Tanana Chiefs Conference presses delegation for disaster aid built for Interior villages

Tribal leaders consider state and federal disaster-assistance mechanisms insufficiently tailored to Interior communities and want a more direct tribal role and dedicated recovery funding, Tanana Chiefs Conference says. The consortium pressed Alaska's congressional delegation on that and other priorities last week, after months coordinating flood relief across the Interior. Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared a disaster for the 2026 spring floods in May.

Joy Huntington, the organization's government affairs director, called the priorities "time-sensitive and urgent." They included 2026 disaster relief funding, an extension of the Nenana Clinic grant, the Farm Bill, and proposed Office of Management and Budget revisions to the uniform guidance, the federal rules governing how grant money may be spent.

TCC also invited federal decision makers to visit villages and meet with tribes directly. The organization serves 39 villages across 235,000 square miles of Interior Alaska, about 37 percent of the state. This account comes entirely from TCC's own statement.