KathyHope Erickson was born and raised in Sitka and has been Tribal Chair in the Sitka Tribe of Alaska for the last two years. (Photo by Enrique Pérez de la Rosa)
KathyHope Erickson is one of two candidates running for Tribal Chair of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. She has held that office for the last two years. She is running for reelection against Lawrence “Woody” Widmark, who has a long history serving in Sitka Tribal Government, including as its Chair for 20 years. Sitka Tribe of Alaska holds an election Tuesday, November 13.
My name is KathyHope Erickson. I was born and raised in Sitka. I am child of Kiks.ádi Point House of Sitka. My dad was John Hope. My mom is Christine Littlefield.
I’ve been with the tribe for many years. I was the administrative services director about 20 years ago.I moved on to gain more experiences. I worked at the state legislature in Juneau and I worked at Raven Radio. I worked with the governing bodies at the local level, at the state level and the tribe level. So I’ve been involved in one way or another with decisions that have been made for the people and have been fortunate enough to serve the people on many different levels for many years.
I have enjoyed and felt a calling to protecting our natural resources, our human resources in our children, in our elders, making sure they have educational opportunities whether they are children or adults and making sure we can make the most of their opportunities in that education too.
I’m proud of the way Sitka Tribe, and I want to enhance the way that we also take care of the cultural education of our children and by enhancing the cultural education of our children, we also enhance their knowledge of their heritage. And by knowing who you are, it’s an opportunity to be proud of who you are and not be lost in this worlds where there is a place, there is an anchor.
I would continue to work with our herring group in trying to get protections in for the herring spawn. It’s at a very critical time for the ocean and for the people that depend on this herring too. And I’d love to see that through and get the best result we possibly can in our negotiations toward that end.
I’m also hoping to take part in developing further our sovereignty as a tribe and developing our governmental relationships with the state and further develop that with the federal government and different agencies within the federal government.
I think that’s very important to tribes: sovereignty and identity.
KathyHope Erickson is running for Tribal Chair of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska.
Sitka Tribe of Alaska holds an election Tuesday, November 13, at the Sheet’k Kwaan Naa Kahidi. Absentee ballots can be cast 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. weekdays October 30 to November 12. Tribal ID card is required. Four council seats and the council chairmanship are on the ballot. Those with questions can call Rose Demmert at 738-5450.
