Our Peoples, Lands & Waters
Alaska Native Peoples
Yup’ik, Dena’ina and Alutiiq people have lived in Bristol Bay for thousands of years, continuing our sacred ways of life on our ancestral lands and waters. Our cultures are intrinsically tied to the health and wellbeing of our watershed and all the life it sustains. Bristol Bay is a large geographical area, around the size of Ohio, with 31 federally-recognized Tribes calling the vast region from Lake Iliamna to the Alaska Peninsula home. The region has more than 30 communities that collectively are home to around 7,000 year-round residents. The region’s population roughly doubles seasonally due to the summer recreational, and commercial fisheries.
Life in Bristol Bay has a seasonal rhythm that is dependent on the natural environment. There is no separation between the health of the ecosystem and the health of our people.
Our Waters
The region has several major rivers, including the Nushagak, Kvichak, Naknek, Egegik, Igushik, Ugashik and Togiak, and countless additional lakes, streams, wetlands and rivers that sustain life here. The watershed encompasses a diverse topography, including active volcanoes, vibrant rivers and tundra, ocean coasts and other terrains. In this hydrologically-unique landscape, surface and subsurface waters are highly connected, and sustain all five species of Pacific salmon found in North America – sockeye, coho, Chinook, chum, and pink – which return to our rivers each summer. These fish are a cornerstone of our cultures, communities, and economy.
Our Lands
Bristol Bay’s biodiversity is unparalleled. It is also home to hundreds of other animals including dozens of other fish, brown bears, moose, walrus, freshwater seals, belugas, bald eagles, and a wide variety of birds. Our people hunt, fish, and gather as we have for thousands of years in balance with all of these species, lands and waters we share.
Our Communities: Tribal Sovereignty and Self Determination
The Bristol Bay Regional Vision was developed by residents and guides UTBB’s work. The vision outlines a sustainable future with economic development that honors our traditional values and ways of life. Our aim is for our future grandchildren to have the ability to live in healthy communities with respect and balance on our ancestral lands and waters, as our people have since time immemorial.
We have inherited from our ancestors the sacred responsibility to be strong stewards of Bristol Bay and are fiercely dedicated to protecting our Tribal sovereignty and Self Determination, that includes our lands and waters, so they may continue to provide for the countless generations to come.
