News from Our Shareholders

Shareholders Bill Martin and Barbara J. Franks were recently appointed to the Statewide Suicide Prevention Council.

Martin is the president of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. He has served as president of the Council since 2007 and is currently serving a second term.

Franks has an extensive history of working on Alaska Native and suicide prevention issues and has suffered the personal loss of a family member from suicide. She works in an administrative support position for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and is the state’s field liaison for the national Suicide Prevention Action Network.

Both shareholders join the 15-member council that is responsible for developing and implementing a statewide suicide prevention plan and providing an annual report to the Legislature on its findings and recommendations. The Council also improves public awareness of suicide, enhances suicide prevention services and uses comprehensive, collaborative, community- and faith-based approaches in its efforts. Martin and Franks were appointed to the council in December by Governor Sarah Palin.

If you or someone you know needs to talk to someone about suicide, please call the State Suicide Prevention Hotline at 877.266.4357.

Sealaska shareholder descendant Russell Price was deployed to Afghanistan earlier this year. Price is a major with the 4th Brigade 25th Infantry Division (Airborne). Price is from Haines, Alaska.

His Tlingit name is Gaas’ from the Chaak Gooch Clan (Eagle Wolf), of Kaagwaataan. His father was Warren Price Skui’ weish of the Raven Clan (Ye’il) of the Xixchi Hit.

Sealaska shareholders Anita Lafferty and George Davis are among several Native people in Juneau who participated in the program StoryCorps. In partnership with KTOO, Sealaska Heritage Institute and the Juneau Public Library, StoryCorps recorded stories told by Alaskans in January.

StoryCorps is a nonprofit project that aims to bring families, friends and neighbors closer together by listening to each others’ stories. SHI helped recruit shareholders to participate. Learn more online at www.sealaskaheritage.org/news