The Sitka Tribe of Alaska is concerned that a proposed extension of the Sitka Seawalk will destroy one of the few remaining cultural sites on the town’s waterfront.

The Tribe and the Sitka Assembly conferred on this and other matters during their semi-annual government-to-government meeting on Monday (2-13-23)

The Sitka Seawalk currently runs from Sitka National Historical Park to the Sitka Public Library. It’s a waterfront enhancement funded largely through the local share of the head tax on cruise passengers (Commercial Passenger Vessel Excise Tax) levied by the state.

A proposed extension of the Seawalk would create a new path around the outside of the O’Connell Bridge – essentially the last sliver of undeveloped waterfront in downtown Sitka.

State planners noted that rock fill for the proposed route would impact a bed of eelgrass in the area, considered essential fish habitat for herring. And there was also something else, as Jeff Feldpausch, the Tribe’s Resource Protection director, explained.

“They did find a man made rock wall that extends off that point, just from the base of the bridge kind of back towards the street or the road,” said Feldpausch. “I think the state had gone back through and did some additional testing. We were concerned that that rock wall was probably part of a clam garden.”

A clam garden is created by terracing a beach in an intertidal area with walls made from large stones. It’s a form of mariculture used by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest for millenia.

Tribal Council member Fred Olsen, Jr. noted the irony in that some places in Southeast were trying to enhance their waterfronts with recreations of nature or history (like the whale sculpture in Juneau), but Sitka had the real thing, and was putting it at risk.

“Instead of inventing something for tourists to look at, you have actual history to look at,” said Olsen. “And just don’t pave over that, you know.”

(Note: Tribal Council member Fred Olsen, Jr., is employed at KCAW.)

Sitka’s waterfront has been substantially modified and filled in over the years. Early in the last century, waves used to lap at the base of Castle Hill, and at the back of the stores along Lincoln Street. Now, most of the area from Crescent Harbor to Eliason Harbor has been filled in for streets and public buildings, like Harrigan Centennial Hall and the library. While the Seawalk doesn’t seem like a very big project relative to the overall development of Sitka’s waterfront, some Tribal Council members nevertheless felt very protective about what little of the natural environment remains.

Council member Marth Moses suggested that the construction of the Seawalk has already come with a cultural cost.

“When the Seawalk was being developed out to Totem Park and there was that little hill right there that had the huckleberries and the blueberries,” Moses said, “and when you had your elder go with you, you had a little trail that you could take your elder and they can go pick their own bucket. But that’s already blasted through. There’s a walkway through there, and that berry bush is  gone. So when we talked about it at the Resource Protection (Committee), you make these developments and they’re gone forever. Our tradition is gone forever.”

Moses’ view was echoed by fellow council member Rachel Moreno, who said she worked in summer on cruise ships and interacted with passengers who were really interested to take in Sitka’s history, without creating harm.

“They want to know that they’re not having a negative impact where they visit,” Moreno said. “And if we just are so worried about creating a place for them to walk, without taking into consideration these historic sites and, and things that we grew up seeing – and gosh, we don’t see them anymore! I remember when Blueberry Hill was bulldozed for the Sitka – what’s there now?  SAIL and the dental office. All us kids used to go up Blueberry Hill to pick berries, and that was a safe place to go. You know, we didn’t have to worry about bears or anything. And so that, because of development, is gone. That’s such a childhood memory. And I would hate to see one of the last parts of downtown Sitka that’s natural right now be destroyed.”

Scoping meetings were held in Sitka last fall on the Seawalk extension, and a public comment period was open through the end of the year. The state expects to have a 75-percent plan ready for public review by this coming spring or summer, as well as another public comment period. Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz told Tribal Council members that he’d be adding their concerns to those he’s already heard.

“Just being honest,” said Eisenbeisz, “I have heard a lot of negative on this Seawalk. So I think it is time for us to take a hard look at that project and determine if it is right for Sitka.”

The Sitka Tribal Council and Sitka Assembly meet twice a year for a meal, and to cover a joint agenda of issues important to each body (and have done so for the last 25 years, a fact which was noted at the meeting). Other major topics covered at their February meeting included collaboration on an Affordable Housing Summit this year – including homelessness – building redundancy into the community’s broadband infrastructure, and coordinating the strategic plans of the Tribe and the City.

