Iñupiat Leaders Urge Congress to Protect North Slope Resource Rights

Doreen Leavitt opened her March 18 testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies with the Iñupiaq word "Quyanaqpak" — thank you very much — before delivering a pointed message: the federal government has shortchanged the Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope for more than three decades, and the consequences are landing directly on North Slope communities.

Leavitt, who serves as Secretary and Director of Natural Resources for ICAS, the federally recognized regional Alaska Native tribal government representing tens of thousands of tribal members across the North Slope, appeared before the subcommittee to lay out ICAS's appropriations priorities for the FY 2027 Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education, and Bureau of Land Management budgets. Her central demand was unambiguous: fully fund the BIA.

"For the past 30+ years, ICAS has received little to no increases in our federal funding," Leavitt told the subcommittee, chaired by Representative Mike Simpson with Ranking Member Chellie Pingree. "And of the funding we receive, there is often not enough dollars to make an impact on our community beyond paying salaries, or portions thereof, for staff who are doing the best they can with the limited resources available to them."

When BIA appropriations fall short, Leavitt testified, the burden transfers directly to tribal governments: "When the BIA falls short, the federal trust responsibility falls to Tribes to deliver federal services to its members."

The March 18 appearance was the latest in a sustained campaign by North Slope Iñupiat leaders to force federal agencies to treat the region as a partner rather than a policy subject. That effort escalated in fall 2023 after the Bureau of Land Management published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on September 8 of that year, accompanied by a 60-day public comment period and a ruling of "not economically significant." ICAS, the North Slope Borough, and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation released a joint statement two days before the rule's publication, on September 6, 2023, describing their concerns and frustration with the Administration's failure to consult meaningfully with the region's federally recognized tribe, its Alaska Native corporation, and the Borough government. Congressional records indicate only one consultation was conducted with a North Slope entity before officials issued a statement admonishing the BLM for its lack of proactive or meaningful engagement with North Slope Iñupiat elected leadership.

In September 2023, Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat President Nagruk Harcharek testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources' Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, describing what he called the administration's disregard for North Slope Iñupiat voices and its disinterest in including the region at the policymaking table. Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stauber responded directly: "As long as I am privileged to be chair of this committee, your community will be represented."

Stauber and Congresswoman Mary Sattler Peltola followed that pledge by introducing H.R. 6285, the Alaska's Right to Produce Act of 2023. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski introduced the companion bill in the Senate. Leavitt testified in favor of the legislation at a November 29, 2023 hearing, telling the subcommittee the bill "would reverse this administration's sweeping September 6 announcements" affecting the region's economic, social, and cultural self-determination. "The laws of the U.S. should support Indigenous populations, not interfere with these basic human rights," she said. On December 6, 2023, the full House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 6285 out of committee on a bipartisan vote of 24 to 17.

Kaktovik Iñupiat Corporation President Charles Lampe also testified at the November 29 hearing, introducing himself as a whaling captain, subsistence hunter, and lifelong resident of Qaaktuġvik — the village situated on Barter Island along the Beaufort Sea coast, 280 miles southeast of Utqiaġvik and just 90 miles west of the Canadian border. "But most importantly, I am Iñupiaq and I am here to show that we exist!" Lampe told the committee. KIC holds approximately 92,000 acres of surface lands around Kaktovik, received under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

The regional coalition pressing these demands includes ICAS, the North Slope Borough — a home rule government above the Arctic Circle representing roughly 10,000 residents whose jurisdiction covers the entire National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the eight villages within it — and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. The three entities signed a joint letter to Senator Murkowski, with ICAS President Nicole Wojciechowski, North Slope Borough Mayor Josiah Patkotak, and ASRC President and CEO Rex A. Rock Sr. affirming that the North Slope Regional Trilateral stands ready to provide additional information and testimony as needed to ensure Alaska Native rights and priorities are upheld.