Alestine Andre

Alestine is a Gwichya Gwich'in woman from the community of Tsiigehtshik (formerly Arctic Red River) in the Northwest Territories and represents the Gwich'in Nation. She holds a Master's degree from the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria, B.C. and has decades of first-hand climate change observations along the Mackenzie River. For more than two decades, Alestine was the Heritage Researcher for the Gwich'in Tribal Council Department of Cultural Heritage where she assisted with over 120 research projects documenting Gwich'in Elders and land users about language, traditional knowledge, land use including place names, heritage sites, burial sites, traditional rivers/overland/dog team trails, genealogy, etc.

Currently she is a member of the Northwest Territories Species at Risk Committee and the Yukon Aboriginal Women's Council Medicine from the Land Teaching Module Working Group. Regarding the Arctic Rivers Projects, Andre shared, “I want to 'speak for the river systems' in the North.” An advocate for awareness and education, she describes herself as an ethnobotanist, fisherwoman, birder, traditional plant medicine practitioner, globe trotter, and heritage researcher, who speaks her Gwich'in language.

Charles Prince

Charles was born and raised in Alaska and currently lives in St. Mary’s. He’s lived his whole life in a rural village and from a young age he participated in subsistence fishing and hunting and now fishes commercially. After graduating from high school in 1995, he started working for his Tribe managing the Environmental Program from 1999-2018. Charles has also completed two terms as a board member of the Native American Fish & Wildlife Society and served on the Algaaciq Tribal Council for a term and a half. Since 2019, he has been an Environmental Assistant and the Tribal Transportation Director. And in January of 2021, he started with St. Marys city school district as a Yupik boys skills instructor.

Charles documents environmental changes as a Local Environmental Observer in coordination with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. He believes that the Arctic Rivers Project can “help the communities prepare for future decision-making” and help future generations to adapt and plan.

Elizabeth Moses

Elizabeth is a citizen of the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun in Mayo Yukon. She has a degree in social work and certificate in Women’s Studies that compliments the cultural knowledge she has in respect of the matrilineal custom in Yukon. She has worked with many First Nation groups like the Yukon Native Brotherhood, the Yukon Association of Non Status Indians, the Council for Yukon Indians, the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Association, the Skookum Jim Friendship Centre, the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center, the Department of Indian Affairs, the City of Whitehorse, Yukon Territorial Government and the Department of Education. Through the Council of Yukon First Nations, she also sits on the Yukon Surface Rights Board, a quasi judicial board and the Nacho Nyak Dun Farm Planning Committee. Currently she works with the Yukon University as an Elder.

She is the youngest of 10 children of Gwichin and Northern Tutchone descent and helped her mother and father cut and dry fish and meat, pick roots and berries, fish, get spring sap, pack water and burn the spring grass. Through the traditional law program with the Northern Tutchone Council she learned about the current harvesting, family connections and the language which her parents were fluent in. Elizabeth recognizes that Alaska and the Yukon Territory are expected to experience rapid change and believes the IAC will “open another window to view the global perspective and sharing with the Council may help to create a positive adaptation and understanding process. I believe science compliments traditional laws of Indigenous people.”

Evelynn Combs

Evelynn was born in Healy Lake, Alaska, and represents the Mendas Cha'ag, Naltsiin Athabascan. She has served six years on her elected council and recently resigned as chief to become the tribe's Tribal Administrator. The last eight years has consisted of frequent travel to delegate for her tribe at various conferences; namely the Bureau of Indian Affairs providers conference, TCC special convention, and most recently for a cultural committee serving to help build the Tok Native Clinic.

Evelynn has dedicated her young adult and adult life to serving her community, serving on her tribal council and holding employment positions in community aid capacities. Accustomed to overseeing many projects at once while sticking to a routine in the tribal office, she shared that she’s looking forward to any regional efforts she can help with and we look forward to consulting with her and the rest of the Indigenous Advisory Council.

Jenessa Tlen

Jenessa describes herself as a proud Indigenous woman. She represents the Kluane First Nation (KFN) and lives in Burwash landing in Yukon Canada and has worked first hand with different research projects in her traditional territory. She represented Kluane/Canada's youth in the 2012 Bio Diversity Conference for the Cop11 meetings in India and worked with Ikaarvik in representing KFN -- with the main objective of taking research into their own hands. Jenessa explained that Kluane in particular has seen drastic changes in water levels at the lake due to shifting of the Kaskawalsh Glacier and change in the weather, “less snow and warmer winters and even less wind in the summer.”

Currently, Jenessa is pursuing full time studies in Kinesiology which she hopes will transition to Nutrition. She values traditional knowledge and eco-friendly living, “as I live in a small community, it is important to consider what I put back into the environment."

Serena Fitka

Serena grew up in St. Mary’s, Alaska in the lower Yukon River watershed area. She now lives with her family in Valdez, Alaska. She is the Executive Director of the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association (YRDFA) -- a non-profit organization that represents local fishers in 42 communities along the Yukon to ensure that the “voices of fishing communities are heard when management decisions are being made.”

Serena’s work with YRDFA demonstrates her commitment to advocating for Indigenous interests and integrating Indigenous Knowledge with systemic decision-making -- a passion that has also driven her involvement in the Arctic Rivers Project.

This passion largely stems from her past experience working in Tribal government and focusing on youth empowerment, as well as her values of community and communication.

Her connection to the Yukon River area and her passion for connecting with people and amplifying Indigenous voices is apparent throughout conversations with her, highlighting the holistic approach that is so inherent when thinking about storylines of environmental change.

Victoria Qutuuq Buschman

Victoria Qutuuq Buschman has a Dr. of Conservation Biology researching how Indigenous communities contribute to Arctic biodiversity conservation, including wildlife management and the development and establishment of protected areas.

Originally from Alaska and Northern California, she now lives in Greenland where she focuses on circumpolar perspectives on wildlife management and the establishment and development of protected areas.

Victoria has always known she wanted to be a biologist and was interested in learning about the ecological, biological, cultural, and policy foundations of Arctic conservation efforts in order to understand how western conservation approaches can better respond to Indigenous communities.

She thinks the Arctic Rivers Project helps change the narrative by inviting Indigenous communities to dictate and shape the research at hand. Victoria highlights the importance of partnering climate modeling with Indigenous knowledge, especially on ecological systems, with risk-perception in scenario-selection in order to create relevant and informative climate information for Indigenous communities, climate researchers, and policy analysts.

Victoria emphasizes the importance of an Indigenous worldview in conservation and how it is critical to recognize and embrace this Indigenous “way of being” in research perspectives on the fight against climate change.Her holistic approach to conservation research and policy and her passion for amplifying Indigenous voices are what the Arctic Rivers Project is trying to emulate in our work, specifically in the development of storylines of change.