YUKON RIVER INTERTRIBAL WATERSHED COUNCIL, AK-Signing of First Intertribal Accord to Protect the River

In Alaska, we have partnered with the Yukon River Intertribal Watershed Council on a number of occasions to help clean up the river and protect the health of Native Villagers. The Yukon River flows 2300 miles from Canada’s Yukon Territory, through Alaska, to the Pacific Ocean. The River passes through numerous Alaskan Native Villages. Despite its remote location, the river has many serious challenges. Many villages have no sewage treatment, and “honey buckets” (plastic buckets that serve as toilets) were historically dumped in unlined dumps along the river. There are also vestiges of gross toxic pollution by the U.S. military. For example, in Galena, the Army had improperly stored hundreds of barrels of toxic substances in 55 gallon drums. In a 100-year flood, those drums were washed throughout the watershed. During more frequent floods, the sewage from one village has often been washed downstream to the next village. River Network helped facilitate the coming together of tribes throughout the watershed and the signing of the first ever Yukon River Intertribal accord to protect the river.