The race for the second seat on the Sitka assembly is a dead heat, and won’t be settled until absentee and early ballots are counted this Friday. Sitkans cast their votes more decisively on Prop 1 on election day, however, favoring the sale of the Sitka Community Hospital building by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

In the three-way race for two open assembly seats, Dave Miller has a decent lead. Miller earned the most votes in precincts 1 and 2 on election day, receiving 680 votes overall. As long as the early and absentee votes line up similarly, Miller will likely be elected to the Sitka Assembly. But the race for the second seat is extremely close. So far, incumbent Kevin Mosher has earned 478 votes, with Rachel Moreno right behind him with 446 votes. The two precincts split on the winner, with Mosher winning precinct 1 and Moreno winning precinct 2. The two candidates are separated by a difference of just 32 votes.

While the Assembly race is far too close to call, the outcome is  more definitive for Prop 1. 574 Sitkans voted in favor of selling the former Sitka Community Hospital building and properties. 300 voted against a sale. The counting of absentee and early ballots on Friday will likely not affect the outcome. The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium has offered just over $8.2 million for the properties, with plans to expand its long term care unit and build a 28-unit residential apartment complex. The ballot question is only advisory, however, and the Sitka Assembly will ultimately decide whether to approve a sale at its next regular meeting. 

The race for Sitka School Board was no contest this year, with only two candidates seeking the two open seats on the board. Nevertheless, both won strong support from voters. Incumbent board president Amy Morrison had 710 votes with 2 precincts reporting. Newcomer Todd Gebler had 636. There were only 53 ballots cast for write-in candidates on election day, making it unlikely that the race will be affected by Friday’s count of absentee and early ballots. Both Morrison and Gebler will take 3-year terms on the Sitka School Board.

These election results are still unofficial — nothing will be certain until the 807 early and absentee ballots are counted on Friday. The results will not be official until the Sitka Assembly certifies the election on Tuesday, October 12.

I was born in Sitka in 1960 and moved back here from Anchorage in 1998. I am a tribal citizen of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. I have one child enrolled in the Sitka School District. I have helped organized the Sitka Community Holiday dinners and Christmas parties as well as volunteered to fundraise for many families in need and youth sports programs. I have served eight years on the Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s Tribal Council. As a member of the STA Tribal Council, I was selected to serve as the representative to the SEARHC Board of Directors. I was elected as the SEARHC Vice President by the board and President of the local Sitka Chapter of Tlingit and Haida. I currently serve on the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association Board of Directors as an Alaska Representative.

My goals if elected to serve on the Assembly are to first and foremost assure that our citizens have all the resources available to come out of the pandemic healthy and their families intact. COVID 19 has already hit our community members and has changed their lives and impacted the way we raise our children. Access to the vaccines, hospital care and financial assistance is what we have all come to think of first when we watch the news and plan our days activities. I will be very visible in my efforts to influence the way we protect our community from further impacts of COVID 19. The other high priority is to advocate for affordable housing and address the high cost of living in Sitka. This fundamental need reflects on who we are and how we serve our community. Those who are homeless have the biggest challenge to attaining and maintaining safe and affordable housing. This task is not impossible if we choose to make it a priority. I also will support our school board to assure they too have access to the necessary funding to make our children’s education effective and beneficial. Investing in our children is the best insurance to our future success as a caring community. I believe my experience will benefit fellow assemble members as well as those we serve.

The Municipal Election is Tuesday, October 5. Eligible voters may choose to vote using any of these available options: by-mail; advanced in-person at Harrigan Centennial Hall weekdays September 20 through October 4 (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in meeting rooms 2 and 3); by fax; personal representative; and in-person on Election Day at Harrigan Centennial Hall from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Applications to vote by-mail must be received by the Municipal Clerk’s Office no later than September 28.  For more voting information, call the Municipal Clerk’s Office at 747-1811.

Three candidates are running for two open seats on the Sitka Assembly, in the municipal election this October. In our final interview with candidates, KCAW spoke with Rachel Moreno.

Rachel Moreno was born in Sitka – she moved away for a while, but came back in 1998 and has been here ever since. She says public service runs in the family.

