LibGuides: Land Acknowledgments: Southeast Alaska

Indigenous Peoples of Southeast Alaska

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI)
From SHI website: "Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private nonprofit founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. Its goal is to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding through public services and events. Sealaska Heritage also conducts scientific, and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee and a Southeast Regional Language Committee."
Southeast Communities from MySealaska
Links to community and tribal information, SEARHC offices, and ANCSA corporations for all of Southeast Alaska's communities
List of Federally Recognized Tribes in the Sealaska Region
Indigenous Languages of Alaska
From the University of Fairbanks Alaska Native Language Center

Tribal Association & ANCSA Corporation Resources for Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan

Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida)
"The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida) is a tribal government representing over 32,000 Tlingit and Haida Indians worldwide. We are a sovereign entity and have a government to government relationship with the United States."
Douglas Indian Association
"The Douglas Indian Association (DIA) became the federally recognized Tlingit Tribe of the of Juneau and Douglas area in 1934. DIA’s traditional and historical territory encompasses the City and Borough of Juneau and Douglas including areas East and North of Admiralty Island, areas on the Chilkat Peninsula to the South including Endicott Arm, and areas East into Canada on the Taku River and Atlin, B.C."
Goldbelt Incorporated
"Founded in 1973 and officially incorporated in 1974, Goldbelt, Incorporated is the urban corporation that represents the Juneau area."
Sitka Tribe of Alaska
"The Sitka Tribe of Alaska is the federally recognized government for more than 4,000 Tribal Citizens who are primarily of Tlingit, Haida, Aleut and Tsimpsian Heritage in the Sheet'-Ká area of Southeastern Alaska"
Shee Atiká Incorporated
The ANCSA Village Corporation for the Sitka area, Shee Atiká's mission is to "preserve and enhance our culture for all generations of shareholders, and to provide benefits to shareholders consistently and on an equitable basis."
Ketchikan Indian Community
"As a sovereign nation, the KIC mission is to enhance and protect the interests of the Tribe and its Tribal citizens, to assist our Tribal members in becoming self-sufficient through the provision of socioeconomic services, to enrich and uphold our cultural heritage and traditional way of life."

UAS Sitka Campus Land Acknowledgment Discussion

On January 23, 2022, this discussion was hosted by the University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka campus and its former Director, Paul Kraft. The panelists were K’yuuhlgáansii Frederick Olsen, Jr, K’ayéitl’I Crystal Duncan, Shaá Gunaastaa Bob Sam, and Ashlynn Emanoff. The discussion has been captured in five videos listed below, each focusing on a different question about land acknowledgment.

Land Acknowledgment: Part 1
How is Land Acknowledgment rooted in Indigenous culture?
Land Acknowledgment: Part 2
What is the impact of Land Acknowledgment on you as an Indigenous person?
Land Acknowledgment: Part 3
Is there anything you would change about approaches that you have witnessed as institutions implement Land Acknowledgements?
Land Acknowledgment: Part 4
What is the importance of the relationship with the land (not just the people, but the land itself)?
Land Acknowledgment: Part 5
What needs to be done in addition to the Land Acknowledgement?

Additional Land Acknowledgement Work in Southeast Alaska

Native land acknowledgements: Growing importance
March 2021 KTOO interview with David Sheakley-Early, Sealaska Education Program Manager, on land acknowledgements.
With ‘gratitude for our indigenous neighbors,’ Sitka School Board adopts tribal recommendation for land acknowledgement
September 2021 report from Raven Radio on the Sitka School Board's adoption of a land acknowledgement.
Proposal to recognize Ketchikan’s first inhabitants before City Council meetings up for final vote Thursday
September 2020 report from KRBD radio about a land acknowledgment proposal for Ketchikan City Council Meetings.
School board votes to recognize Ketchikan’s Indigenous people at start of meetings
November 2020 report from KRBD
Juneau Board of Education adopts land acknowledgment
October 2021 KNBA report on the Juneau School District's adoption of a land acknowledgement to be used at all future meetings.
Juneau Assembly changes land acknowledgment wording after local Indigenous group disputes accuracy
June 2021 report from Pablo Arauz Peña, KTOO

Contact Us

Land acknowledgments do not exist in a past tense. This Land Acknowledgments guide is intended to be an evolving document. If there is information not currently included that you would like to see added, please contact Kaia Henrickson, liaison to the Humanities and Social Sciences, or Jennifer Ward, outreach services librarian.