Daniel K. Akaka was the first Native Hawaiian US Senator and only Chinese American Senator. He served in the US Army during WWII and had a career in education before being elected to political offices in Hawaii and the US Senate. Simone Alin is an oceanographer at NOAA who studies coastal carbon cycling and ocean acidification, with research focused on the West Coast and Puget Sound. Peter Apo is a Trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and president of a cultural tourism firm who has had a career in public service and Hawaiian affairs.

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Daniel K. Akaka is America’s first United States Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry and the
only Chinese American member of the US Senate. During WWII, he served in the US Army
Corps of Engineers from 1943 to 1945 and then in active duty from 1945 to 1947. Following
the war, he made a career in education as a teacher and principal in the State of Hawaii
Department of Education. He was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1976. He
was appointed to the Senate when Senator Spark Matsunaga passed away, subsequently
winning election to the office in 1990 and re-election in 1994, 2000 and 2006. Senator Akaka is
the chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee and the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee on
Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia. He also serves as a
member of the historic Kawaiahao Church, where he directed the choir for 17 years.
Dr. Simone Alin is an oceanographer and marine chemist at NOAA's Pacific Marine
Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. Her research focuses on coastal carbon cycle processes
and ocean acidification, with emphasis on the West Coast and Puget Sound ecosystems. Simone
received her B.S. from Stanford University in 1993 in Biological Sciences and a Ph.D. from
University of Arizona in 2001 in Geosciences. She held a fellowship from the NOAA Climate
and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship program to study large lake carbon cycling at the
University of Minnesota Duluth's Large Lakes Observatory from 2001–2003. Following this,
she studied the carbon cycles of large tropical river systems (Amazon, Mekong) at the University of Washington
before commencing her current position at NOAA in 2007. At NOAA, Simone leads the coastal carbon research
program of the Marine Carbon Program and is actively involved in national and international efforts to synthesize
marine carbon cycle data.
Peter Apo is a Trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and president of a cultural
tourism consulting firm, The Peter Apo Company, LLC. Peter has had a distinguished career in
public service. He was elected to the first OHA Board of Trustees in 1980 and to the Hawai'i
State House of Representatives in 1982, where he served for 14 years. In 1994 Honolulu Mayor
Jeremy Harris appointed him to become the City’s Director of Culture and Arts. In 1996 he
assumed the position of Special Assistant on Hawaiian Affairs to Governor Ben Cayetano. He
subsequently returned to the City & County of Honolulu as Director of Waikiki Development.
He was re-elected as an OHA Trustee in 2010. He is a founding member, past chairman and
former director of culture and education of the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association. He has chaired the Pacific
Islanders in Communications, is a past chair of the Historic Hawaii Foundation and has served on the Chaminade
University Board of Regents, the board of directors for the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and a civilian
aide to the U.S. Secretary of the Army for West Oahu and Kauai. He continues serving the community on numerous
boards and commissions.
Joseph Artero-Cameron is a native of Guam and has over 19 years of service to the
Government of Guam. He currently serves as the president of the Guam Department of
Chamorro Affairs (Dipattamenton I Kaohao Guinåhan Chamorro), a public non-profit
corporation of the Guam government dealing with the Chamorro people and culture, the Guam
Public Library System, the Council on the Arts and Humanities, the Guam Museum, the
Hagåtña Restoration and Redevelopment Authority, and PBS Guam. He has published
numerous professional works in psychotherapy, education and theology. He serves on the
Western Pacific Fisheries Commission, the US Permanent Advisory Committee, the Pacific
Islands Ocean Observing System Governing Council, the US Coral Reef Task Force and its All Islands Committee,
and the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. Artero-Cameron is Guam’s point of contact for
Coral Reef Conservation Programs/Fisheries and Oceans and is proficient in speaking, reading and writing
Chamorro, the native language of Guam.
