November 13, 2023 — While the “Gathering Place” at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation hospital in Bethel is often bustling with people who have come in from the region’s villages for medical appointments, on Nov. 10 they came to talk about salmon.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, acting as vice chair of the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, hosted a field hearing and listening session addressing a topic at the core of daily life in the region. The title of the hearing was: “The Impact of the Historic Salmon Declines on the Health and Well-Being of Alaska Native Communities along Arctic, Yukon, and Kuskokwim Rivers”.
Association of Village Council Presidents CEO Vivian Korthuis said that the tribal organization has been pushing for this type of hearing for two years. It’s a chance to gather first-hand accounts from the people impacted the most by the decline in salmon.