Malcolm Rivera
The US Constitution is a living document that evolves, adapts to new circumstances, and provides guiding concepts for laws. It establishes justice, ensures domestic tranquility, and promotes the general welfare of the people of the United States. While the Constitution does not explicitly mention subsistence living, it does recognize the importance of providing for the common defense and securing the blessings of liberty. In practice, this includes ensuring that citizens have the resources necessary to sustain their lives. In Alaska, the Federal Subsistence Management Program interprets this to mean that rural Alaskans have the opportunity to live a subsistence lifestyle on federal public lands and waters, maintaining healthy populations of fish and wildlife for consumption. This interpretation of the Constitution ensures that citizens have access to the resources necessary to sustain their way of life.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Concept | A living constitution is one that evolves, changes over time, and adapts to new circumstances without being formally amended. |
| Supporters | Supporters of a living constitution advocate for a broad application in accordance with current views. |
| Critics | Critics argue that a living constitution is more open to judicial manipulation. |
| Proponents | Proponents of a living constitution argue that the constitution's framers were aware of the debates and would have known the confusion that not providing a clear interpretive method would cause. |
| Rights and Powers | The rights and powers provided in the constitution remain, but the scope of those rights and powers should account for society's present experiences. |
| Federal Subsistence Management Program | A multi-agency effort to provide the opportunity for a subsistence way of life by rural Alaskans on federal public lands and waters while maintaining healthy populations of fish and wildlife. |
| Subsistence Definition | "The customary and traditional uses by rural Alaska residents of wild, renewable resources for direct personal or family consumption as food, shelter, fuel, clothing, tools, or transportation." |
| Current Rural Subsistence Harvest | According to the Federal Subsistence Management Program, the current rural subsistence harvest is about 295 pounds of food per person per year, which is higher than the US average consumption of 255 pounds of domestic meat, fish, and poultry per year. |
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What You'll Learn
Federal Subsistence Management Program
The Federal Subsistence Management Program is a multi-agency effort to provide the opportunity for a subsistence way of life for rural Alaskans on federal public lands and waters. This includes managing subsistence fishing and hunting, which provide a large share of the food consumed in rural Alaska. The state's rural residents harvest about 18,000 tons of wild foods each year, with fish making up about 56% of this harvest. This dependence on wild resources is cultural, social, and economic for Alaska's indigenous inhabitants, who have relied on the traditional harvest of wild foods for thousands of years.
The program is unique to the United States and is managed by the Federal Subsistence Board (FSB) under the direction of the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture in Washington, D.C. The FSB is a decision-making body that oversees the Federal Subsistence Management Program and includes regional directors or their representatives from various agencies, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and U.S. Forest Service. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Subsistence Management (OSM) is the lead administrative office for the program and provides staff support to the FSB.
The Federal Subsistence Management Program also includes input from ten regional advisory councils (RACs) representing ten geographic areas of Alaska. These RACs make recommendations on proposals to change subsistence regulations and actively seek input from local rural residents who rely on park and monument resources for subsistence through the SRCs. The RACs and SRCs play a critical role in linking local communities with the larger Federal Subsistence Management Program.
The Federal Subsistence Management Program aims to balance the needs of rural Alaskans for subsistence resources with the maintenance of healthy populations of fish and wildlife on federal public lands and waters. This includes managing subsistence hunting, trapping, and fishing activities on federally managed lands in Alaska, including those managed by the National Park Service. The program recognises the unique cultural, social, and economic importance of subsistence activities for Alaska's indigenous inhabitants and works towards accommodating their needs while also conserving natural resources for future generations.
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Customary and traditional uses
The customary and traditional uses of natural resources for subsistence have a long history in Alaska. Alaska Native peoples have relied on subsistence harvesting for thousands of years, and these practices are deeply intertwined with their unique cultural identities and ways of life. In recent times, non-Native people living in rural Alaska have also come to depend on natural resources for their social and economic livelihoods.
The Federal Subsistence Management Program works to ensure that subsistence activities do not endanger populations of fish and wildlife. The customary and traditional harvest of subsistence resources is governed by Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). This act defines "subsistence uses" as "customary and traditional" and protects these practices to the maximum extent possible. The Board of Fisheries and the Board of Game are responsible for identifying fish stocks and game populations that are customarily and traditionally used for subsistence and must provide for these uses first, before commercial or recreational ones.
The customary and traditional uses of natural resources for subsistence in Alaska include food, shelter, clothing, transportation, handicrafts, customary trade barter and sharing. Specialized products like seal oil are bartered and exchanged in traditional trade networks between communities. Traditional products are also used in funerals, marriages, Native dances, and other ceremonial occasions. Arts and crafts made from ivory, grass, wood, skins, and furs are also important aspects of subsistence living.
