Sasha Soboleff walked on stage in front of the 83rd annual Tribal Assembly with a package of frozen herring eggs.<\/p>\n
He handed them to Kenan Sanderson and Eva Rowan, saying it will be up to them to continue Alaska Native traditions \u2014 and that it will not be easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are holding the sacredness of herring eggs on branches. You are holding the sacredness of pickled gumboots,\u201d said Soboleff, Grand Camp President of Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. \u201c\u2018Your moms and dads knew how to preserve these, and now it is up to you. Be ready to be forceful, be ready to be an advocate by putting traditional foods on your table. You will be under pressure to figure it out, but we have your back.\u201d<\/p>\n
[PHOTOS: Tribal Assembly 2018 kicks off in Juneau<\/a>]<\/p>\n Sanderson, 20, said his studies of fisheries and other related issues at the University of Alaska Fairbanks are guiding him to preserve his heritage.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been my lifelong goal to preserve these natural resources for future generation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt feels really good to be lifted up like that. It is a huge honor.\u201d<\/p>\n That moment, of handing down and trying preserve traditions, is what the Assembly represents.<\/p>\n More than 100 Central Council delegates from Alaska, Washington and California will gather through Friday to discuss issues and pass resolutions to address challenges within the Alaska Native communities. President Richard Peterson leads the Council as it examines its constitution and elects new delegates and tribal court members.<\/p>\n Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, who was born in Yakutat and is Tlingit, discussed the importance of preserving and revitalizing Alaska Native languages. He said the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council<\/a> is working to help the languages, but that the state government must also help. According to its official website, the Council \u201cprovides recommendations and advice to both the Governor and Legislature on programs, policies, and projects; and to network and advocate in support of the Council\u2019s mission.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe growth of languages among our people is important,\u201d Mallott said. \u201cWe are looking at focusing to see whether we can give teeth, resources and staff to the language council.\u201d<\/p>\n Mallott added that rural and tribal areas of Alaska must not be forgotten.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a public safety crisis in rural Alaska,\u201d Mallott said. \u201cNo matter where anyone lives they should have governmental support. But, in reality, urban Alaska has had a 911 service for generations, but rural Alaska \u2014 particularly village Alaska \u2014 has not. What does that say about us as a state? What does it say about the priorities?\u201d<\/p>\n Gov. Bill Walker also addressed the Council about rural and tribal area concerns and referred to a story about a Native women having a heart attack, but struggling to get help because the 911 emergency response number was not available in that area.<\/p>\n Mallott also talked about that subject.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a plan<\/a> to directly work with communities across the state to address services and public safety that every other place takes for granted,\u201d Mallott said.<\/p>\n According to the official Public Safety Action Plan website<\/a>, the plan focuses efforts in four main areas: the criminal justice system, public safety agencies, mental health and substance abuse issues and the opioid epidemic and drug trafficking.<\/p>\n Walker discussed how important it is to have the state government work alongside, not against, Alaska Native government. He spoke about the Governor\u2019s Tribal Advisory Council<\/a> \u2014 of which Peterson is a member \u2014 and how it helps bring issues to order.<\/p>\n \u201cThose meetings are rather spirited,\u201d Walker said. \u201cThe idea is that there is no holding back. These (issues) need to be talked about. They needed to be talked about 30, 40 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Walker said the topics of health care, public safety and education highlight the meetings, and the only way to improve is by joining forces.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is about working together, rather than working at odds,\u201d Walker said. \u201cThings are not going to happened without these conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n Peterson, in his State of the Tribe Address, called for his delegates to respond to the public safety issues.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a shock to my system as I travel that our people don\u2019t feel safe,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cWhatever village you live in, whether it is rural or urban, we don\u2019t feel safe. I honestly believe we are the answer to this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s session began with a grand entrance that included a dance group, \u201cHas Du Eet\u00e9ex\u2019 X\u2019aakeid\u00edx Haa Siteeand,\u201d moving and chanting to drums. Peterson then called the Assembly to order. Before the Council began business, Tribal elders brought a little laughter to the room.<\/p>\n Shirley Kendall, of Anchorage, started the Assembly by giving the delegates a lesson on how to become a TV personality.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can be a weatherman in the Southeast,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is really easy. All you need to know is one prediction \u2014 \u2018it\u2019s going to rain.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n She then asked the room to repeat back to her that phrase in Tlingit. She then asked them to answer her with that response after a couple phrases.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019ll go on a picnic,\u201d she said. The room appropriately responded. \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll go Sunday,\u201d she said. Again, the room responded. \u201cOK, you win,\u201d she joked.<\/p>\n The chuckles did not stop there as the Tribal Host, Fred Hamilton Sr., of Craig, and Tribal Hostess, Bertha Karras, of Sitka, were introduced.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know about sitting next to Mr. Hamilton,\u201d Karras said. \u201cThe first thing he did was ask for my phone number.\u201d<\/p>\n Karras, who has been a delegate for 25 years, then thanked the Council for its work.<\/p>\n As stated by Walker in his speech, the Council has played much more of a role in statewide politics in recent years, creating General Counsel and Government Affairs Liaison positions help build relationships in state government. Locally, CCTHITA and the City and Borough of Juneau worked together on land issues last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI am feeling really honored and humbled to be here,\u201d Karras said.\u201cMany accomplishments and many doors have been open through this great organization.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2022 Contact reporter Gregory Philson at gphilson@juneauempire.com or call at 523-2265. Follow him on Twitter at @GTPhilson.<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sasha Soboleff walked on stage in front of the 83rd annual Tribal Assembly with a package of frozen herring eggs. He handed them to Kenan Sanderson and Eva Rowan, saying it will be up to them to continue Alaska Native traditions \u2014 and that it will not be easy. \u201cYou are holding the sacredness of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":431,"featured_media":32673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-32672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/431"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32672"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=32672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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