Alaska Native communities have secured a major victory for their subsistence fishing and hunting rights after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the State of Alaska’s latest challenge to federal protections.
The decision ends the latest chapter of the long-running U.S. v. Alaska case and keeps federal subsistence management in place. That means Alaska Native communities can continue hunting and fishing on federal lands and waters to sustain their families and cultural practices. The ruling builds on the landmark Katie John cases and shuts down years of costly legal attacks on rural subsistence rights — attacks that have spanned generations and cost millions of dollars.
The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and the Association of Village Council Presidents say they will continue defending these rights if they are challenged again.
Photo: Drying Salmon by Dave Bezaire & Susi Havens-Bezaire (Flickr), licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Cropped for size.