“My dad was the late Phil Moreno Sr., and he helped influence the creation of Raven’s Way. And my mother, she’s a little rebel,” she says. “She joined the Alaska Native Brotherhood in Sitka and became Vice President and President of the Alaska Native Brotherhood. And our whole family puts in a lot of time and effort, keeping these two organizations going, the ANB and ANS.”

Moreno says her years of living in Sitka and her experience serving on boards and government will be an asset, should she be elected.

“Especially now, during our COVID pandemic, we are addressing the most serious issue we’ve had to face in decades,” she says. “And I would like to be a part of assuring and ensuring that our citizens come out of this healthy and intact.”

She served on the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Tribal Council for eight years. She served as vice chair, and represented Sitka Tribe on the SEARHC board of directors. She also was vice president of the board for the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association. She traveled to Capitol Hill frequently, pushing for Congress to pass the NATIVE Act in 2016, which directs federal agencies to support Tribes in the tourism industry.

“And it’s not asking them to fully fund the tourism ventures, but to make every effort within their agency for these Tribes to be a part of the national parks in the federal lands,” she says.

Moreno sees the coronavirus pandemic as the biggest challenge facing Sitka today, and says she’ll rely strongly on health experts to determine what kinds of legislation she’ll support, should she be elected to the Assembly. 

“Listening to the experts and the CDC is the only way we can make beneficial and informed decisions. And so I would hope that we’re allowed to do that,” she says, “To bring whatever we need to do, whether it’s legislatively or through mandates, whatever they need to do, we really need to rely on the experts.” 

She’s also interested in addressing housing, the cost of living in Sitka, and making more resources available for local students. 

“With this COVID, kids are facing so much more than just whether or not they turn in their homework assignments. They’re facing isolation, they’re facing fear, they’re facing loss of loved ones, the loss of a parent’s income,” she says.

And she hopes to work with, not against, the Assembly and the public. 

“We need to think about what’s truly important,” she says. “The Assembly can make lives of Sitkans better if we can work together and not not be pulled apart by these issues. These issues are issues that are not, should not be made weapons. They should pull us together.” 

Rachel Moreno is one of three candidates running for two open seats on the Sitka Assembly. Sitka’s municipal election is Tuesday, October 5.

Editor’s Note: Raven Radio will bring you continuing coverage of Sitka’s Municipal Election in the coming weeks. Interviews with the candidates, questionnaires and statements will be available online at the KCAW Election Hub in early September.

Downloadable audio.

Taxes dominated the conversation the Sitka Assembly meeting, as the body looks for ways to raise revenue to fund city government.  (Photo courtesy of Pixaby)

The City of Sitka doesn’t have enough money to maintain government as is. They must either cut services or raise money.  The Sitka School District, in particular, is facing a $2 million deficit and may have to eliminate teaching positions.

This didn’t sit well with several senior citizens. A group collected 380 signatures calling for the city to replace the senior sales tax exemption with a rebate program. Assembly members Kevin Knox and Bob Potrzuski co-sponsored a like-minded ordinance, which appeared before the Assembly Tuesday night on first reading.

Among the senior citizens in favor were Cindy Littman, Steve Lawrie, and Eric Jordan.

Cindy Littman: At one time, seniors were typically poorer than younger people, but that’s no longer the case.

Steve Lawrie: Those who need it can take. But I don’t need it.

Eric Jordan: Some of you know it’s been a pretty tough year for fishermen, so I’ve been claiming it. But I’m not going to claim it in the future. I’m going to rip it up.

Jordan then shred his senior sales tax exemption card to prove his point.

If passed, eliminating the tax exemption would be a $500,000 boon for the city. The ordinance (Ord 2018-14) also allows for qualifying low-income Sitkans over 65 to apply for an annual rebate check of $350. The notion of replacing the tax break with a rebate program has come up to the Assembly before – in 2012 and 2015. 

As written, the ordinance says senior citizens may qualify for the rebate if they already earn assistance for a select list of social welfare programs, including state Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Several citizens felt the proposal was unfair to the elderly who paid their taxes as younger people and deserve a break. That included Shirley Robards, John Duncan, and Rachel Moreno. 

Shirley Robards: We know many deserving seniors will no longer be eligible under the new rules and who knows how many more will refuse to be humiliated and threatened by the city by even applying.

John Duncan: I really believe that you folks should leave the old people alone.