Paulokaleioku Timothy Bailey is recognized as a premier authority of the relationship
between native Hawaiian natural resources and culture. He has given numerous presentations
on this topic at Kamehameha Schools, University of Hawaii, Hawaii high schools, National
Park Services and the Hoohanohano I Na Kupuna puwalu series. He has worked since 1992 as
a biological science technician for the Haleakala National Park on Maui and now serves as the

2. manager for the Park’s aviation, fire, feral animal removal and management program. He is an expert in living,
working and adapting to remote conditions and in tracking and capturing animals and is a certified primary bird
surveyor in Hawaiian forests
Caroline Cannon was born and raised in the harsh Arctic environment in Point Hope, Caroline
Cannon grew up in a tight-knit Inupiat community who do everything together to provide for
their families. The village elders teach everyone in the community to care for each other and
respect the land and sea that feed and clothe them. Nurtured by these values, Caroline has been
an active leader in Point Hope for over 30 years, having served as president of the native village
and on the board of Maniilaq Association. She has been a leader for her community on a
number of environmental issues and she is driven by a hope that the next generation of Inupiat
people, including her 26 grandchildren, will have the opportunity to carry on the way of life that
she and her ancestors have known.
Ann Marie Chischilly is responsible for coordinating the Institute for Tribal Environmental
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Professional’s (ITEP) work with Northern Arizona University (NAU), state and federal
available agencies, tribes and Alaska Native villages. Before coming to ITEP, she served for over ten
years as Senior Assistant General Counsel to the Gila River Indian Community, where she
assisted the tribe in implementing the historic Arizona Water Settlement Act and founded the
Gila River Indian Community Renewable Energy Team. At ITEP, Ms. Chischilly oversees four
environmental programs (climate change, air, waste and educational outreach) and has
established the "Tribal Clean Energy Resource Center" to assist tribes in transitioning from
fossil fuel based energy to sustainable energy solutions. ITEP will be celebrating 20 years in the fall and has served
over 504 tribes. Ms. Chischilly currently serves on the Arizona Attorney magazine Editorial Board, Indian Law
Section Executive Board of the Arizona State Bar, Arizona Energy Consortium Co-Chair of Outreach, Native
American Connections Vice-Chair and Native American Community Service Center Capital Campaign Board. She
served on the National Tribal Water Council and is a graduate of the Arizona Bar Leadership Institute. Ms.
Chischilly is a member of the Navajo Nation (Diné). She earned her Juris Doctorate (J.D.) degree from Saint Mary's
University School of Law, and a Masters in Environmental Law (LL.M) from Vermont Law School. She is licensed
in Arizona and has practiced in state, district, and federal courts.
Gina Cosentino is responsible for integrating a human rights-based approach to conservation
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to achieve sustainable livelihoods and benefits to Indigenous and tribal peoples and other
available communal populations. She has twenty years of experience working on Indigenous politics and
policy issues and working directly with Indigenous peoples at the local, regional, national and
international levels. Originally from Canada, Gina was the former senior advisor of
government relations and international affairs to the National Chief of the Assembly of First
Nations, which is the national representative organization for First Nations in Canada. She was
also the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Metis National Council, the national
organization representing the Metis in Canada. In addition to working closely with numerous First Nation
communities in Canada, she also has extensive experience with international human rights, Indigenous and
environmental decision-making processes as well as related areas in global health, humanitarian aid and
international development. She was the President of Strategix Public Affairs
Network, a public affairs and lobbying consulting company specializing in non-profit and Indigenous advocacy. She
received her Master of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and her Honors Bachelor's degree from York
University and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto in the department of political science.
John J. Daigle is a tribal member of the Penobscot Indian Nation and lives in Old Town,
Maine. Daigle is an Associate Professor in the School of Forest Resources at the University of
Maine, Orono. He received his PhD in Forestry from the University of Massachusetts with an
emphasis on application of social science concepts and methods to outdoor recreation and
natural resource planning and management. In 2008, he became part of an interdisciplinary
team of faculty at the University of Maine to identify the potential climate scenarios, and their
probabilities, for Maine for the remainder of the 21st century. He led a team that specifically
explored the meaning of a changed environment as it relates to the Indigenous peoples of
Maine. A report culminating this work was submitted to the Governor and State Legislature and was adopted in
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3. 2009 acknowledging that “Indigenous human culture in Maine must be considered to be one of our most precious
natural resources. It should be protected, fostered, and supported in a manner commensurate with its high value.”
Daigle is continuing his research in collaboration with indigenous communities with a focus on natural resources
management.
