Permanent Participant to the Arctic Council: The Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC)

The Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC), an international treaty organisation, includes individuals of Athabaskan descent spanning vast territories of three million square kilometres across Alaska in the United States, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories in Canada. The AAC represents approximately 45,000 members in 76 communities in both the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Alaska and Canada. In their homeland territories, many Athabaskans continue the traditional practices of their ancestors, who were mostly hunters and semi-nomadic. Their livelihoods include caribou herding, hunting of moose, beaver, and rabbits, and fishing. They share 32 languages. The aim of the AAC is primarily to "foster a greater understanding of the shared heritage of Athabaskan peoples of Arctic North America." They recognise their mutual interests and responsibilities for preserving and protecting the ecosystem and environment around them. The other aim of the AAC is to defend their rights under international law and promote the interests of American and Canadian Athabaskan member First Nation governments. The AAC occupies one of the six Permanent Participant seats on the Arctic Council, through which this eight-nation body can influence decision-making about environmental protection and economic development. 

Sources: 

1. The Arctic Athabaskan Council, https://www.devex.com/organizations/arctic-athabaskan-council-aac-61106

2. Arctic Council, https://arctic-council.org/en/about/permanent-participants/aac/

3. Erica Dingman, Linda Jabs, Dayanita Ramesh, et al, (2014). Effects of Global Ecological Change on Arctic Council Permanent Participants. https://www.arcticsummercollege.org/sites/default/files/ASC%20WG_AC%20Permanent%20Participants.pdf.