The president of Southeast Alaska’s largest tribal organization called for unity as proposed federal funding cuts could drastically impact the future of the tribe.
On Wednesday, more than 120 delegates of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska met for the first day of its 90th annual tribal assembly in Juneau.
Its president, Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson, told delegates during his State of the Tribe address to remember the values and strengths of their ancestors and fight for the tribe’s future.
“Today, we face new challenges, political division, environmental threats and the continued impacts of colonial systems,” he said. “But our power is in our connections to each other, to our land, to our ancestors and to the generations still coming.”
Peterson expressed concern to tribal leaders during an executive council meeting earlier this week about proposed federal cuts that he said have the potential to slash a third of the tribe’s funding from the government.
During his speech to delegates, he specifically referenced a traditional food distribution program that was ended by the Trump administration. He said the cut is a setback in a much longer fight.
“Federal policies took our lands, restricted our harvest and undermined our food sovereignty,” he said. “This program was helping us rebuild that connection to our food, to our health and to who we are.”
The tribe also works closely with federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which were both hit by the Trump administration’s sweeping federal workforce and spending cuts.
The theme of the three-day assembly is “Honor the Past, Empowering the Future.” This year’s assembly is also a constitutional convention, meaning the tribe will consider proposed changes to its constitution.
Delegates traveled to Juneau from different villages in Southeast Alaska, Washington and California. The tribal assembly will consider amendments to its constitution Friday morning before adjournment that evening.
