AFN delegates send Klukwan tribe's hardrock mining consent resolution to committee

Alaska Federation of Natives delegates on Oct. 24 sent a resolution on tribal consent over hardrock mining to a board committee at the request of its sponsor, Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan. It was the only one of the 50 resolutions in AFN's final packet that did not pass.

The final packet lists it as referred to the Board Legislative and Litigation Committee. The Sept. 27 convention draft shows AFN's committee and board had both recommended it pass.

The resolution would have had AFN affirm a tribe's right to grant or withhold consent for industrial activity in its traditional territory. It would have asked governments not to issue permits advancing hardrock mining without clear support from the tribes and Alaska Native entities in the region. It also said consultation or taking part in permitting "does not itself constitute Tribal consent."

On the floor, Tribal Council Secretary Katrina Hotch said that without unity, tribes "will lose our sovereignty bit by bit." Tribal Council President Kimberley Strong said the resolution did not stop any tribe or Alaska Native corporation from doing what it believes is right for its region. She then said "there are some issues with our resolution" and moved the referral. She did not say what the issues were.

A speaker for Northwest Alaska seconded the motion and pledged to find language that honors free, prior and informed consent "while preserving the ability for our mutual regions to pursue economic development." The motion passed on a voice vote.

A year earlier, delegates asked the United States to press Canada to honor free, prior and informed consent for mines upstream of Alaska.

The village opposes the Palmer copper-zinc exploration project near Haines. In a November 2025 release, it told the project's buyer, Vizsla Copper, that it was not welcome in the Chilkat Valley. When the state Department of Natural Resources approved Palmer exploration in January 2025, it answered the tribe's request for government-to-government consultation by saying none was legally required.

The department is now taking comment until 5 pm Friday, Nov. 6, on Constantine Mining, LLC's request to extend that approval, for 16 state mining claims, from 2028 to 2033. It says the review covers only the extension.

The record sets no date for the committee to take up the resolution. AFN's next convention is Oct. 21-23, 2027.