Title
A RESOLUTION TO PROHIBIT DEVELOPMENT IN THE CALVING AND POST-CALVING GROUNDS OF THE PORCUPINE CARIBOU HERD
Body
WHEREAS, the Cherokee Nation since time immemorial has exercised the sovereign rights of self-government in behalf of the Cherokee people;
WHEREAS, the Cherokee Nation is a Federally-recognized Tribal Nation with a historic and continual government to government relationship with the United States of America;
WHEREAS, the Cherokee Nation has a history of supporting other Tribal Nations including the Gwich'in Athabascan Indians of northeast Alaska and northwest Canada per Cherokee Nation Tribal Council Resolution No. 58-91 signed on July 1991;
WHEREAS, for thousands of years the Gwich'in Athabascan Indians of northeast Alaska and northwest Canada, have relied on caribou for subsistence, and continue today to subsist on the Porcupine Caribou;
WHEREAS, the Gwich'in have the inherent right to continue their own way of life; and this right is recognized and affirmed by civilized nations in the international covenants on human rights. Article I of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights read in part:
"...In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence."; and
WHEREAS, the health and productivity of the Porcupine Caribou Herd, and their availability to Gwich'in communities, and the very future of their people are endangered by proposed oil and gas exploration and development in the calving and post-calving grounds in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - Coastal Plain;
WHEREAS, the Gwich'in people of every community from Arctic Village, Venetie, Fort Yukon, Beaver, Chalkyitsik, Birch Creek, Stevens Village, Circle, and Eagle Village in Alaska; from Old Crow, Fort McPherson, Arctic Red River, Aklavik and Inuvik in Canada have reached consensus in their traditional way, and speak with a single voice as they celebrate the 25th Annivers...
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