2013 Mid-Year Convention

Airway Heights, Washington

RESOLUTION #13 - 44

“REDUCE CANCER RISK TO TRIBAL FISH CONSUMERS

TO AT LEAST ONE IN ONE MILLION

PREAMBLE

We the members of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) of the United States, 

invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and purposes, in order to preserve 

for ourselves and our descendants rights secured under Indian Treaties, Executive Orders, and 

benefits to which we are entitled under the laws and constitution of the United States and several 

states, to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve 

Indian cultural values, and otherwise to promote the welfare of the Indian people, do hereby 

establish and submit the following resolution:

WHEREAS, the ATNI are representatives of and advocates for national, regional, and 

specific tribal concerns; and

WHEREAS, ATNI is a regional organization comprised of American Indians/Alaska 

Natives and tribes in the states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, Northern 

California, and Alaska; and

WHEREAS, promotion of the health, safety, welfare, education, economic and 

employment opportunity of native people, and preservation of their cultural and natural resources 

are primary goals and objectives of the ATNI; and

WHEREAS, since time immemorial, we the first people of the Pacific Northwest have 

cared for and sustained the First Foods beginning with the pure water that we hold sacred and are 

guided by our traditional religious and cultural practices, are obligated to take action now to care 

for the water for the next seven generations; and 
AFFILIATED TRIBES OF NORTHWEST INDIANS RESOLUTION #13 - 44

2013 MID-YEAR CONVENTION PAGE 2

WHEREAS, many waters throughout the Pacific Northwest now contain unsafe levels of 

toxic contamination causing native people to face unacceptable health risks due to their 

consumption of shellfish and fish from these waters; and

WHEREAS, national Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidance allows 

subsistence fishermen to be exposed to cancer risks that are 100 times greater than those of the 

general population; and

WHEREAS, numerous regional fish consumption surveys show that this guidance has a 

disproportionate health impact in Native American communities, where a higher percentage of 

the population eats significant amounts of fish in comparison to the general population; and 

WHEREAS, the application of standards that disproportionately and negatively impact 

tribal communities is prohibited by EPA’s tribal trust responsibility, and EPA is required to 

uphold its national environmental justice policies; and

WHEREAS, EPA has effectively repudiated the applicability of its national cancer risk 

guidance to Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest by disapproving water quality standards 

submitted by Oregon and Idaho that were consistent with the risk thresholds for subsistence 

fishermen set forth in national guidance; and

WHEREAS, numerous regional fish consumption surveys show that this guidance has a 

disproportionate health impact in Native American communities, where a higher percentage of 

the population eats significant amounts of fish in comparison to the general population; and 

WHEREAS, EPA relied upon these surveys to support its disapproval of water quality 

standards submitted by Oregon and Idaho that were consistent with the risk thresholds for 

subsistence fishermen set forth in national guidance which effectively repudiated the 

applicability of its national cancer risk guidance to Indian people in the Pacific Northwest; and

WHEREAS, formalization of this position throughout the Pacific Northwest is necessary 

to protect and improve human and environmental health through water quality and sediment 

standards for the benefit of natural resources, First Foods, and indigenous people throughout our 

region; and 

WHEREAS, protecting Native Americans will protect all people who benefit the most 

from the beneficial use of fish consumption; now

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that ATNI does hereby request that EPA

immediately establish a regional and/or national policy that ensures that all Native American fish 

consumers will be protected to an incremental cancer risk threshold that is at least as protective 

as the threshold for the general population of 1 in 1,000,000, and consistent with ATNI 

Resolution #12-54 to accomplish a tribal fish consumption rate of no less than 175 grams per day 

for human health criteria rulemaking in the Pacific Northwest.
AFFILIATED TRIBES OF NORTHWEST INDIANS RESOLUTION #13 - 44

2013 MID-YEAR CONVENTION PAGE 3

CERTIFICATION

The foregoing resolution was adopted at the 2013 Mid-Year Convention of the Affiliated 

Tribes of Northwest Indians, held at Northern Quest Resort Casino, Airway Heights, Washington

on May 13 – 16, 2013 with a quorum present.

______________________________ ______________________________

Fawn Sharp, President Norma Jean Louie, Secretary