Chugach Regional Resources Commission

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Chugach Regional Resources Commission

 

 

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Board of Directors
    • Our Staff
    • Land Acknowledgement
  • Programs
    • Subsistence Resource Management
      • Nanwalek Salmon Enhancement Project
      • AMBCC
    • IGAP Program
    • IQSAK Curriculum
    • Wetland Program
    • Tribal Conservation District
    • Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
    • Alaska Migratory Birds Co-Management Council
    • Climate Change
    • Traditional Foods
    • Natural Resource Management
    • Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute
    • Marine Mammal Management
    • Kachemak Bay Watershed Collaborative
  • News
  • COVID-19 Updates
  • Our Tribes
  • Gathering
    • 2022 Agenda
  • Store
  • Contact Us
Chugach Regional Resources Commission
Point Point Point Point Point Point Point Our Tribes

Our Tribes

 

The Chugach People, known as Alutiiq, or Sugpiaq, are southern coastal people of Alaska. The seven Tribes of CRRC (Native Village of Tatitlek, Native Village of Eyak (Cordova), Native Village of Port Graham, Native Village of Nanwalek, Native Village of Chenega, Qutekcak Native Tribe (Seward), and the Valdez Native Tribe) are located in Prince William Sound and Lower Cook Inlet, a remote region limited in travel to small aircraft, charter aircraft, and boat travel, with seasonal Alaska marine highway service. Approximately 1,200 Tribal members are living in these seven communities.

 

Tribes

Chenega

CHENEGA

Chenega IRA Council is a federally recognized Tribe and is an isolated community accessible only by air or water. The people of the Chenega Tribe have lived in Prince William Sound for some 10,000 years, fishing the waters and harvesting the abundance of their land. The word Chenega means “Beneath the Mountain.” Chenega is located on Evans Island in Crab Bay, 42 miles Southwest of Whittier. Until the March 27, 1964 earthquake, old Chenega was an Alutiiq Native fishing village located on the southern end of Chenega Island in western Prince William Sound until it was destroyed by a tsunami created by the massive 9.2 magnitude earthquake. In this single event, centuries of history were washed away. Twenty-six of the Chenega people (`1/3 of the residents of the community) lost their lives. In 1984, a group of former villagers established a new village on Evans Island, in Prince William Sound. This site was carefully chosen following extensive research as the site best able to meet the needs of the residents’ subsistence lifestyle.
Eyak

EYAK - (Click to go to their website)

The Native Village of Eyak is a federally recognized Tribe with 515 Tribal members located in Cordova, a small fishing community located on the eastern Gulf of Alaska at the boundary between the major ecosystems of Prince William Sound and the Copper River Delta. The Native Village of Eyak Traditional Council is a tribal government that promotes self-determination to the Native Village of Eyak tribal members. The town is nestled between Orca Inlet to the west and Eyak Lake to the east on the southeastern coast of Prince William Sound in the Cordova-Valdez census area. The area provides for nutrient-rich waters and lands, giving rise to an array of diverse flora and fauna. The territory is the traditional meeting place of four peoples, the Eyak, Aleut, Tlingit, and Athabascan; the Prince William Sound, Copper River Delta, and the North Gulf Coast were shared between them. At the time of European contact, the Cordova area was made up of multiple dAXunhyuu (Eyak) communities. The area was close to Ahtna and Chugach communities and was in close contact with Tlingit traders.

NANWALEK

The Nanwalek IRA Council is a federally recognized Tribe and is home to over 300 residents. The Native Village of Nanwalek is governed by the Nanwalek IRA Council consisting of an elected seven-member body. The Council consists of a First Chief, Second Chief, Secretary, Treasurer, and three Council Members. Nanwalek, formerly known as English Bay, is located at the southwest corner of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. The village's name means “place by the lagoon” as it is located by a lagoon connected to an extensive lake system. A narrow landing strip serves the community as a runway for small aircraft between the lagoon and the beach. The village is approximately 200 miles from Anchorage and is only accessible by boat or by air the nearest communities are Port Graham, Seldovia, and Homer. Their heritage is strongly based on their language, subsistence lifestyle, cultural traditions, and self-government. Subsistence activities are a large part of the culture for Nanwalek especially when it comes to salmon, shellfish, and seal harvesting. Many of the current residents are of mixed Russian and Sugpiaq (Alutiiq) heritage. Nanwalek residents speak Sugt’stun, a language closely related to Yup’ik.
Port Graham

