NEWS & MEDIA

“Nothing about us without us” is a widely recognized saying that describes why effective public policy cannot be created without the full participation of the people impacted by it. Alaska Natives make up 18 percent of the population in Alaska but are extremely underrepresented in the Alaska Legislature, local government and positions of power and authority throughout the state. Sealaska believes Alaska will be a better place for all its residents when its leadership better reflects our population. We recognize

For 50 years, Sealaska and others have worked tirelessly to correct a major flaw in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). ANCSA created regional and village corporations for communities with historical populations of Alaska Natives, but in Southeast, five communities — Ketchikan, Wrangell, Tenakee, Petersburg and Haines — were inexplicably left out of ANCSA. Without village corporations representing their communities, Alaska Natives from the five communities have no land ownership of their traditional homelands and have not received village-corporation

Sealaska welcomes new shareholders, remains committed to original shareholder base

https://youtu.be/MykcB4xOCyg The enrollment process can seem overwhelming and confusing. To help ease those feelings Sealaska held a virtual enrollment overview on August 16. The event was hosted by Tesla Cox, Senior Director of Shareholder Development.   Sealaska Shareholder Relations provided a walkthrough of the online application for Class D (Descendant) stock.   Other information presented in the one-hour session includes  How to sign up for or login to MySealaska.com  MySealaska site navigation  How to contact Shareholder Relations  How to complete

Each year Sealaska selects one shareholder descendant to be the Board Youth Advisor (BYA) for a one-year term. The Board Youth Advisor provides valuable input to the Sealaska Board and gains understanding of Sealaska’s operations and mission. The 2022-2023 BYA is Connor Ulmer.   Ulmer was born and raised in Dzantik’i Héeni (Juneau). His Tlingit name is Deikeenaak’w (Little Haida), which was passed down to Ulmer from his grandfather George Obert. His mother is Annette Stevens Ulmer from Xunna (Hoonah). His father,

Program Honors Students with Academic Achievement and Leadership Skills Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) has chosen a Ph.D. student with a focus on Alaska Native sovereignty as the recipient of its 2021 Judson L. Brown Leadership Award. The honor was given to Tlingit scholar Breylan Náajeyistláa Martin, who holds a master’s degree from Brown University and is pursuing her doctorate in ethnic studies with a focus on Native American studies at the University of California, Berkeley. The $5,000 award goes to students

Shows support for proven leaders with a history of advocating for Alaska Native people The Sealaska Board of Directors today endorsed Bill Walker and Heidi Drygas for Alaska Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the race for U.S. Senate and will oppose the ballot measure that would initiate a constitutional convention in Alaska. The actions follow the board’s decision a week prior to support the candidacy of former state lawmaker Mary Peltola to fill the vacancy in the

Today, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy signed House Bill 123, the Alaska Tribal Recognition Act – legislation that generations of Alaska Native advocates have worked tirelessly to bring about. This specific piece of legislation was sponsored by Representative Tiffany Zulkosky of Bethel and championed by Alaska Native leaders from around the state, including Sealaska’s board of directors. The bill will now pass into law, officially recognizing Alaska’s 229 tribes in a significant first step in building a positive, government-to-government relationship with the state to build

Sealaska and its partners in the Seacoast Trust gathered last week in Juneau to celebrate meeting the first major fundraising milestone — $20 million — for the newly created trust. In September of 2021, Sealaska and its partners in the Sustainable Southeast Partnership announced the creation of the trust as a long-term, sustainable and sovereign funding vehicle for SSP. Sealaska’s initial $10 million commitment was matched by $7 million from The Nature Conservancy. The SSP team immediately went about fundraising