In November, Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) hosted a Special Full Board of Directors Meeting in Fairbanks. Due to the significant losses occurring throughout the region, TCC made the decision to condense the meeting down from its original three-day agenda. The one-day agenda allowed for community members to grieve, take time to heal, and attend services for those recently departed.
The final agenda included a panel to cover updates on TCC’s Patient Travel and Housing Improvement Plan, a panel on the Pros and Cons of a Fish Hatchery on the Yukon River, a presentation on Food Sovereignty and Traditional Foods from Central Council of Tlingit and Haida, and a panel on Substance Use Treatment Programs and services offered.
During the substance abuse panel, Rev. Dr. Anna Frank emphasized that much of the trauma that leads Alaska Natives into drug use can be attributed to the history of boarding schools that were run by Christian Missionaries in Alaska. A follow-up comment from Perry Ahsogeak, Fairbanks Native Association’s behavioral health director, supported Dr. Frank’s claims and called for people struggling with substance use issues to be able to heal and recover in their home communities. “I am a boarding school student,” he said, “I know what it’s like to be taken away from my mother, to be taken away from my family, to be taken away from my village of Barrow and sent hundreds of miles away to a boarding school that had no idea who I was, where I was from. I missed important years of my life.”
Opening the panel of fisheries, TCC welcomed Paul Williams Sr. of Beaver to provide an elder story and open us up in a traditional way. He recalled his childhood of living off the land, and discussed the need for unity around treating Native lands as sacred places. “As we begin to take back our land, we need to protect it, and keep each other healthy and strong,” he said.
Discussing the ongoing salmon crisis, TCC Chief/Chairman Brian Ridley underscored the Yukon and Kuskokwim salmon management as a prolonged battle with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
“We will persist and do everything in our power to ensure our tribal voices are heard,” Chief Ridley said. “If the state and feds actually managed fish and game and did their job, we would not be having these issues.”
Chief Ridley also reinforced TCC’s continued opposition to the Ambler Road project, citing the recently released Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement’s (SEIS) findings of potential wide ranging negative impacts of the proposed 211-mile private road.
TCC’s Full Board of Directors unanimously authorized the Executive Board to provide final approval to purchase the Best Western Plus Hotel, located at 1255 TVSA Way (across from West Fred Meyer) and adjoining vacant Lots 5 & 6 of the TVSA Subdivision. On November 15th, during an Executive Board Special Meeting, the Directors unanimously approved a resolution to allow TCC to move forward with the purchase of the property. TCC hopes that the purchase of the hotel will assist with the current patient housing shortage in Fairbanks. The two vacant river front lots will be assessed to determine the viability of future potential elder housing. More information on the hotel will be provided at a later date.
Missed out on our Special Convention? You can watch the recorded livestream here:
https://tinyurl.com/SpecialConvention23
