In his introduction of Will Mayo’s Keynote Address at this year’s Convention and Full Board of Directors Meeting, Chief Brian Ridley teased that the speech would bring attendees up to speed on where we come from. This proved to be true, not only as a history lesson of TCC’s evolving services; the speech also served as a powerful lesson in how our people have persevered through unity and love for another – from person-to-person, family-to-family, and community-to-community.
The address, given by the former President of TCC, former Executive Director of Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) Tribal Government and Client Services, and former co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives, moved the crowd with its message of unity, sovereignty, and forgiveness as the path forward for our people to be truly united as one people with one voice.
Mayo conveyed that the theme of this year’s convention, “One People, One Voice,” expands beyond meeting and uniting over policy, and asserted that this gathering is about relating to the humanity within all of us. “How can we be one people if we aren’t connected at the heart?” he posed to the audience, “If we aren’t treating each other as mothers and fathers, and looking into each other’s eyes with love? Every good thing springs from healthy, loving relationships.”
Throughout his address, Mayo told stories that exemplified the ways in which he has experienced the kind of unity unique to our people. From the “Indianuity” of joining forces with a friend in crafting a guiding needle for a riverboat out of chewing gum and a nail during atrip down the Yukon to the village of Tanana in the early 1970s, to starting youth groups with his wife in the same village, Mayo weaved together many examples of how connected the spirit of unity is with the spirit of survival for our people, and its long history of success.
Mayo continued to inspire the audience by recalling how Elders have prayed for us long before we even existed, how songs and dances have been passed down through generations, how they united to fight for land claims, and how in the early TCC organization, Health Aides worked without pay – all ways in which those who came before us have united to preserve our livelihood.
“Why do I talk about this?” he asks, “Because these people worked out of love for us, and these are the types of loving, healthy interactions that we need in order to stay alive.”
The messages that Mayo has received his entire life then became a challenge to the crowd – to act out of and relate to one another with love for our people and our community. He invited attendees to surround the stage to receive prayer and acknowledgement, in order to know that they are loved and valued.
“This is the description of one people, one voice,” he said as the crowd gathered and embraced one another, “We are also one heart.”
Tanana Chiefs Conference wants to thank Will Mayo for his Keynote Address, which truly established a tone of unity and love throughout the rest of this year’s Convention and Full Board of Directors Meeting, and which provided us with the inspiration to continue guiding the organization in the same mission.
To watch the full keynote, visit: https://tinyurl.com/MayoKeynote