Erin Dougherty is a Staff Attorney at the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) in
Anchorage, Alaska. At NARF, Erin works on a variety of Indian law and tribal jurisdiction
issues, including a project to assist Alaska Natives in their efforts to relocate coastal villages
threatened by erosion and other problems associated with climate change. Erin joined the
Native American Rights Fund in 2009 as a Skadden Fellow. Erin is originally from Newport,
Oregon. She received her B.A. from Willamette University and her J.D. from the University of
Michigan Law School. Prior to law school Erin was a Fulbright Scholar based at the University
of Tromsø in Tromsø (Romsa), Norway where she conducted masters-level research on Sámi political mobilization
and indigenous self-governance. Erin previously worked for the Brennan Center for Justice in New York and civil
legal services programs in Alaska and Vermont. After graduating from law school she was a law clerk for the
Honorable Dana Fabe, Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court.
Manuel P. Duenas II was born on Guam, where he was raised since childhood as a farmer and
fisherman with strong cultural ties to both land and sea. He chairs the Western Pacific
Regional Fishery Management Council and presides over the Guam Fishermen’s Cooperative
Association (GFCA), a position he has held since 1995 through an annual membership election.
The GFCA is comprised of nearly two hundred artisanal fishermen with vessels averaging 22
feet in length. He has been actively involved with the community since attending the
University of Guam in the late seventies. He captains the fishing vessel Galaide I, which is
used as an artisanal economic advancement program for the GFCA. He is a fisheries
development instructor for GFCA working with the University of Guam Fisheries Development Program under the
4-H Program and other similar entities as well as a University of Guam Sea Grant Advisory Committee member. He
is certified in the US Food & Drug Administration’s Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point Program and a certified
advance SCUBA diver. He previously served as a special-needs resource teacher, bilingual-bicultural educator and
an instructor for the Guam Community College before retiring from these positions in 2000.
Benigno Fitial is the first Refaluwaasch Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands (CNMI) and is a cousin of the late Master Navigator Mau Pialug. His ancestors
came from the island of Satawal in Yap. He is one of the few Micronesian leaders alive today
from the Trust Territory era. He is a champion of indigenous rights and a signatory to the
Micronesian Challenge, which protects and preserves the limited treasures of Micronesia for
future generations. He holds a degree in business administration from the University of Guam.
He began work in government as a news director, budget analyst of the Trust Territory Government, and budget
officer, chief administrative officer, Minority Leader, Vice Speaker and Speaker of the CNMI House of
Representatives. He has served as president of banking, insurance, travel, transportation, home improvement and
other businesses, as well as chairman, founder, delegate and member of numerous political and civic organizations.
Brickwood Galuteria is a Hawaii State Senator. Elected to office in 2008, he was assigned to
the Committees on Ways & Means, Education & Housing, Public Safety and Military Affairs,
and Tourism (vice chair). He previously served as chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii
(2004–2006). He is of Hawaiian, Filipino, and Portuguese descent. After initial work with
Hawaiian Airlines, he pursued interests in music and entertainment, winning the Na Hoku
Hanohano Award in 1985 for Male Vocalist of the Year and Most Promising Artist. In 1980, he
began radio broadcasting and currently co-hosts the Na `Oiwi `Olino “People Seeking Wisdom”
morning show. He has worked in television, film and video; served as a spokesman for the State of Hawaii and
various businesses; done the voice-overs for numerous TV, radio and political campaigns; and produced/ promoted
concerts, pageants and other events.
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4. Douglas Herman is senior geographer for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American
No picture Indian and adjunct associate professor at Towson University, Maryland. An early architect of
available NMAI’s Indigenous geography project, he went on to create Pacific Worlds, a web-based
indigenous-geography education project for Hawai'i and the American Pacific. Both projects
focus on indigenous cultural knowledge and environmental understandings. He has published
several articles and given numerous scholarly presentations regarding the representation of
Indigenous cultures and the importance of Indigenous knowledge. He earned his doctorate in
geography from the University of Hawai'i in 1995.
Ted Herrera was born in the Coahuiltecan Sacred Land along the Rio Grande where the Peyote
grows (Mirando City, Texas) to Maria Lara, a Tlaxcala, Huichol Indian and Eduardo Herrera a
Tlaxcala, Carrizo Coahuiltecan Indian. Ted is one of five Tribal Leaders of the Texas
recognized Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.Ted retired in
1998, as the Kelly Air Force Base Program Manager, for the Production Quality Control
Program, where he had oversight responsibilities for writing policy and procedures that
governed over 5,000 Air Craft Journeymen in 54 job skills. In March 2000, Ted started a
partnership with Hugh Fitzsimons raising Buffalo for ceremonial and economic development.
