Tlingit and Haida expands in the Aak’w Village District

The Andrew Hope Building, pictured here on Feb. 10, 2021, houses the headquarters of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.
The Andrew Hope Building, pictured here on Feb. 10, 2021, houses the headquarters of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. It’s named after an Alaska Native leader who was a charter member of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, a territorial and state legislator and Central Council president. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)

The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is expanding in the Aak’w Village District in downtown Juneau.

The tribe bought two buildings, one at 400 Willoughby Ave. and the other at 410 Willoughby Ave. Both are near the tribe’s headquarters.

Tribe President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson said that the move is a return of land to Indigenous people. The tribe committed to developing a tribal campus when a resolution from the Juneau Tlingit and Haida Community Council was adopted at this year’s Tribal Assembly.

Peterson said these new buildings are a step in that direction.

“Many of our clients fall under different programs, not just one program. So they have to kind of traverse all across town just to get services,” Peterson said. “It’s not the most conducive thing. So for us, it really does make things better if we can build and expand in a campus setting.”

The tribe is outgrowing its current building too. It now employs over 400 people in Juneau and elsewhere.

A lot of employees are working from home right now, and Peterson wants to be able to bring employees back to the office. But to do that safely, everyone will need to have their own offices.

“We’re running out of space. And we really can’t, with this pandemic, we  really can’t double up and put like two people to an office anymore, right?” Peterson said.

There’s some work to do before that happens, like redesigning the buildings inside and out.

There are currently leased spaces in the two buildings. But as the leases expire, Peterson says the tribe will consider each one and decide if they want to keep the leases or move the tribe’s employees into those spaces.

Lyndsey Brollini

Local News Reporter

I bring voices to my stories that have been historically underserved and underrepresented in news. I look at stories through a solutions-focused lens with a goal to benefit the community of Juneau and the state of Alaska.

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