Association of Village Council Presidents’ annual convention kicks off Sept. 24 at the Bethel Cultural Center. It will last until Sept. 25.
Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr., the regional director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, will give the keynote address.
Delegates from the 56 tribes that AVCP represents will vote on 11 resolutions. Any resolutions passed will then be sent to the Alaska Federation of Natives’ annual convention in October. AVCP only passed one resolution and tabled seven others last year, including two anti-Donlin Gold mine resolutions. Those resolutions were not submitted by the deadline.
Public safety is also expected to be a big topic at this year's convention. The lack of it in rural Alaska spurred U.S. Attorney General William Barr to visit Bethel and Napaskiak earlier this year, and what he saw and heard prompted him to declare a law enforcement emergency.