The NAFWS has worked with the IHEA to institute a World certified hunter education course that Tribes can use to train new and upcoming hunters. The course is recognized by 19 countries, (Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States). All 50 U.S. states, the ten provinces and three territories of Canada, and the 31 United Mexican states confer reciprocity.
IHEA-World Certified Hunt Safe Program
IHEA-World Certified Hunt Safe Program
There are currently three different training options that Tribal Nations can choose from to provide quality safety training to their hunter education participants. Tribes can choose from one, two, or all three training options depending on their specific needs, objectives and instructor capacities.
The course allows Tribes to add any specific information they would like, such as funding sources, special regulations, and cultural segments to the ten basic requirements that every course must include. All three options require the respective Tribal seal or logo for the issuance of a NAFWS Hunter Education Instructor or Student Cards.
There are Three Kinds of Courses:
The class will be conducted in a classroom setting and instructors can perform any field safety exercises needed. This is the traditional style class with 10 to 12 hours of instructor and student interaction over the length of a few days. The standard Hunter Education booklet “Today’s Hunter” will be used and a final assessment test will be conducted. High levels of staff time required.
This class is designed with the students taking the booklet portion of training via the National Rifle Association training website portal. This following option allows Tribes to add any content they want to.
When the students complete the online course, a certificate of completion will be issued to the students who bring it into the Tribal office to complete the training. Tribes have the option to test the students in person immediately, or to conduct a field training day and test the students afterward. High to moderate levels of staff time required.
Students will take an online course through the National Rifle Association training website portal to achieve certification and a Hunter Education Card. The students work through the course book taking a test at the end of each chapter; once complete, a Hunter Education Card with the Tribes logo will be printed. This course does not require in-person training or a field assessment. Minimal staff time required.
Interested in holding your own Hunter Education course? Click the button below to contact our Hunter Education Coordinator.
Participating Tribes:
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, Lummi Nation, Muscogee Creek Nation, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Choctaw Nation, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and the Sauk-Suittle Indian Tribe.
THE IHEA-WORLD WELCOMES THE NATIVE AMERICAN FISH & WILDLIFE SOCIETY AS PARTNERS IN HUNTER EDUCATION
The Native American Fish & Wildlife Society (NAFWS) is now partnered with the International Hunter Education Association allowing Native American Tribes to become certified to teach Hunter Education. This new partnership opens up Hunter Education to the over 4.5 million Native Americans, allowing them reciprocity to hunt worldwide.
With 227 Tribes in 7 regions, NAFWS supports these Tribes in their right to manage over 56 million acres of Tribal lands for fishing and hunting. Delivering messages of safe hunting practices through state wildlife agency programs has been extremely difficult, if not impossible, in many of these territories. This partnership allows NAFWS associated Tribes to teach Hunter Education and issue valuable official Hunter Education cards certifying new hunters to buy licenses anywhere in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and other IHEA-WORLD partner countries.
Shawna Belavance, President of IHEA-WORLD commented, “I would like to welcome NAFWS to IHEA-World. We are proud to have you join our world association, and we look forward to working together with you and all our world partners to achieve the highest standards of safe, responsible, and ethical hunters – this is the goal we strive for every day.”
“Kwak kway (Thank you) to the IHEA-World and the NAFWS for collaborating together to accomplish the Hunt Safe Program under the NAFWS,” stated Darren Talayumptewa, NAFWS Board Member. “This program will allow Tribes to use their sovereignty to implement the same Hunter Education curriculum taught within each state game and fish agency, however it will allow Tribes to incorporate their own respective traditional and cultural hunting ethics and practices for our people and the general public. It is our hope Tribes and state agencies will honor the certification and continue with our collaborative efforts to teach Hunter Education values and ethics for all.”
Continuing education training for Hunter Educators in the Tribes is already available through the IHEA-USA’sLearnhunting.org portal, and Hunter Education classes are expected to launch in Tribal territories in the summer of 2023.