Village of Aŋuutaq Celebrates a Significant Legal Victory in the Fight to Protect Bonanza Channel and Safety Sound
November 4, 2026
Today, the Village of Aŋuutaq (formerly the Village of Solomon) celebrates a significant victory for our Tribe, our neighboring Tribal communities, and every individual who has stood alongside us in the fight to protect Bonanza Channel, Safety Sound, and the lands and waters that have sustained our people for generations.
On November 2, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska ruled in favor of five Alaska Native Tribes challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' approval of the proposed IPOP gold dredging operation near Nome. The Court found that the Corps acted arbitrarily and violated federal environmental laws in approving the project.
For our people, this victory means so much more than a court decision.
It represents years of determination, countless hours of advocacy, difficult conversations, public testimony, legal challenges, and an unwavering commitment to protecting our homelands.
For years, our Tribe has stood at the forefront of opposition to this destructive mining proposal. We have challenged decisions, demanded accountability, elevated the voices of our people, and refused to accept that the destruction of our traditional lands and waters should ever be considered an acceptable cost of development.
We have done so not because it was easy, but because it was necessary.
Bonanza Channel and Safety Sound are not simply locations on a map. They are places where our families have harvested food, where our Elders have passed down knowledge, where our children learn who they are, and where our traditions continue to live.
These waters are part of our identity, our food security, our cultural survival, and our responsibility to future generations. This land and water is the only place we connect annually to share, teach, sustain our culture as a people during our annual Youth & Elder Camp, every August. As a displaced Tribe, we rely on our space to unite as a community and practice our traditional cultural activities, to ENSURE we sustain our people. Without it, or the health of it - is DETRIMENTAL to our community’s identity.
And today, we want to say QUYANNA.
To our Village of Aŋuutaq Tribal Council, thank you for your unwavering leadership, courage, and commitment. You stood firm in your responsibility to protect our people and our homelands, even when the challenges seemed endless. Your leadership has been instrumental in carrying this fight forward.
To our fellow Tribal Nations—King Island Native Community, Native Village of Council, Chinik Eskimo Community, and Native Village of White Mountain—thank you for standing shoulder to shoulder with us. Your courage, solidarity, and willingness to join this legal challenge demonstrated the incredible strength of Tribal unity. Together, we showed what is possible when our Nations stand as one.
To our incredible legal team at Earthjustice, thank you for believing in our communities, listening to our concerns, and using your expertise to ensure our voices were heard in federal court. Your dedication to this fight has meant more than words can express.
To every Tribal leader, Elder, subsistence user, community member, regional organization, advocate, and supporter throughout the Bering Strait region who spoke out against this proposal: THIS VICTORY BELONGS TO YOU, TOO.
Every letter written. Every public comment submitted. Every meeting attended. Every testimony given. Every conversation that helped bring awareness to what was at stake.
It all mattered.
And to every person who reached out to our Tribe throughout this journey—whether to offer encouragement, share information, ask how they could help, or simply remind us that we were not standing alone—we want you to know that we heard you.
There were moments when this fight felt overwhelming. Moments when the process was exhausting, when decisions seemed to disregard our concerns, and when the burden of defending our homelands felt far too heavy for a small Tribal government to carry.
Your words of encouragement lifted us. Your support strengthened us. And your belief in this fight helped us keep going.
We will never forget that.
This victory is also a reminder that our Tribal governments are not powerless. Our voices matter. Our traditional knowledge matters. Our relationship with our lands and waters matters. And when decisions threaten our communities, we have every right to stand up, demand accountability, and defend what generations before us worked to preserve.
We also recognize that this legal victory is not the final chapter. The Court has requested additional briefing before determining the appropriate remedy, and the future of the federal permit remains unresolved.
Our work is not finished, and our commitment has not changed.
We will continue to advocate, continue to hold decision-makers accountable, and continue to protect the lands, waters, wildlife, and subsistence resources that are so deeply connected to who we are.
Today, however, we celebrate.
We celebrate our Tribal Council. We celebrate our neighboring Tribes. We celebrate our advocates and supporters. We celebrate the strength of our region and the generations of people who taught us that protecting our homelands is not simply a choice—it is our responsibility.
We stood for our ancestors. We stood for our children. We stood for those yet to come.
And we stood together.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone who helped make this moment possible.
Our homelands are not expendable. Our voices will not be silenced. And our commitment to protecting what matters most will never waver.
With gratitude, strength, and determination,
Village of Aŋuutaq Tribal Council & Staff - Please keep your eyes open for the upcoming celebratory potluck/dinner the week of Nov. 16.
Formerly the Village of Solomon
Read the full Earthjustice announcement:
https://earthjustice.org/press/2026/alaska-tribes-win-legal-fight-against-destructive-gold-dredging-operation-near-nome