Greetings Madam Chair and distinguished Participants.

Yaw ghut dae wu sauk ThlauGooYailthThlee, Thlingit thlay nugth, Teegth Hit, Kuiu Kwáan. I speak on behalf of the Kuiu Kwáan Thlingit Nation of Alaska and Indigenous Peoples and nations of that northern region of the world. I am entering a diplomatic protest. A tragedy of enormous proportion threatens us as the immigrant state of Alaska moves to "Quiet Title" to submerged lands permanently through the United States Supreme Court to take title to our Indigenous lands, waters and resources. Alaska's Original Action 128, Madam Chair, circumvents legal protocols, administrative procedures, pending Alaska Superior Court cases and United Nations General Assembly resolutions, covenants and accords. The quiet title filing took place behind a shroud of secrecy. There has been no process of notification to the traditional Indigenous governments who hold allodial title to their respective lands
and waters. Indeed, gleaning even the most basic information about the case
has been extremely difficult.

If Alaska prevails, Madam Chair, under United States law, the immigrant state of Alaska will control all activities crucial to the survival of the Indigenous Peoples. The state of Alaska has repeatedly taken the position that we "Natives have no rights." Since statehood was illegally instituted in 1959, following the ill-informed permission granted by the United Nations in the form of GAR 1469, state of Alaska immigrant agents have arrested, fined and jailed our people for living our traditional lifestyle and honoring our culture, as the United States stood mutely by.

Our Native Peoples owned, occupied and governed those lands, waters and resources for thousands of years. The resident thirty-two Thlingit Nations of Southeast Alaska, Northern British Columbia and the Yukon Territory enjoyed secure, well-defined borders.

The Kuiu Kwáan are among several Thlingit nations that never ceded sovereignty or lands to the United States. Not by law and not by agreement. The "absolute" allodial title to Kuiu Island rests in the Kuiu Thlingit Nation and we continue to assert title to our lands, waters and resources. Since time immemorial we enjoyed a representative government with a judiciary system based upon traditional tribal law. Those systems are in place to this day.

When the United States of America intruded into our territory, the initial contacts were innocuous, taking the form of trade, which aroused no suspicions and warranted no cause for alarm. The immigrants increased in number gradually and instituted alien methods of land ownership and resource utilization. Their boldness increased in proportion to their growing numbers.

Despite claims made by the United States at the time of the passage of GAR 1469, the fact is that the United States never purchased Alaska from Russia, nor did it deal fairly with the Indigenous residents of the region. I remind you of the UN summary report E/Sub.2/1999/SR.3 that quotes the Yupiaq Ambassador, "Mr. Barnes gave an account of the violations of the human rights of the independent tribes and Indigenous Peoples of Alaska which had been subjugated, dominated and exploited by an administering Power entrusted with bringing them to self-determination. They had not been a party to, nor had they participated in the removal of Alaska from the list of non-self governing territories in 1959. Where they had attempted to participate, they had been subjected to fines or imprisonment or both if they could not read, write or speak English, the United States military and the transferred population had been allowed to vote, and the independent tribes and indigenous Peoples had not even been fully informed regarding their annexation by the United
States of America."

It is said, Madam Chair, "Great men never fear the truth." The truth that confirms the title of my tribe, the Kuiu Kwáan and other Indigenous nations of Alaska to their lands, waters and resources lies hidden in the United States National Archives among documents we refer to as the "Smoking Gun" correspondence introduced into the record of the Alaska Boundary Tribunal proceedings prove Russia never acquired title to Southeast Alaska and thus the US did not acquire title to Alaska either. These documents clearly recognized the right of the Thlingit people to trade with all the nations of the world.

The United States recognized and asserted that the Thlingit people were free from Russian control and were masters of their own destiny. These documents assert that under the Law of Nations, Russia did not have title by discovery to any lands not occupied by Russia. The documents are clear - Russia could not successfully claim title to the Northwest Coast of North America and the adjacent islands. Legal and historical facts lead to the inescapable conclusion that the Kuiu Kwáan and other Thlingit nations such as Tenakee and Yakutat hold allodial title (fee absolute title) to their ancestral lands and waters.

The Kuiu Kwáan have exhausted local legal remedies and attempted to bring the Smoking Gun documents to light by seeking to intervene in the State of Alaska vs. Manuel Lujan, Jr., and Secretary of the Interior No. A 92-264 consolidated with Katie John, et al vs. United States of America No. 93-35295. The Kuiu Kwáan claimed title as against the U.S. and the immigrants of Alaska to our ancestral home. We sought protection and relief under US statute (the Alaska Native Interest Lands Conservation Act). The trial court denied us our day in court and refused to allow the intervention.

The goal of Alaska is to take title to all the underwater lands out into the ocean for three miles in and around the Alexander Archipelago that includes our ancestral lands and waters. "Quiet title," under US law means no one can ever raise the issue of land title again.

If the immigrants win, they will control the waters above those lands and all activities important to the life of the Indigenous Peoples. Access to our traditional means of subsistence, gathering foods and medicines, fishing, hunting and providing materials for ceremonies, housing and clothing will be gone. There will be no place left for us to practice our traditional lifestyle, honour our spirituality and maintain our culture. The Thlingits of Southeast Alaska will be relegated to the dustbin of history - a people who were, but are no more.

Madam Chair, on behalf of the Kuiu Kwáan Tribe I ask this body to realize that GAR 1469 began the legacy of destruction for my people, that the United States perpetrated a deception upon the nations of the world, that promises in the Alaska Statehood Act and the Alaska Constitution have not been kept to "forever disclaim all right and title... to any lands or other property, (including fishing rights), the right or title to which may be held by any Indians, Eskimos, or Aleuts (hereinafter called natives) or is held by the United States in trust for said natives."

It is our profound desire to be ourselves, true to our own values that have led to the present difficult situation. We do not want to be part of the melting pot syndrome. Far from deploring our failure to become what strangers want us to be, our determination to be ourselves should be seen as a triumph of the human spirit.

Madam Chair, numerous Indigenous groups have attempted to bring to light the problems of racism, the legacy of colonialism and apartheid regarding natives of Alaska. We hope that the governments of the world who are members of this august body will help us and that this human tragedy will be averted.

The fight to continue as a people is not unique to Alaska or the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Madam Chair, as a board member of the International Human Rights Association of American Minorities (IHRAAM), I request that the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights sponsor a regional conference for African Americans as recommended by the Working Group in the near future.

IHRAAM is keenly aware of the problems and difficulties being inflicted on the Indigenous Peoples of Kashmir by the governments of India and Pakistan. We respectfully request that both India and Pakistan draw back their encroachment actions and allow the people of Kashmir to pursue self-determination in an atmosphere of peace, respect and understanding.

Thank you, Madam Chair

Rudy James