Indigenous Affairs
RSSIndigenous Affairs in Alaska covers Alaska Native and American Indian governance, tribal institutions and cultural life. It spans ANCSA corporations, tribal councils, subsistence rights, language revitalization, repatriation of ancestral remains, and federal tribal policy.
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Week of Aug 3
Rural road access was Alaska's biggest federal award last week
Tribal transportation was Alaska's biggest federal award last week — $2.68 million for rural road access, in a state with fewer road miles than Connecticut.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Pollock fleet holds an Anchorage job fair days before a bycatch-shaped election
Days before the final vote, the Bering Sea pollock fleet holds an Anchorage job fair — as salmon bycatch, and a new mandatory chum cap, roil the 2026 campaign.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Sealaska Heritage concludes ninth annual education conference
Sealaska Heritage Institute concluded its ninth annual education conference in Juneau, drawing hundreds of educators from Alaska and beyond for sessions on culturally responsive teaching.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
20 Alaska Native students are training to bring health care home to rural communities
Twenty Alaska Native students are training as nurses, midwives and doctors on tribal scholarships — many aiming to bring care home to rural communities.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
41.3 million for Alaska Native education is freed up after a month's delay
Fifteen Alaska organizations will share $41.3 million in Native education grants that came a month late, freed up after Sen. Murkowski pressed the education secretary directly.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Doyon opens a descendant registry with hiring preference and training
Doyon opens a Descendant Registry this fall, giving shareholders' descendants a path to hiring preference, training and internships. Gather birth records early.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Doyon shareholders must update their address or miss a distribution
Several hundred Doyon shareholders won't get a distribution until they update their mailing address. Check the Undeliverable Mail List at doyon.com.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Juneau sets hearing on $1.5M City Hall sale to Sealaska Heritage Institute
Juneau hears testimony Aug. 17 on selling the old City Hall site to Sealaska Heritage Institute for $1.5M for an arts center, or opening it to higher bids.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
More from Indigenous Affairs
A Haida class spends two years recovering a 74-line migration story
A Haida class spent two years retranscribing a single 74-line migration story, uncovering meaning a century-old English translation had flattened — and connecting a scattered Haida diaspora through the work.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Tribes objected to a federal rollback of Native welfare rules. HHS did it anyway.
HHS is cutting federal rules governing Native welfare-to-work programs run by Alaska's tribal nonprofits — over objections from tribal organizations that said they weren't properly consulted, and that called it a sovereignty concern.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Week of Jul 27
Anchorage Assembly recognizes four Eklutna youth interns for Elders meal program
Anchorage Assembly recognized four Eklutna youth interns who spent the summer harvesting salmon and moose for an Elders Freezer Meal program, then delivered meals to tribal Elders' homes.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Juneau's casino opened on shifting ground and now faces suits on two fronts
Juneau's tribal casino opened through a federal opening since rescinded, and now faces the state, a family lawsuit and doubt about whether it's even legal.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
The DV hotline's non-English access rule is moving out of regulation
The rule requiring the domestic violence hotline to serve non-English speakers is leaving binding regulation for weaker grant notices, over tribal objection.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Aleut Corp's Skoey Vergen elected vice chair of the regional corporation association
Skoey Vergen, head of the Aleut Corporation since 2021, has been elected vice chair of the ANCSA Regional Association, giving Aleut a leadership seat among Alaska's 12 regional corporations.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Dorothy Grant's 40 years of Haida design come home to Juneau
Four decades of Dorothy Grant's Haida fashion, including a wedding dress on loan from the Smithsonian, are on view in Juneau through Oct. 17. Free for anyone under 18.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
The first Tlingit opera in recorded history opens in Juneau next month
The first Tlingit opera in recorded history opens in Juneau Sept. 11 — in the Tlingit language, telling the Tlingit-Russian War from the Tlingit side.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago1 min read
Coming up
ANCSA: Why It Matters
The Hotel Captain Cook, 939 W 5th Ave, Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Class
Public Comment Deadline: Dingell Act Native Allotment Relinquishment (GS-5241)
Public notice
NAGPRA Repatriation Request Deadline
Public notice
NAGPRA Repatriation Eligibility: BLM Alaska Human Remains
Public notice
About Indigenous Affairs
Indigenous Affairs in Alaska takes in Alaska Native and American Indian governance, tribal institutions and cultural life. It spans the regional and village corporations created under ANCSA, tribal councils and consortiums, and the peoples of the state, among them Tlingit, Haida, Athabascan, Yupik, Inupiat and Aleut.
Recurring questions include corporation shareholder elections, scholarships and distributions, the return of ancestral remains and cultural items from museums and federal agencies, language revitalization, tribal authority over fish, wildlife and land, and tribal health and elder programs funded by federal grants.
The Alaska Federation of Natives brings these institutions together at its annual convention, and federal agencies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service fund many tribal programs. Subsistence hunting and fishing rights are a closely related subject.
