@ALWAYSINDIGENOUSMEDIA
THE JUST TRANSITION SUMMIT IN 2020 & 2022: REMEMBERING FORWARD
In January 2020, the first Alaska Just Transition Summit was held on the lands of the Lower Tanana Dene peoples. Kohtr’elneyh (“Remembering Forward'' in Benhti Kanaga’) was the first of its kind to bring together leaders from various sectors to openly discuss a post-oil economy in Alaska. The concept of Remembering Forward grows from an understanding that solutions to the intersecting crises our communities face are found in Indigenous knowledge systems: economies of care, equity, sustainability, and reciprocity. In May 2022, we were honored to gather on Dena'ina Ełnena, now known as Anchorage, Alaska, for Nughelnik: the 2022 Alaska Just Transition Summit. The Alaska Just Transition framework deepens our collective vision and reevaluate economy, social and environmental justice, local governance, and community self-determination.
Nughelnik comes at a critical time of transformation for Alaskan communities. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted systemic faults in our state: disservice to our rural communities that lack access to water and sanitation; instability of extractive industries; dependence on outside contract workers for our healthcare, education, and public infrastructure; importation of food and goods that can stop in an instant and leave shelves bare; the collapse of our salmon fisheries across the state; the brink of irreversible damage to Earth due to climate change; and economic and social disparities that hurt working families and Alaska’s future. The stakes are high; we are out of time. A Just Transition is a critical act of love to our communities, families, lands and waters, and future. We commit to collective action and hope as we acknowledge shared histories, reshape community economies, and forge a path toward a thriving Alaska.
