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- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Economic Development
Two influential Alaska Native organizations have returned to the Alaska Federation of Natives after a two-year absence, citing concerns about federal funding uncertainty under the Trump administration.
The Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) and Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska rejoined AFN during a board meeting May 6 in Anchorage.
“We're thrilled to have them back,” Ben Mallott, AFN president, told the Anchorage Daily News. “In uncertain times, unity is important.”
Tlingit & Haida President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson emphasized the political motivations behind their return in a statement. “Two years ago the Tribe made the difficult decision to leave AFN due to concerns that tribal voices were not being equitably represented; however, the current political climate demands greater unity among Alaska Native peoples.”
Peterson clarified that “rejoining AFN is not a reversal of our concerns, but a commitment to ensure that tribal governments have a seat at every table where decisions are being made.”
The reunion comes two years after both organizations withdrew from AFN in May 2023. At that time, TCC cited concerns about insufficient action on protecting salmon and subsistence way of life, noting that “over 40 resolutions were passed by the full board at AFN that support a subsistence way of life, but no significant action has been taken on those directives” per prior Tribal Business News reporting.
Tlingit & Haida, which represents more than 38,000 tribal citizens worldwide, had withdrawn emphasizing priorities of sovereignty and self-determination. The tribe is one of only two regional tribes in Alaska recognized by the federal government.
The Tanana Chiefs Conference serves 42 villages across a vast territory spanning 235,000 square miles in Interior Alaska—an area equivalent to about 37 percent of the entire state. TCC represents more than 10,000 Alaska Natives and operates over 50 programs employing hundreds of staff members.
Their return marks a significant reversal in a trend of departures that began in 2019, when Arctic Slope Regional Corporation withdrew from AFN, followed by Doyon Ltd. in 2020 and Aleut Corp. in 2022.
The reunion bolsters AFN's membership, which now includes 178 federally recognized tribes, 154 village corporations, 9 regional corporations, and 11 regional nonprofit and tribal consortiums that contract and run federal and state programs, according to a statement.
