The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council is an Indigenous grassroots organization, consisting of 70 First Nations and Tribes, dedicated to the protection and preservation of the Yukon River Watershed. The YRITWC accomplishes this by providing Yukon First Nations and Alaska Tribes in the Yukon Watershed with technical assistance, such as facilitating the development and exchange of information, coordinating efforts between First Nations and Tribes, undertaking research, and providing training, education and awareness programs to promote the health of the Watershed and its Indigenous peoples.
Our Mission
We, the Indigenous Tribes/First Nations from the headwaters to the mouth of the Yukon River, having been placed here by our Creator, do hereby agree to initiate and continue the clean up and preservation of the Yukon River for the protection of our own and future generations of our Tribes/First Nations and for the continuation of our traditional Native way of life.
Our Vision
Our vision, put simply, is “to be able to drink water directly from the Yukon River”. To that end, we dedicate ourselves to a number of tenets:
- Understanding: We are dedicated to understanding the Yukon River Watershed by means of monitoring, measuring and researching, and to use this knowledge to clean, enhance and preserve life along the Yukon River.
- Education: We are dedicated to promoting environmental and traditional education for the Indigenous Peoples of the Yukon River Watershed, by means of education programs, scholarships, internships, volunteer opportunities and incentive programs.
- Stewardship: In honor of our heritage, we are dedicated to being good stewards of the Yukon River Watershed and its tributaries, and to restore and preserve its health for the benefit of future generations.
- Enforcement: We are dedicated to developing and enforcing strong state, federal, territorial and provincial environmental standards to preserve the long-term health of the Yukon River Watershed.
- Organization: We are dedicated to providing greater organizational strength to the Indigenous Peoples of the Yukon River Watershed, both by assisting and improving Indigenous governments, and also by being a model of organization built on collaboration and mutual respect.
Our Executive Committee
The YRITWC Board of Directors is comprised of the Indigenous Peoples gathered at the bi-annual summit meetings. At these summit meetings, 14 steering committee members are selected (7 from Alaska and 7 from the Yukon) through a process of consensus. Executive Committee members do not represent any First Nation or Tribal Government; rather, they represent the geographic areas of those governments.
Alaska Region Executive Committee Members, 4-Year Terms (2005-2009)
Yukon Flats Representative:
Clarence Alexander
Fort Yukon, Alaska 99740 |
Tanana River Alternate:
Charlie Stevens
Nenana, Alaska 99760 |
Yukon Flats Alternate:
James Nathaniel Sr.
Chalkyitsik, Alaska 99788 |
Middle Yukon Representative:
Pat Sweetsir
Ruby, AK 99768 |
Tanana River Representative:
Edna Hancock
Nenana, Alaska 99760 |
Innoko Confluence/Region Representative:
Harry Maillelle, Member
Grayling, AK 99590-0049 |
Innoko Alternate:
Carl Jerue, Jr., Chief
Anvik, AK 99558-0010 |
Innoko Alternate 2:
John Deck, Member
Holy Cross, AK 99602-0089 |
Yukon Region Executive Committee Members, 4-Year Terms (2005-2009)
Dahka Tlingit Nation Representative:
Harold Gatensby
Carcross, YT Y0B 1B0 |
Northern Tutchone Alternate:
Chief Darren Isaac
Pelly Crossing, YT Y0B 1P0 |
Dahka Tlingit Alternate:
Carl Sidney
Teslin, YT Y0A 1B0 |
Kaska Tribal Council Representative:
Sam Donnessey
Watson Lake, YT Y0A |
Vuntut Gwich’in/Tr’ondek Hwech’in Rep:
Chief Darren Taylor
Dawson City, YT Y0B 1G0 |
Southern Tutchone Representative:
Geraldine Pope
Whitehorse, YT Y1A 2T8 |
Northern Tutchone Representative:
Chief Edie Skookum
Carmacks, YT Y0B 1C0 |
|