Tlingit leader Robert ‘Bob’ Loescher dies at 68

Former Sealaska CEO and longtime Native rights activist Robert “Bob” Loescher has died at the age of 68.

Robert 'Bob' Loescher speakers during a meeting in June of 2011. The former Sealaska CEO dies at the age of 68. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
Bob Loescher speaks during a Juneau meeting in June of 2011. The former Sealaska CEO has died at the age of 68. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)

Loescher worked for the Southeast Alaska regional Native corporation for about 25 years. He became Sealaska’s CEO in 1997, a job he held until 2001.

“Bob’s mentoring nature and passion for Native land ownership and management had a profound impact on Alaska’s natural resources. He supported state policy that was guided by science and research,” Sealaska CEO Anthony Mallott said in a press release.

Loescher served on the Juneau Assembly in the early 1970s.

He also held leadership roles in the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

Council President Richard Peterson said Loescher ran the organization’s housing and electrical authorities.

“He put himself forward and worked for our people and we owe a great debt of gratitude for anybody who’s doing that and Bob did it in a very impactful way,” Peterson said.

Loescher, who died Nov. 11, recently served as a tribal judge. He was recognized as the central council’s tribal citizen of the year in 2012.

He was often described as a strong spokesman for Native subsistence rights.

In a 2009 speech, Loescher called for the state to stop citing indigenous people harvesting traditional foods. He pointed to what he called unreasonable limits on subsistence-caught salmon.

“What we have is a disproportionate allocation between the commercial fisheries and the traditional and customary hunting-fishing-gathering access to our resources, which we’ve used for thousands of years. That is not right,” he said.

The sometimes controversial Tlingit leader spent many years working with the Alaska Native Brotherhood, including heading up its Subsistence Defense Fund and Traditional Foods Security Council.

But other ANB officials alleged he illegally took about $21,000 from the groups. That led to a 2013 indictment on two charges of felony theft.

He challenged those charges, which were dropped last year.

Tlingit and Haida’s Peterson said he saw Loescher’s passion as a child growing up in the Prince of Wales Island village of Kasaan.

“One thing I got to know about Bob is when he was involved, he was really involved and he put a lot of effort into those initiatives, whether it was subsistence or others,” he said.

Loescher also worked as a consultant and lobbyist. .

A Tlingit-Haida Central Council biography says Loescher is of the Eagle Moiety, Chookeneidi Clan, the people of Glacier Bay and Hoonah. His Tlingit name is Kahtushtu’.

Editor’s note: This report was updated with additional information Nov. 17, 2015.

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