Rachel Moreno: Elders don’t need to be put in a position where they go from a nice benefit to applying for a welfare program.

Co-sponsor Kevin Knox noted that the ordinance had to describe this as a social welfare program. Otherwise, the city would have to issue every qualifying person a 1099 form.

After 45 minutes of public testimony, the Assembly took up deliberations. Demographic trends were a big part of the conversation. Sitka’s population is aging, with 16% of the population over 65.

Those in favor of eliminating the tax exemption said it was in the best interest for Sitka’s young families. Mayor Matthew Hunter noted that the price of housing has quadrupled. There’s less children enrolled in the school district. Families are leaving town.

Assembly member Bob Potrzuski reasoned that financially-able seniors should contribute to the sales tax base to help out young Sitkans. “We’re shifting the burden from people who can afford to pay, who have spent a lifetime making money and who have saved money, and we’re shifting it to that younger group who are just starting out,” Potrzuski said.

Those against eliminating the tax exemption worried about the fate of the elderly, some of whom do not qualify for the proposed rebate.

Assembly member Richard Wein took aim about how the program would work, saying it eliminates protections for those senior citizens on the borderline. “The difference between young and old is that a 22 year old has a lifetime to earn money. But somebody who is 78 years old, that’s it. Whatever is in their bank account, that’s it,” Wein said.

Assembly member Aaron Bean said the money the city needs could be found in further cuts. He wants the city to consider eliminating temporary workers.

The vote – on first reading – was an even split. For the tax was Matthew Hunter, Bob Potrzuski, and Kevin Knox, while Richard Wein, Aaron Bean, and Ben Miyasato voting against. In his comments, Miyasato said he voted against eliminating the senior sales tax exemption in 2012 and would maintain his stance. Assembly member Steven Eisenbeisz was absent.

Since it takes a vote of four to kill an ordinance on first reading, this tax proposal will come up again for second reading on April 24th.

Also at an impasse was a tax proposal to raise lodging taxes – which combines bed and sales taxes – from 12% to 16%. Sponsored by Hunter and Knox, this proposal (Ord 2018-13) would net $1.2 million dollars in revenue for the general fund, where it could be diverted to say, the Sitka Performing Arts Center or the Harbor Fund.

Several members of the visitor industry cautioned the Assembly from taking such action, saying it could hurt tourism.

Sherry Aitken, the Director of Tourism with Visit Sitka, spoke to the ripples. At one point, she addressed Hunter directly. He is a teacher at Mt. Edgecumbe High School. “When people come to graduation at Mt. Edgecumbe Matt, all the parents have to stay some place and now they’re paying 16%. So, they’re not an other. They’re us. When they come over for Mudball (a softball tournament) from Juneau, are they going to still come if they have to pay 16% bed tax? Maybe. Maybe not,” Aitken said.

Aaron Bean spoke fervently against this tax proposal, saying it would drive visitors away. He said, “I would ask that you not make Sitka the most expensive place to visit.” A lodging tax of 16% would be the highest in Southeast.

Knox felt that people will leave Sitka – residents and visitors alike – if infrastructure  deteriorates. He spoke specifically about the harbors. “Everyone in this community, everybody, whether you have a boat or not, benefits from our harbors system. We all need to pitch into it somehow. Not just the users. This is one of those ways we can put a little bit towards it.

Bob Potrzuski then made a motion, amending the ordinance to raise the lodging tax to 14%. The motion was voted down. When it came time for a final vote on the ordinance as written, it was tied 3 for 3, with the same Assembly members voting the same way as the senior sales tax proposal. This too will come up again for second and final reading at their April 24th meeting.

In other business, the Assembly:

–Approved, on first reading, $75,000 of General Fund working capital money for a landslide study around Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary and Sitka High School: Motion and memo Ord 2018-09

–Heard a detailed presentation on the final draft of the Sitka Comprehensive Plan (Final Sitka Comprehensive Plan 2030)

–Heard public testimony from both citizens and city administrator Keith Brady about the removal of an art show on the 2nd floor of city hall. 

Students dance alongside Dancers by the Sea, a group from Port Lions, in celebration of Founders Week. (Emily Russell/KCAW)

Seventy years ago today, Feb. 22, 1947, the Bureau of Indian Affairs opened Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka. BIA and other boarding institutions that operated in Alaska until the 1980s left some students traumatized, while others say it saved their lives.

