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...
Published in: | Land |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010248 |
id |
ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-445X/12/1/248/ |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-445X/12/1/248/ 2023-08-20T04:10:22+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 agris 2023-01-13 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010248 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Landscape Archaeology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land12010248 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Land; Volume 12; Issue 1; Pages: 248 unpiloted aerial vehicles (UAVs) remote sensing Alaska high altitude photography (AHAP) satellites erosion climate justice indigenous data sovereignty archaeology Alaskan Native Yup’ik Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010248 2023-08-01T08:17:12Z 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. Text Yupiit Alaska MDPI Open Access Publishing Land 12 1 248 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
unpiloted aerial vehicles (UAVs) remote sensing Alaska high altitude photography (AHAP) satellites erosion climate justice indigenous data sovereignty archaeology Alaskan Native Yup’ik |
spellingShingle |
unpiloted aerial vehicles (UAVs) remote sensing Alaska high altitude photography (AHAP) satellites erosion climate justice indigenous data sovereignty archaeology Alaskan Native Yup’ik 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 indigenous data sovereignty archaeology Alaskan Native Yup’ik |
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 |
Text |
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 |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010248 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
Yupiit Alaska |
genre_facet |
Yupiit Alaska |
op_source |
Land; Volume 12; Issue 1; Pages: 248 |
op_relation |
Landscape Archaeology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land12010248 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/land12010248 |
container_title |
Land |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
248 |
_version_ |
1774724502758883328 |