Tribal Government
RSSTribal Government in Alaska is the network of federally recognized tribal councils and traditional governments across the state. It covers sovereignty disputes, tribal-state compacts and child welfare jurisdiction under the Indian Child Welfare Act, alongside BIA recognition and funding.
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Numbers are stories in the last 30 days.
Frame from "Tanana Chiefs Conference: TCC 2026 Fall Summit - Day One General Session" · Photo source
Galena and Tanana tribes team up so neither takes a below-market BIA lease rate
Two Yukon River tribes are teaming up to negotiate what the federal government pays them for the buildings they use to run federal programs.
The Louden Tribe in Galena and the Native Village of Tanana agreed to negotiate their leases together so neither accepts a rate below fair market value, Tanana Chiefs Conference Chief Administrative Officer Victor Joseph said Thursday at TCC's Fall Summit in Fairbanks.
The worry is that a low rate in one village becomes the yardstick for the next. "We don't want them to say to us, well, they just did it, and so these are the dollars that we're going to be allowing you to," Joseph said.
The leases come from a federal program known as 105(l). When tribes run federal programs out of their own buildings, it pays for rent, depreciation, utilities, janitors and repairs. The Bureau of Indian Affairs describes these as facility-cost agreements more than traditional leases.
BIA has split Alaska into seven regions and is building a database of agreed rates to judge what's reasonable, attorney Rebecca Patterson told the summit. She said the agency hasn't shared that data.
Galena's lease shows how the process has played out. Brooke Sanderson, Louden's tribal administrator, said the tribe hired an Anchorage company to appraise its building and sent the appraisal to BIA in May. In October, BIA rejected the proposed cost per square foot by email and said the tribe could negotiate or seek a waiver.
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About Tribal Government
Tribal government in Alaska takes in the federally recognized tribes and their councils, traditional councils and regional tribal organizations. Among them are the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes, Tanana Chiefs Conference, the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and village councils such as the Curyung Tribal Council.
Tribes and tribal organizations run public safety, health, housing, addiction treatment and elder programs for their members, and some take over buildings or services from local governments. Their legal standing raises recurring questions about sovereign immunity, jurisdiction under the Indian Child Welfare Act and which federal funding Alaska tribes can reach. State bills on matters such as confidentiality for tribal victim advocates and tribal demands for co-management of salmon also recur.
Tribal governments work alongside Alaska Native corporations, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other federal agencies, and state and municipal governments. Regional organizations such as Tanana Chiefs Conference also hire, borrow and plan on behalf of their member villages.
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