Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Interior moves subsistence management office out of USFWS

Yellowstone's Native connections revealed in summer art installations

Prairie Island taps White Earth's supply to open dispensary in MN

(Photo: Mariam Nanalook / AFN)

Alaska’s heavy reliance on wild foods has prompted the U.S. Interior Department to take an unusual step.

As KNBA’s Rhonda McBride reports, it has pulled the federal Office of Subsistence Management out from under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

Alaskans eat more wild fish and game than any other state – about 18,000 tons a year – a lot of food that goes mostly to Alaska Native dinner tables.

In recognition of its importance, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) issued an order to transfer subsistence management to her office on July 15.


Sky Starkey, an attorney and longtime subsistence advocate, says this change makes sense.

He says USFWS’s authority to manage subsistence on federal lands began in 1999, after the state failed to pass a constitutional amendment for a rural subsistence priority.

Starkey says, back then, the move was viewed as temporary.


“As an accident of history, it stayed that way. And this recent action by the Secretary just corrects that.” 


Starkey says the Office of Subsistence Management’s new home will help prioritize subsistence in Alaska.


“Certainly putting them under the Secretary’s office highlights their mission, gives them more independence and strength, more profile and a lot more control over their mission and their budget.” 


U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup’ik/D-AK) pitched the idea of moving the office at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention last year.

She told the gathering that USFWS siphoned off funding meant for subsistence management and used it for other “unrelated” spending.


In a statement, Rep. Peltola praised the Interior Secretary for taking action.

She also mentioned her late husband, Buzzy Peltola, who had a long career with USFWS.


She said she and her husband worked on this proposal together.

“I know he’d be proud to see it happen.”

Emily Schwing and Sage Smiley of KYUK contributed to this story.

Roosevelt Arch, the north gate of Yellowstone National Park, one of the locations of this summer’s art exhibit. (Photo: Yunner / Wikipedia)

An arts nonprofit is partnering with Yellowstone National Park for a summerlong art installation at the park’s five entrances.

Wyoming Public Radio’s Olivia Weitz reports.

This is the fourth year of Mountain Time Arts’ “Yellowstone Revealed” series that aims to foster appreciation for Indigenous culture and tribal connections to the land.

This year, the project features a traditional teepee at each entrance.

Visitors can scan a QR code on the teepee to learn more about the structures and read stories about bison.

Victoria Cheyenne (Northern Cheyenne and Aymara) is a board member with the nonprofit.

“The connection is powerful and spiritual and the stories that people have to tell about bison are important, and they are deeply connected to the homeland of what has become Yellowstone National Park.”

The teepees are on display until early September.

A closing ceremony is planned in Gardiner near the Roosevelt Arch on September 9.

Minnesota’s Prairie Island Indian Community has opened a recreational cannabis dispensary.

Island Pezi, which means grass, is a Native cannabis company owned by the tribe located in Welch.

Prairie Island Tribal Council President Grant Johnson says the dispensary represents many important milestones and will create revenue for the tribe.

He also says it allows them to offer high-quality cannabis products to consumers.

The tribe is partnering with the White Earth Nation, carrying Native American-grown and branded cannabis from White Earth.

The tribe’s newly formed Cannabis Regulatory Commission will regulate the business.

Visitors to the business must be 21 or older.

 

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