Alumni from Mt Edgecumbe say their alma mater managed to avoid the darkest parts of that legacy. It reopened as a public boarding school in 1985 and a lot has changed over the decades.

Downloadable audio.

Leann Frances mixes the last bag of berries into a massive stainless steel bowl.

It’s Sunday night at Mt. Edgecumbe and students line up for the sweet treat known as akutaq, or Eskimo ice cream. Frances explains.

“You mix the lard together until it gets fluffy and then you add in the sugar until it’s dissolved and then you add the berries.”

Akutaq, or Eskimo ice cream, is dished up every Sunday night in Mt. Edgecumbe’s Culture Room. (Emily Russell/KCAW)

Frances is a junior from Pilot Station, a Yup’ik village on the Yukon River. They eat akutaq there, but she said they add in some local flair.

“In Pilot Station we use whitefish. You just do the same things you just add in the fish,” Frances explains.

“There are a lot of Native cultures who do the same thing, who take dried meat, cooked meat, and add berries to it,” Rachel Moreno said.

Moreno is the cultural activities coordinator at Mt. Edgecumbe. “Some people put in a little bit of flaked halibut, some add caribou meat,” Moreno said.

The Edgecumbe version of akutaq is dished out every Sunday in the school’s Culture Room. It’s cluttered in here, but in a cozy way. There are glass jars full of beads and endless spools of thread scattered about.

Seventy years ago, though, there was no culture room. It barely even had classrooms.

“The classrooms– there were no chairs, no desks, no chalkboards, so we sat on the floor,” explained Gil Truitt.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School opened in the Naval air station base used during WWII. (The Library of Congress)

Truitt was a student back in 1947. He moved from the Wrangell Institute, another BIA-run boarding school at the time. Wrangell was his first time away from home.

“To me that was really the beginning of my life, because I saw what a boarding school could be and what it could do,” Truitt said.

Truitt was orphaned at 14. He said the BIA saved him and his siblings and he says others share that sentiment– that boarding schools spared them from abuse or neglect at home.

But there’s another side to that story, the side that says the BIA punished kids for speaking their Native language, that kids were beaten and some even sexually abused.

When asked about the history of abuse at BIA schools, Truitt defended both he attended.

“I know of no time at Edgecumbe or Wrangell where you were beaten for violating the rules,” Truitt said.

Jim LaBelle was sent to the Wrangell Institute when he just eight years old. “I saw lots of sexual violence, a lot of physical violence,” LaBelle said of his time at Wrangell.

Those were dark days, Labelle said. He went on to Mt. Edgecumbe in 1961.

When asked how the two schools compared, LaBelle said it was a stark difference.

“Oh my gosh, Labelle exclaimed, “it was kind of like turning on a light.”

Like Gil Truitt, Labelle looks back on his days at Edgecumbe with a real fondness. They both say it felt like family there.

A 2005 survey by UAA’s Institute for Social and Economic Research did report one allegation of sexual assault and three of sexual harassment at Mt. Edgecumbe, but neither Truitt nor LaBelle had memories of that.

LaBelle also doesn’t remember any students being punished at Edgecumbe for speaking their Native language like they were at Wrangell. It wasn’t exactly celebrated, though.

“There weren’t any instructions in our culture, in our language,” LaBelle explained. “It was all reading and writing and arithmetic.”

The Culture Room hosts akutaq Sunday, fry bread Friday, and is a space for students to make Native crafts. (Emily Russell/KCAW)

They still teach reading, writing, and math at Mt. Edgecumbe, but there are cultural extracurriculars, too.

“I yuraq sometimes, which is Eskimo dancing, or Yup’ik dancing.” explained Jerilyn Alexie.

Alexie is a senior from Pitkas Point, a place so small she usually tells people she’s from St. Mary’s, the village of 600 people just up the river.

When she’s not studying or at dance practice, Alexie comes to the Culture Room.

“I make kuspuks or earrings. I tried to make moccasins, but I didn’t have the patience to do that,” Alexie said.

Sophomore Shelby Samuel’s hometown is even smaller- Platinum, a village of just 55 people north of Bristol Bay.