More from Indigenous Affairs
Haida class returns a 1901 migration story to its own language
A century-old Kaigani migration story, recorded by an outside ethnologist, is back in X̱aad Kíl. The teacher behind the translation speaks in Juneau Aug. 3.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 20
A sacred site promised in 1978 is being considered by Congress to go to Doyon
A sacred Athabascan site was promised to Doyon in 1978, then a national park grew around it. Congress is finally moving to hand it over.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Deadline TONIGHT for Park Service tribal heritage preservation grants
Alaska tribes, Native villages and corporations have until 7:59 p.m. Monday to apply for Park Service grants preserving oral histories and sacred places.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
One new rural Alaska prosecutor, against deep tribal-justice cuts
The DOJ is adding one rural Alaska prosecutor while proposing to cut the budgets that fund tribal police and victim services by roughly a quarter.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Nominations open for Arctic shipping panel with reserved Alaska seats
Alaska Native tribes and coastal groups have until Sept. 22 to seek seats on a new federal panel shaping U.S. Arctic shipping policy as sea lanes open.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Western Alaska leaders take food security to a circumpolar assembly
Western Alaska tribal leaders are in Nunavut for the first circumpolar Inuit assembly in nearly a decade, with food security high on the agenda.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
House panel advances bill to let Alaska Native artists sell work with feathers
A Tlingit artist was made to strip the feathers off his own work and hand them to federal agents. A House committee just advanced the bill named for him.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
New SHI book argues Alaska Natives lost hundreds of millions after CARES Act win
Alaska Native corporations won a Supreme Court ruling on pandemic relief but lost hundreds of millions when Congress excluded them from a larger relief package, a new SHI book argues.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min readFrom 
Tlingit artist warns AI hiring tools are already screening out job seekers of color
Tlingit photographer Larry McNeil warned that AI hiring tools already screen out job seekers of color, keeping them unemployed longer. • AI-generated artist statements are appearing in college applications, raising questions about authenticity in creative fields. • AI cannot replicate the precision of formline art, producing cartoonish results instead.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
Four TCC employees selected for ANTHC leadership programs
Four Tanana Chiefs Conference employees selected for competitive nine-month leadership programs run by Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium to develop skills across tribal healthcare.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 13
Pioneer Park main shelter closes mornings July 23-24 for volunteer work
Pioneer Park's main shelter closes 9 a.m. to noon Thursday and Friday, July 23-24, while volunteers including Outer Coast do maintenance work. The park itself stays open.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
AFN opens Co-Chair nominations ahead of October convention vote
Alaska Federation of Natives opens nominations for a new co-chair to be elected October 24, with applications due September 25.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Three art commission calls open to Alaska Native and American Indian artists close by Aug. 14
Three art commissions for Alaska Native and American Indian artists close by Aug. 14, with two deadlines on July 31: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium seeks proposals for a skilled nursing facility, and Ketchikan's Totem Heritage Center seeks a 50th anniversary design. Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage is also commissioning artwork, deadline Aug. 14. Alaska Literary Awards applications close Aug. 17.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
IHS picks Sitka and Bethel tribal health groups for first-ever elder care construction program
Indian Health Service picked Sitka and Bethel tribal health groups to build and expand skilled nursing facilities, the first time the federal program has funded long-term elder care in Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Federal grant would re-launch Alaska Native elder resource center; deadline July 27
The federal Administration on Aging is offering $215,000 annually for three years to re-establish a resource center for Alaska Native elders, with applications due July 27.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Murkowski, Schatz introduce $800M bill for Native children and families
Senators Murkowski and Schatz introduced an $800 million bill to fund Native children and families, with nearly $500 million flowing directly to tribal governments starting immediately upon passage.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Senate committee advances bill to give land to five landless SE Alaska Native communities
A Senate committee advanced a bill granting 115,000 acres to five landless Southeast Alaska Native communities. The wait is fifty years.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Tlingit & Haida leaders ask tourists to stop using totem poles as social media props
Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian leaders are asking tourists to stop using totem poles as social media backdrops, saying the carved poles hold sacred stories and ancestors, not Instagram props.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
The federal unit handling Alaska's MMIP cases can't return a family's calls
The federal unit handling Alaska's missing and murdered Indigenous cases hasn't returned one family's calls in 10 months, a Crow Nation professor told Congress.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Steel and pilings shrink Juneau's Oak Landing to a third its size
Steel doubled and the ground needs 100-foot pilings, so Juneau's Oak Landing is shrinking to a third its size — but the welcome center, shops and seawalk survive.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Alaska runs on federal money, and a proposed rule change has people worried
Alaska leans on federal money for basics — water plants, shelters, emergency response — and nonprofits, cities, and Tribes warn a proposed federal rule change could make that funding less reliable.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Kuskokwim subsistence fishing reopens as salmon run strong
Subsistence fishing is back open on the lower Kuskokwim as salmon run strong — and the state is managing the mainstem again after losing a long fight over who controls the river.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A faster way to settle Native trust estates, starting in Alaska
Settling a Native allotment after a death has meant slow federal paperwork — now Interior has an online system to speed it up, and Alaska families are first to use it.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
How a borrowed good-luck charm became Bering Strait ivory art
A grinning good-luck charm invented Outside became a Bering Strait ivory art form — thanks to master carver Happy Jack, who made the borrowed Billiken his own.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