David Hudson Howeeshata was born June 17, 1954 in Forks, Wash. He has lived on the Hoh
River or nearby LaPush his whole life. He is a Hoh tribal member and also the hereditary chief
of the Quileute Tribe. His mother and father and extended family taught him to hunt, fish and
gather as they always had. Their family canoe was one of the first to be used in the resurrection
of the canoe culture in 1976. Since then, David has participated in many canoe journeys and
mentored young people in the ways of the journey and the songs, including skippering a canoe
during last year’s Paddle to Swinomish. David has been a member of the Hoh tribal council and
has served for many years as the fisheries and natural resources policy representative for his
tribe. He is also a commissioner for the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, a support service organization that
provides direct services to 20 treaty tribes to assist them in their natural resource management efforts.
Edward Johnstone is a Quinault Tribal member born in Aberdeen Washington and raised on
the Quinault Indian reservation. He has worked in the timber and fishing industries of the
Quinault Indian Nation most of his life. A two-term Councilman from 1996-2002, Ed currently
represents the Quinault Tribal Council in fisheries, fisheries habitat and marine governance
matters as the Quinault Fisheries Policy Spokesperson. Since 2009 he has served as Treasurer
of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and is also the current Chair of the
Intergovernmental Policy Council a forum of tribal and state co-managers of the ocean area that includes the
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
Nelson Kanuk is 17 years old and from Kipnuk, a small village in Southwestern Alaska.
Nelson comes from a family that practices a traditional subsistence lifestyle and he believes that
it has always been important to live in harmony and balance with the precious land that has
been passed down to us. Nelson considers climate change to
be the most important issue of our time: “Our winters are coming early, our ice sheets are
melting at an alarming rate, permafrost melt is causing our land to erode and severe storms are
forcing us to take shelter in schools.” Nelson has been a plaintiff in climate change-related litigation and has been
featured in an award-winning WITNESS video.
Pualele Penehuro “Pene” Lefale is the manager of the International Affairs Office with the
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Ltd. (MetService). He is also the alternate permanent
representative of New Zealand with the World Meteorological Organization. Prior to taking up
this new role, he was a climate researcher with the New Zealand National Institute of Water and
Atmospheric Research Ltd. Pene was the first and only Samoan to be awared the Nobel Peace
Prize for his work on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in
2007. He was one of the lead authors of the IPCC’s Working Group II Chapter 16: Small
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5. Islands. One of his research papers, “Ua afa le aso—Stormy weather today: Traditional ecological knowledge of
weather and climate. The Samoa experience,” was the first to explore indigenous knowledge of weather and climate
forecasting in a Pacific Island.
Clarita Lefthand-Begay is a citizen of the Diné Nation and a PhD Candidate in the
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences in the University of
Washington’s (UW) School of Public Health. My graduate student research has ranged from
environmental health (EH) microbiology to tribal water issues. As a Master of Science (MS)
student in environmental health, she worked on a Microbial Source Tracking project in
Washington. After earning a MS in EH, she entered the doctoral program in Environmental and
Occupational Hygiene. At the end of 2009, she joined UW’s Institute for Risk Analysis and
Risk Communication. Her doctoral work examines disconnects between goals and values of the
Clean Water Act, and Tribal cultural values and considers the opportunities and barriers experienced by natural
resource departments when developing water quality standards that are grounded in Indigenous values. In this work,
a values-based approach is used to understand important aspects of water among tribal communities in the Pacific
Northwest and in the Southwest. This research will allow us to understand how tribal perceptions and knowledge
can inform issue of water quality, quantity and accessible.
Ciro Lo Pinto is presently serving in his 28th year as a Soil Conservationist with the USDA -
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The mission of the NRCS is “Helping People
Help the Land.” Lo Pinto has served NRCS in three States, including New Jersey, New York
and Pennsylvania. He is presently serving in Tioga County, Pennsylvania as the District
Conservationist. While in New York; he served as the NRCS Tribal Liaison, which included
serving the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee. Lo Pinto is of Hopi descent on his mom’s side of
his family. Lo Pinto served as the 2011 President of the American Indian/Alaska Native
Employees Association (AIANEA) for NRCS. It is through his cooperation and especially due
to the diligent work of others in the AIANEA that the “Indigenous Stewardship Methods and NRCS Conservation
Practices Guidebook” became accepted by his agency. The guidebook is probably a first of its kind in any Federal
agency.