Shelby Samuel is a sophomore at Mt. Edgecumbe from Platinum, a village of 55 people north of Bristol bay. (Emily Russell/KCAW)

“I get home sick once in a while. Sometimes I’ll wake up really homesick,” Samuel admitted.

Samuel said hunting is what he misses most.

“But then I’ll do something, like come here to the Culture Room, and yuraq,” Samuel explain. “I always wanted to learn how to yuraq– Yup’ik dance– and I’m finally learning how.”

Platinum, Samuel said, it’s too small to have Yup’ik dancing. But he’s able to learn about that and other parts of his culture here at Mt. Edgecumbe, more than 1,000 miles from home.

The Sitka Assembly and Sitka Tribal Council met on January 30, 2015. From left, Tribal Council member Wilbur Brown, Sitka Community Hospital CEO Rob Allen, Assembly member Aaron Swanson, Assembly member Matt Hunter, City Administrator Mark Gorman, Mayor Mim McConnell, Tribal Council member Bob Sam, Tribal Chair Mike Baines, Assembly member Michelle Putz, Assembly member Steven Eisenbeisz, STA General Manager Lawrence SpottedBird, Assembly member Tristan Guevin, Tribal Council member Harvey Kitka, and Tribal Council member Rachel Moreno. (KCAW photo/Rachel Waldholz)

The Sitka Assembly and the Sitka Tribal Council met Friday night (1-30-15) over prime rib and halibut at the Westmark Hotel. The twice-a-year dinner is billed as a chance for the city’s two governments to speak freely.

And Friday night’s meeting featured some frank talk.

Downloadable audio

Tribal Chair Mike Baines and Sitka Tribe General Manager Lawrence SpottedBird took issue with the recent sale of city property at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park to Silver Bay Seafoods.

SpottedBird said the Tribe feels sidelined as the city’s last remaining industrial land is parceled out.

“There’s been a lot of negotiating with Silver Bay Seafoods out there at the Industrial Park,” he said. “And that’s good, they’re a big player, they bring some economic activity, a lot of it, to this island. But I think the Tribe, though, we always feel left out, in getting access to property, and land.”

Baines said the Tribe feels that Silver Bay, in particular, has opposed it on key subsistence issues.

STA has tried to limit the commercial herring fishery in Sitka Sound, while Silver Bay participates in the fishery as a processor and some of its more than 300 fishermen-owners hold permits.

“I think what it boils down to, they’re wondering why there was such a big rush, [why] it was so important to rush that sale through to Silver Bay Seafoods,” Baines said. “Silver Bay Seafoods has been anti-subsistence since the day they opened their doors. Whenever we submitted a proposal to the Board of Fish, they would just fight us tooth and nail.”

SpottedBird reported that after a period of financial crisis that led to layoffs and cuts, the Tribe ran a surplus this past year. It’s launching three new businesses, getting its tannery back on its feet, and looking at options for affordable housing.

And STA would like to work with the city on all of those ventures, SpottedBird said. “Let’s be partners, and help each other,” he added. “That’s a big issue for us right now, is getting beyond these barriers and be real about being partners.”

“Because it’s nice to meet, but now, let’s talk business. Let’s do business together,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tribal Council member Rachel Moreno said the city needs to step up on public transit. Sitka’s bus system, The Ride, is run by STA and funded by both the Tribe and the nonprofit Center for Community.

But STA is losing some of the federal grants it relies on for The Ride. Last year, the Assembly agreed to pitch in $25,000 for the system – but made it clear that it was a one-time infusion.

Moreno bristled at  those conditions.

“Asking for a one-time, $25,000 contribution from the city — I kind of, but not really, jokingly say, well, the next time will be fifty,” she said.

Moreno said it’s unreasonable that the city historically has not contributed to Sitka’s only public transit system, which is used by tribal citizens and non-citizens alike.

“The city really does need to step up and take on that responsibility equally with the Tribe,” she said. “Maybe not equally as far as dollar for dollar goes, but put in a meaningful amount every year. That’s essential, that’s an essential service, just like healthcare.”

Tribal Council member Bob Sam had a more symbolic suggestion. He asked the city to consider tearing down the blockhouse on Kaagwaantaan Street, which has attracted vandalism and drug use. He suggested building a playground in the area, instead.

“Let’s tear down that blockhouse,” he said.  “To symbolize something. That blockhouse was a wall. There was a wall there. