Alaska Native Allotments at Risk: Technological Strategies for Monitoring Erosion and Informing Solutions in Southwest Alaska
After the United States’ purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, Alaska Native lands have existed in a legal state of aboriginal title, whereby the land rights of its traditional occupants could be extinguished by Congress at any time. With the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANC...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:42acda11434749b0a07bd43e5e7e2250 2023-05-15T18:46:02+02:00 Alaska Native Allotments at Risk: Technological Strategies for Monitoring Erosion and Informing Solutions in Southwest Alaska Jonathan S. Lim Sean Gleason Hannah Strehlau Lynn Church Carl Nicolai Willard Church Warren Jones 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010248 https://doaj.org/article/42acda11434749b0a07bd43e5e7e2250 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/1/248 https://doaj.org/toc/2073-445X doi:10.3390/land12010248 2073-445X https://doaj.org/article/42acda11434749b0a07bd43e5e7e2250 Land, Vol 12, Iss 248, p 248 (2023) unpiloted aerial vehicles (UAVs) remote sensing Alaska high altitude photography (AHAP) satellites erosion climate justice Agriculture S article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010248 2023-01-22T01:27:14Z After the United States’ purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, Alaska Native lands have existed in a legal state of aboriginal title, whereby the land rights of its traditional occupants could be extinguished by Congress at any time. With the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971, however, Alaska Native individuals were given the opportunity to select and secure a title to ancestral lands as federally administered ANCSA 14(c) allotments. Today, though, these allotments are threatened by climate-change-driven erosion. In response, our article provides an erosion monitoring tool to quantify the damage caused by coastal and riverine erosion. Using the Yup’ik (pl. Yupiit) community of Quinhagak as a case study, we employ high-precision measurement devices and archival spatial datasets to demonstrate the immense scale of the loss of cultural lands in this region. From 1976 to 2022, an average of 30.87 m of coastline were lost according to 9 ANCSA 14(c) case studies within Quinhagak’s Traditional Land Use Area. In response, we present a free erosion monitoring tool and urge tribal entities in Alaska to replicate our methods for recording and quantifying erosion on their shareholders’ ANCSA 14(c) properties. Doing so will foster urgent dialogue between Alaskan Native communities and lawmakers to determine what measures are needed to protect Alaska Native land rights in the face of new environmental challenges. Article in Journal/Newspaper Yupiit Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Land 12 1 248 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
unpiloted aerial vehicles (UAVs) remote sensing Alaska high altitude photography (AHAP) satellites erosion climate justice Agriculture S |
spellingShingle |
unpiloted aerial vehicles (UAVs) remote sensing Alaska high altitude photography (AHAP) satellites erosion climate justice Agriculture S Jonathan S. Lim Sean Gleason Hannah Strehlau Lynn Church Carl Nicolai Willard Church Warren Jones Alaska Native Allotments at Risk: Technological Strategies for Monitoring Erosion and Informing Solutions in Southwest Alaska |
topic_facet |
unpiloted aerial vehicles (UAVs) remote sensing Alaska high altitude photography (AHAP) satellites erosion climate justice Agriculture S |
description |
After the United States’ purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, Alaska Native lands have existed in a legal state of aboriginal title, whereby the land rights of its traditional occupants could be extinguished by Congress at any time. With the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971, however, Alaska Native individuals were given the opportunity to select and secure a title to ancestral lands as federally administered ANCSA 14(c) allotments. Today, though, these allotments are threatened by climate-change-driven erosion. In response, our article provides an erosion monitoring tool to quantify the damage caused by coastal and riverine erosion. Using the Yup’ik (pl. Yupiit) community of Quinhagak as a case study, we employ high-precision measurement devices and archival spatial datasets to demonstrate the immense scale of the loss of cultural lands in this region. From 1976 to 2022, an average of 30.87 m of coastline were lost according to 9 ANCSA 14(c) case studies within Quinhagak’s Traditional Land Use Area. In response, we present a free erosion monitoring tool and urge tribal entities in Alaska to replicate our methods for recording and quantifying erosion on their shareholders’ ANCSA 14(c) properties. Doing so will foster urgent dialogue between Alaskan Native communities and lawmakers to determine what measures are needed to protect Alaska Native land rights in the face of new environmental challenges. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jonathan S. Lim Sean Gleason Hannah Strehlau Lynn Church Carl Nicolai Willard Church Warren Jones |
author_facet |
Jonathan S. Lim Sean Gleason Hannah Strehlau Lynn Church Carl Nicolai Willard Church Warren Jones |
author_sort |
Jonathan S. Lim |
title |
Alaska Native Allotments at Risk: Technological Strategies for Monitoring Erosion and Informing Solutions in Southwest Alaska |
title_short |
Alaska Native Allotments at Risk: Technological Strategies for Monitoring Erosion and Informing Solutions in Southwest Alaska |
title_full |
Alaska Native Allotments at Risk: Technological Strategies for Monitoring Erosion and Informing Solutions in Southwest Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Alaska Native Allotments at Risk: Technological Strategies for Monitoring Erosion and Informing Solutions in Southwest Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Alaska Native Allotments at Risk: Technological Strategies for Monitoring Erosion and Informing Solutions in Southwest Alaska |
title_sort |
alaska native allotments at risk: technological strategies for monitoring erosion and informing solutions in southwest alaska |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010248 https://doaj.org/article/42acda11434749b0a07bd43e5e7e2250 |
genre |
Yupiit Alaska |
genre_facet |
Yupiit Alaska |
op_source |
Land, Vol 12, Iss 248, p 248 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/1/248 https://doaj.org/toc/2073-445X doi:10.3390/land12010248 2073-445X https://doaj.org/article/42acda11434749b0a07bd43e5e7e2250 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010248 |
container_title |
Land |
container_volume |
12 |
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1 |
container_start_page |
248 |
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1766237266447958016 |