Micah McCarty is currently elected to the Makah Tribal Council by the tribal membership and
voted Chairman by the other four Tribal Councilmen. This is his third term serving as
Chairman. His work as an environmental and resource-protection leader, whaling advocate and
artist has always been founded on his support for the Makah culture and community. McCarty’s
leadership and advisory abilities spring from his holistic sense of community, environment and
culture. He draws on history, art and science to provide new approaches to complex challenges.
His perspective and innovative thinking have attracted many invitations to serve in positions of
responsibility and influence beyond the Makah Nation.
Jeff Mears is a member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians and has worked in the Environmental
No picture Health & Safety Division for 18 years. He is the Environmental Area Manager and is currently
available the co-chair of the EPA Tribal Science Council. Jeff oversees a diverse area or programs that
include water resources, brownfields, environmental health, injury prevention, and indoor air
quality, solid waste and recycling, and occupational safety. He has a master’s degree in public
administration from UW – Oshkosh, a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from
Northern Illinois University and is the co-chair of the EPA – Tribal Science Council.
Natalie Michelle is a member of the Penobscot Nation. Her ancestors have traveled the
No picture bioregions of Maine and the coastal regions of New England for centuries. Her grandfather,
available Theodore Bear Mitchell was the last canoeist to use the stars to navigate the coastal regions of
Maine. Natalie is a graduate student in Public Administration with a concentration in
Environmental Policy and Management at the University of Maine in Orono. She received an
EPSCOR – SSI Fellowship in 2010 and has worked with the Wabanaki Center under the Native
Scholar Educational Outreach Project to implement educational opportunities for the native
students, environmental sustainability practices in native communities and bringing Native
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6. Women’s voice to the forefront of environmental issues. Her research “Uses of Plant Food-Medicines in the
Wabanaki Bioregions of the Northeast: A Cultural Assessment of Berry Harvesting Practices and Customs,” will be
completed this August, 2012. She has received recognition for outstanding academic achievement and inducted into
“Pi Alpha Alpha” National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration. Her interests are co-management
of Native American territories and government-to government relations in Environmental Policy and Climate
Change issues.
Seth Moore has worked for the Grand Portage Band since 2005. He presently manages the
Grand Portage Department of Biology and Environment. He has a PhD in Water Resources
Science from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree in Environmental Biology also
from University of Minnesota, and a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Environmental Studies
from Northland College in Ashland, WI. Seth focuses his research efforts on subsistence
species of the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa. His current projects include coaster brook
trout restoration and identifying habitats used by moose under a warming climate.
Chris Morganroth III is an elder of the Quileute Indian Tribe, La Push, Washington. He was
born in Forks, Wash. on February 24, 1939. Chris was raised up to the age of 11 by his
grandmother who spoke only the Quileute language. She imparted to him many legends and
stories as well as her extensive knowledge of the culture; including native foods and materials,
medicines, history and values. In addition to being a Quileute story teller and keeper of Quileute
history and culture, Chris is a master carver, specializing in canoes, both full sized and model as
well as paddles, rattles, and masks. Chris served as Director of Quileute Department of
Fisheries from 1974 to 1981. He also served several terms on the Quileute Tribal Council. For
14 years he taught the Quileute language, carving and science at the Quileute Tribal School. Presently, Chris serves
on the Quileute Natural Resource Committee where he is actively engaged in development of Quileute Natural
Resource Policies. Chris enjoys sharing his knowledge of Quileute language, legends, history and culture whenever
the opportunity arises.
Dr. Jan Newton is a Principal Oceanographer with the Applied Physics Laboratory of the
University of Washington and affiliate faculty with the UW School of Oceanography and
School of Marine Affairs. A biological oceanographer, her research has focused on a systems
view of marine ecosystems, spanning estuaries, such as Puget Sound, the outer PNW coast, and
the open Pacific Ocean, assessing factors such as human and climate forcing on the
characteristics and productivity of these systems. Jan is the Executive Director for the
Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS), the Pacific
Northwest regional association for the US component of the Integrated and Sustained Ocean
Observing System (IOOS), working towards building better ocean observing infrastructure. She
has been working with the Northwest Indian College to involve their students on ocean research.
Kalei Nu`uhiwa was born and raised on Maui and received the first master’s degree from the
University of Hawaii at Mānoa’s Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language. She has been
active in the restoration of the island of Kahoolawe, which was used for decades as a military
bombing target. Her primary discipline is papahulilani, the study of all aspects of the
atmosphere—its phenology, energies, cycles and isochronisms—from a Hawaiian perspective.
