitz - Government Affairs Liaison, Office of the President, Tlingit and Haida