Joaqlin Estus

Michigan Lake sunset by Cass Balthazira July 3, 2010 (Courtesy of Creative Commons). Department of Interior regulations ban tribes from re-applying for federal recognition if they were once denied. The rule is in the process of getting changed but…

Joaqlin Estus ICT ANCHORAGE — “The foundation of the Alaska Federation of Natives is our people,” said the statewide organization’s President and CEO Julie Kitka, Chugach Eskimo, after a quarterly meeting of the organization’s board held on May 15.…

ANCHORAGE — Two Alaska Native corporations own and want to develop the site of what would be the world’s largest pure gold open-pit mine. They say the mine would bring jobs, a stronger economy and much-needed infrastructure to an impoverished region.…

ANCHORAGE — Arctic educators say too many Alaska Native and American Indian students are not well served by Western school systems. The solution lies in self-determination, said panelists speaking at the Arctic Encounter Symposium on March 31 in…

Joaqlin Estus ICT ANCHORAGE — Fifteen southeast Alaska tribes hope to use ancient ties to Canadian areas to get greater say in mining permits on rivers originating in the country. A new Canadian law and a 2021 Canadian Supreme Court decision also…

ANCHORAGE — As new policies and directions for a changing Arctic are being decided, Indigenous leaders at an Anchorage event have said, “nothing about us without us.” Without them taking part in decision making, they fear the result will be costly…

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The state of Alaska is suing Assistant Secretary of Interior Bryan Newland over whether the federal agency can take land into trust in Alaska, that is, whether tribes can transfer title to the federal government to hold land for…

By Joaqlin Estus ICT Considering it is the largest state in the U.S. and home of 229 federally recognized tribes, Alaska has a government system that can be confusing. A panel discussed the respective roles of such entities as Alaska Native…

By Joaqlin Estus ICT The state of Alaska has finally, officially recognized nearly 230 tribes within the state, a move that many hope will improve relations between governments and people. Alaska governor Mike Dunleavy signed House Bill 123, the…

Joaqlin Estus ICT ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The National Congress of American Indians is missing its key leader as it kicks off its annual midyear conference in Anchorage, Alaska. With some 200 tribes among its membership, NCAI is the nation’s largest…

A tribe on the Pribilof islands in the Bering Sea, 300 miles off the west coast of Alaska, is trying a new approach to co-management. St. Paul has submitted a marine sanctuary nomination for an area 100 nautical miles around its island. It's taking…

A federal judge upheld the treaty rights for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Friday. U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson issued a 93-page decision on Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe v. County of Mille Lacs that affirms the reservation’s boundaries are…

Joaqlin Estus Indian Country Today Alaska voters on Nov. 8 will get to weigh in on state recognition of tribes. Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer Tuesday certified that an initiative sponsored by Alaskans for Better Government has enough qualified signatures to…

Joaqlin Estus Indian Country Today “Since right now we're really celebrating and looking at the 50th anniversary of ANCSA. I have to say that William Paul (Sr, Tlingit) should be regarded as the father of Native land claims,” said Sealaska Heritage…

Inspiration, wisdom, resilience. Those are some of the qualities of six tribes the Honoring Nations program of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development praised recently. “Honoring Nations is a national awards program that…

Joaqlin Estus Indian Country Today After winning a landmark case before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Sinixt, or Arrow Lakes Band of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington, are looking forward exercising rights and…

Canada and the United States closed their border to non-essential travel in March 2020 and have renewed the restrictions monthly ever since, most recently on July 5. We'll look at the varying border-crossing requirements for the Akwesasne people of…

Tribes exist and have the right to make their own laws and live by them. So say the U.S. Constitution and countless laws, regulations, and programs that fund tribes to exercise self-governance and tribal sovereignty. Getting the state of Alaska to…

The state of Alaska has announced it’s taking over management of navigable waters from the federal government. Gov. Mike Dunleavy in late March accused the federal government of ignoring state rights and delaying conveyance of title to land under…

The agency manages 500 million acres — more than Texas, California, Montana and New Mexico combined — and the range of its operations is mind-boggling Deb Haaland, Laguna and Jemez Pueblos, would wield a lot of power as Interior secretary. She’d also…