The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska held its 85th Tribal Assembly on Thursday.
For the first time it was held virtually and it was a condensed version of the usual three-day event.
President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson says economic sovereignty is ultimately the council’s goal.
“Moving forward, you know, we’re building, we’re doing economic development,” he said. “We’re looking at, you know, reentry and recovery are big issues for us, you know, a tribal college is really being discussed, and we’re just looking at new ways to expand services for our tribal citizens.”
The meeting also included discussions of issues including public health, climate change, subsistence and support for congressional legislation.
Peterson says the resolutions involving money for the tribe or that might have been controversial have been forwarded to the Executive Council at the Tribe’s next meeting.
The assembly also held executive council elections. Most of the current executive committee was re-elected with the exception of two new vice presidents.
- President – Richard J. Peterson
- Vice Presidents – 1st: Catherine Edwards, 2nd: William Micklin, 3rd: Rob Sanderson Jr., 4th: Tasha Hotch, 5th: Delbert Kadake, 6th: Ralph Wolfe
- Chief Justice- Lisa Lang
- Delegate/Citizen of the Year – Cindy Leask
- Emerging Leader- Simon Friday
“We have Tasha Hotch from Anchorage [who] was elected and Delbert Kadake from the community of Kake. And, yeah, we just had our reorganization meeting this morning. I think both are very excited and eager to roll up their sleeves and get to work,” Peterson said on Friday.