These atmospheric elements embody the pantheon of kino akua Hawai`i and provide a
fundamental function in ancestral memory, still essential in the modern Hawaiian
consciousness. Her passion is to elevate the Hawaiian consciousness to its highest potential. She is a researcher and
curriculum developer for the Papakū Makawalu Project under the direction of Dr. Pualani Kanahele and the Edith
Kanakaole Foundation. She coauthored the Papahulilani section of the cultural use plan for Kanaloa-Kahoolawe:
Kūkulu Ke Ea a Kanaloa, the Kūmokuhali`i—Forest Resource Cultural Use Plan and the Keauhou Kahalu`u
Educational Cultural Use Plan for Kamehameha Schools. Nu`uhiwa continues to research and build understanding
of the significance of site placement and use within the historical corridor of Kahalu`u, Kona. She maintains
ongoing studies of celestial alignments with sites situated in the Northwestern and main Hawaiian islands, to
understand traditional tracking of time and spatial measurements. She publishes a monthly newsletter using
traditional data to assist others with their own recordation and data collection of their own environmental
happenings.
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7. Pat Pletnikoff is the Mayor of St. George, a small community on St. George Island in the
Pribilofs, a small island group in the Bering Sea. Pat was born and raised on St. George Island
and also serves as President of the St. George Fishermen’s Association. In addition, he is a
board member for the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association. Pat
previously served as the Executive Director for the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association,
President and Chairman of the Board for Tanaq Corporation, and as a board member of the
Aleutian Housing Authority. Pat studied Political Science at the University of Washington and
the University of Colorado. He is the father of two sons and is an avid fisherman, reader, and
outdoorsman.
Kitty Muller Simonds has served more than 25 years as the executive director of the Western
Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. A native of Maui, she joined the Council in its
early months after 13 years on the staff of U.S. Senator Hiram L. Fong in his Washington, DC,
and Honolulu offices. Under her direction the Council has set the pace for innovative marine
resource management. It has pioneered in regulating the use of controversial gear, such as gill
nets and bottom trawl nets. Its comprehensive observer programs and satellite-based vessel
monitoring systems have set high standards for ocean accountability and regional enforcement.
Its Coral Reef Fishery Ecosystem Plan was the nation’s first fishery management effort of its
kind. Kitty has also worked to reaffirm indigenous fishery rights. She has been a persistent advocate of combining
traditional knowledge and host-culture practices with contemporary resource management approaches based on
Western science.
Stanley Tocktoo is from Shishmaref, an Inupiaq village of 560 residents located on Sarichef
Island in the Chukchi Sea and within the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. Climate change
is having a direct and profound effect on Shishmaref. The reduction in sea ice has left
Shishmaref’s coastline vulnerable to fall and winter storm surges while melting permafrost has
resulted in severe erosion. The community must relocate and is taking steps to do so. Stanley
was born in Shishmaref and as President of the Native Village of Shishmaref IRA Council he
has been involved in the community’s relocation efforts. He has previously served as
Shishmaref’s Mayor and Vice-Mayor. He has also been a volunteer for the Shishmaref Search
and Rescue since 1981. Stanley has two children and lives a traditional subsistence lifestyle.
Stanley Tom is from the village of Newtok, a Yup’ik village of 350 residents in Southwest
Alaska. The impact of climate change on Newtok has been devastating. Melting permafrost and
large scale erosion have greatly compromised village infrastructure, safety, and public health.
As a consequence, the community has decided to relocate and is currently working on
infrastructure at Mertarvik, the new village site. Stanley serves as the Tribal Administrator of
the Newtok Traditional Council and has spearheaded Newtok’s relocation. In 2010, this
innovative work was recognized with a high honors award by Honoring Nations, administered
by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic at Harvard University’s Kennedy School
of Government. Stanley and his wife are the proud parents of five boys and four girls and in his addition to his work
on behalf of his community, he owns and operates Tom’s Store.
Ufagafa Ray Tulafono is the director of the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources for
the US Territory of American Samoa, a position he has held off and on since 1985. Under his
watch, the territory started its local marine area protected programs. Mr. Tulafono holds college
degrees in both chemistry and biology. In the past he headed the laboratory at the largest tuna
cannery in the world, the StarKist tuna cannery in American Samoa. Tulafono is also the high
chief of Alofau on the island of Tutuila. Alofau is one of the coastal villages that were affected
by the recent tsunami that hit American Samoa. The village is subject to strong ocean currents
and the impacts of sea level rise due to climate change.
