Interior Alaska’s major tribal consortium will be rejoining the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) two years after it withdrew.
During their annual four-day meeting in Fairbanks, the full board of directors for the Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) voted on March 13 in favor of a resolution to restore membership with AFN.
Tanana Chiefs Conference is a nonprofit tribal organization that aims to advance the health and social service needs of its 42 members, 37 of which are federally-recognized tribes. In April 2023, TCC voted to bow out of AFN, which is the largest statewide Native organization in Alaska.
Denakkanaaga brought forward the March 13 measure. First Chief of Huslia Jack Wholecheese is on the Denakkanaaga board of directors, and said unity will be key as looming federal cuts threaten to impact the budgets of tribes and tribal organizations in the region.
“We feel that it is important that we all collaborate and work together with other Native people to have a stronger voice during the critical time we are facing with the federal government and other entities,” Wholecheese said.
The move comes as Congress is considering major reductions in federal spending, including cuts that budget experts say will shrink Medicaid coverage.
On March 13, TCC Chief and Chairman Brian Ridley said Medicaid contributes about $68 million in annual revenue that the organization uses to provide health services to its members. And while he acknowledged that TCC isn’t likely to lose all those funds, Ridley said his organization may have to pull from budget reserves to continue their level of service if Medicaid funding is significantly reduced.
“There’s no way to sugar coat it. Cuts are coming, and so we just have to be as prepared as we can be,” Ridley said.
And it’s that kind of financial uncertainty that’s making a united front more appealing, according to Elder Peter Demoski of Nulato.
“I’m having second thoughts about my opposition to AFN all these years,” Demoski said March 13. “We are going to be in a financial crisis in the next few years, and I believe we’ll need the support of AFN to help us get through those difficult times.”
The decision to rejoin AFN goes beyond strength in numbers. The resolution directs TCC staff to renew membership ahead of the annual AFN convention in October, with the goal of advancing tribal sovereignty and protecting subsistence rights.
Those goals touch on one of the reasons Tanana Chiefs Conference broke from AFN two years ago. A TCC statement from 2023 said the statewide organization hadn’t taken adequate action in response to calls to support subsistence salmon populations and traditional ways of life.
“Since then, they’ve made a huge effort to try to push subsistence on social media and other things,” Ridley said on March 13. “I want to give credit where credit is due. They have tried to make a lot of the improvements that we asked for.”