PORT GRAHAM - (Click to go to their website)

The Port Graham Village Council is a federally recognized Tribe that serves the Alutiiq people of Port Graham, Alaska. They have a traditional tribal council that operates a variety of social, cultural, community, and economic development programs designed to enhance the quality of life within Port Graham. The Tribal Council is comprised of five members that represent the village of Port Graham. This five-member council is made up of the First Chief, Second Chief, Secretary, Treasurer, and a Member. The village of Port Graham, also known as Paluwik in Alutiiq, is an Alutiiq community and the Native people of Port Graham consider themselves Sugpiaq, meaning “real people”. The Sugpiaq heritage is strongly based on traditional language, subsistence lifestyle, cultural traditions, and self-government. Port Graham is an isolated community accessible only by air or water. Subsistence activities are an important component of the village economy, while commercial employment is primarily with the local school, the Tribal council, the health clinic, and commercial fishing.
Qutekcak

QUTEKCAK - (Click to go to their website)

The Qutekcak Native Tribe is an incorporated, non-profit, 501c3 Tribal organization. It is multi-ethnic and serves the Native community of the Seward area through a variety of social, cultural and community, and economic development programs. The Qutekcak Tribal Council receives its direction from the Qutekcak Native Tribal members. Although the Native population was informally gathering for many decades, the organization was formalized in 1972 with the election of a seven-person Tribal Council, which has existed to this date as the governing body. Council members serve three-year elected terms. In the Alutiiq language, the site of Seward is known as Qutekcak, or “big beach.” The 2000 Census lists Seward as having over 700 Native residents. This number represents approximately 17% of the population base of Seward and fringe areas. The Qutekcak Native Tribe reflects this diversity, having members of varied Native heritage and operating a social service agency serving Natives from all cultural entities.
Tatitlek

TATITLEK

The Tatitlek IRA Council is a federally recognized Tribal coastal village of approximately 30 households supporting 60 people located on the northeast shore of the Tatitlek Narrows on the Alaska mainland in Prince William Sound. Tatitlek is an Alutiiq community located two miles southeast of Ellamar, 25 miles southeast of Valdez, and 40 miles northwest of Cordova. The village sits on a relatively flat one-mile strip of land between Galena Bay and Boulder Bay at the base of Copper Mountain. Access to the community is limited to boat, plane, and the state-operated ferry. A subsistence lifestyle continues to be an important part of Tatitlek’s culture and economy which requires exceptional skill and traditional knowledge of the resources and environment. In all directions, the marine waters of Prince William offer an opportunity to subsist and travel between other communities by boat. Before the 10th century, the people of Tatilek were one of eight groups of Alutiiq who inhabited Prince Willan Sounds. Tatilek ("Titiglikskoe") is mentioned in the Russian American Company records as early as 1847. In 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground not far from the Village and spilled millions of gallons of crude oil into the waters of Prince William Sound. Although currents carried some of the oil away from the village, much of the contamination sank. This directly reduced the harvest of subsistence species in subsequent years by 89 percent.
Valdez

VALDEZ - (Click to go to their website)

The Valdez Native Tribe (VNT) is located in Valdez, Alaska, in Prince William Sound, approximately 300 miles from Anchorage. For the Alaskan Native people of this region, Valdez was historically a favorite place to hunt, fish, gather, and trade. Today the VNT, formed in 1974 as a 501c3 non-profit, is the Tribal organization for the local Native community that provides culturally relevant health, social, and educational services to any Alaska Native or American Indian living in the Valdez service area. Currently, there are over 750 individuals from 190 households registered with VNT. The mission of the Valdez Native Tribe is to promote the unity, self-determination, and empowerment of the Alaska Native and American Indian beneficiaries residing in the Valdez area by providing services that will strengthen, increase opportunities, and enhance the mental, physical and spiritual well-being of our people, in harmony with our land and traditional values. The Valdez Native Tribe is governed by a board of directors of seven individuals who are elected from and by the membership.

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Chugach Regional Resources Commission
PO BOX 111686
Anchorage, Alaska 99511-1686
Phone: (907) 224-5181
Email: info@crrc-alaska.org 

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