The rural subsistence harvest is about 295 pounds of food per person per year, which is higher than the US average consumption of 255 pounds of meat, fish, and poultry. The Federal Subsistence Board meets to act on proposed changes to regulations, including season dates, harvest limits, methods, and means of harvest, and customary and traditional use determinations. These determinations grant priority to residents of specific communities or areas for taking fish or wildlife in those locations.
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Rural subsistence harvest
In the United States, Alaska is unique in its priority for consumptive use of natural resources for subsistence. This is due to the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) passed by Congress in 1980, which gives legal priority to the customary and traditional use of wild, renewable resources by rural Alaskans for personal and family consumption. The current rural subsistence harvest in Alaska is approximately 295 pounds of food per person per year, which is higher than the average consumption of meat, fish, and poultry in the US.
Intensive subsistence agriculture is a variation of subsistence farming where farmers cultivate small plots of land using more labour and simple tools, but are able to grow multiple crops annually due to favourable climate and soil conditions. This type of farming is prevalent in densely populated parts of Asia, such as the Philippines, and farmers often use manure, artificial irrigation, and animal waste as fertilizer to increase productivity.
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Federal subsistence priority
The Federal Subsistence Management Program is a multi-agency effort to provide the opportunity for a subsistence way of life for rural Alaskans on Federal public lands and waters. This is done while also maintaining healthy populations of fish and wildlife. The Federal Subsistence Board has been delegated the authority to manage fish and wildlife for subsistence uses on these lands and waters.
The state's rural residents harvest about 18,000 tons of wild foods each year, which equates to an average of 295 pounds per person. Fish makes up about 56% of this harvest. Nowhere else in the United States is there such a heavy reliance upon wild foods. This dependence on wild resources is cultural, social, and economic. Alaska's indigenous inhabitants have relied upon the traditional harvest of wild foods for thousands of years and have passed this way of life, its culture, and values down through the generations.
The Federal Subsistence Board and the Federal Subsistence Program are being assessed to better accommodate Alaska Native subsistence needs. The Department of the Interior has announced listening sessions and consultation sessions to gather input on these changes.
The Federal Subsistence Management Program provides up-to-date information on the subsistence way of life for all rural Alaskans. This includes information on subsistence fishing and hunting, which provide a large share of the food consumed in rural Alaska.
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Subsistence way of life
A subsistence way of life is a traditional way of living off the land that has sustained Alaskans for thousands of years. It involves hunting and gathering food, as well as utilizing natural resources to meet basic needs. For many Alaska Natives, subsistence living is deeply ingrained in their worldview and cultural identity, encompassing history, culture, traditional values, and customs.
In rural Alaska, individuals like Keemuel Kenrud have grown up with a subsistence lifestyle. Keemuel, who works for the US Fish & Wildlife Service, recalls the significance of hunting a moose for himself and his village. He emphasizes that without this way of life, he wouldn't know how to live on the planet. Similarly, Marjorie Tahbone, an Inupiaq woman, recounts the experience of butchering a bearded seal at the age of sixteen, guided by her mother's teachings. She finds deep meaning in continuing the traditions of her ancestors.
The Kawerak Marine Program is an initiative that aims to assist Alaska Native people in taking control of their future. The program advocates for subsistence activities in the face of environmental challenges, such as melting sea ice, which is leading to increased shipping activity in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Vince Pikongonna, an Inupiat native, shares his observations of how warming temperatures have impacted the hunting season, with hunting now starting two months earlier than it did fifty years ago.
Subsistence living in Alaska is not just about survival; it is deeply intertwined with cultural practices and a sense of community. Hunting is considered a serious matter, and individuals take pride in their ability to provide for themselves and their villages. The skills and knowledge passed down through generations foster a connection to their history and a sense of responsibility for preserving their way of life. Climate change and external influences pose challenges to this traditional lifestyle, highlighting the importance of initiatives like the Kawerak Marine Program in advocating for the continuation of subsistence practices.
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Frequently asked questions
The Federal Subsistence Management Program is a multi-agency effort to provide the opportunity for a subsistence way of life for rural Alaskans on Federal public lands and waters.
Subsistence is defined by federal law as "the customary and traditional uses by rural Alaska residents of wild, renewable resources for direct personal or family consumption as food, shelter, fuel, clothing, tools, or transportation."
The current rural subsistence harvest is about 295 pounds of food per person per year, which is more than the U.S. average consumption of 255 pounds of domestic meat, fish, and poultry per year.
The regional advisory councils recognize regional, cultural, and temporal variations throughout the state and apply eight factors that characterize customary and traditional uses to provide maximum flexibility to address these variations and protect the subsistence way of life in rural Alaska.
While Alaska's indigenous inhabitants have relied on the traditional harvest of wild foods for thousands of years, subsistence has also become important to many non-Native Alaskans, particularly in rural areas.
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