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8. Daniel Wildcat is a professor at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, and
No picture an accomplished Native American scholar who writes on indigenous knowledge, technology,
available environment, and education. He is of the Yuchi and Muscogee tribes. He is also co-director of
the Haskell Environmental Research Studies Center, which he founded with colleagues from
the Center for Hazardous Substance Research at Kansas State University. A Yuchi member of
the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, Dr. Wildcat is the coauthor, with Vine Deloria, Jr., of
Power and Place: Indian Education in America (Fulcrum, 2001), and coeditor, with Steve
Pavlik, of Destroying Dogma: Vine Deloria, Jr., and His Influence on American Society
(Fulcrum, 2006). Known for his commitment to environmental defense and cultural diversity, Dr. Wildcat has been
honored by the Kansas City organization The Future Is Now with the Heart Peace Award. His newest book, Red
Alert! Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge, will be released later this year.
Mike Williams is a Yupiaq from the small village of Akiak on the lower Kuskokwim River in
Western Alaska. He grew up in a traditional subsistence household and was taught by his father,
mother, grandmother, and grandfather. Mike graduated from the Chemawa Indian School in
Salem, Oregon and served in South Korea as a member of the U.S. Army. He then studied at the
University of Alaska, Kuskokwim Campus while working full time as a Mental Health
Counselor. He and his wife, Maggie, later moved to Akiak and raised five children. Mike is
currently the Chief of the Yupiit Nation; Secretary/Treasurer of the Akiak Native Community; a
Board Member of the Institute for Tribal Governments at Portland State University; a Board
Member of National Tribal Environmental Council; Vice Chairman of the Yupiit School District; and a Board
Member of the Rural Community Action Program. In addition, he is a former Board Member of the Native
American Rights Fund, a former NCAI Regional Vice President, former Chairman of the Association of Village
Council Presidents, and the former Vice President of Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation. In addition to his
commitment to community and tribal sovereignty, Mike has testified in front of Congress on climate change. He
currently works as a Wellness Counselor for his village and he is also an avid Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
competitor.
Terry Williams is a Tulalip tribal member who has served his Tribe and many other Tribes in
No picture a variety of capacities for many years. He currently serves as Commissioner of Tulalip’s Treaty
available Rights Office and, as he has done for nearly three decades, as the Point Elliott Commissioner to
the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. Williams was the initial Director of the National
EPA’s Office on Indian Affairs and has served on numerous international, national, tribal and
regional boards---from chairing the tribal committee of the Northwest Straits Commission to
serving as the U.S. Delegate to the Council on Biodiversity. He holds extensive credentials in
the study of climate change and has been honored by Tribes throughout the country and beyond
for his work in natural resource management and environmental protection and restoration.
Tom Younker is of the Coquille Indian Tribe, North Bend, Oregon. He grew up on the mud
flats of the South Slough where my Native American ancestors once lived 5,000 years ago on
Oregon’s south coast. He attended Linfield College, and upon graduation, signed a contract to
play professional baseball for the Dodgers. During his four years in college, he earned NAIA All
American honors in football and baseball and was named Linfield’s scholar-athlete. He also
earned a master’s degree in education there. After a short stint in baseball, he taught school and
coached for forty-plus years. He was recognized twice in Who’s Who Among America’s
Teachers, received honors as an All-state high school coach in two sports, and has been inducted
into three Halls of Fame: high school, college, and NAIA, District 2. He served 20 years on
tribal council as secretary, treasurer, vice-chairman and on many committees: Bio-mass energy, Head Start, Realty,
Housing, Pension Planning, Taxes. He have served on several state and local boards and committees: Oregon Coast
Zone Management Association, Southern Oregon Ocean Resource Committee, Territorial Sea Plan Action
Committee, Bureau of Ocean Energy and Mineral Resources, Oregon Youth Authority, Coos County Historical
Society, the Charleston Community Enhancement Corporation. Forty-five years ago, he started a family. He moved
back to South Slough, now a national estuarine research reserve. His two boys, one an assistant professor of
anthropology, the other an art program manager, work with Native American students. His daughter and her
husband are rearing their children in our ancestral homeland. They stand proud of their Native American roots.
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