Michael J. Stickman is the First Chief of the Nulato Tribal Council, an

Athabaskan Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific ...

tribe in

Nulato, Alaska Nulato (; "chum salmon fish camp" in Koyukon; russian: Нулато) is a city in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 239. History Nulato was a location for trade between the Koyukon peop ...

. Stickman, who is

Koyukon The Koyukon (russian: Коюконы) are an Alaska Native Athabascan people of the Athabascan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. Their traditional territory is along the Koyukuk and Yukon rivers where they subsisted for thousands of years b ...

Athabascan, is seated on the

Arctic Council The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic. At present, eight countries exercise sovereignty over the lands within the Arctic Circle ...

. He also serves as the director of Nulato Hills Enterprises, the for-profit enterprise of the Nulato Tribal Council that provides transportation services, language education, and business planning. Stickman was one of 60 Alaska Native tribal leaders who oppose the US Bureau of Land Management's proposal to open tracts of protected lands in the Bering Sea-Western Interior region of Alaska to mining. Stickman said, "It is our responsibility to take care of land and resources that mean so much to our peoples' way of life. Our ancestors instilled these values about showing respect and caring for the land."

References

Koyukon Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alaskan Athabaskan people Native American leaders People from Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska {{NorthAm-native-bio-stub

See also

References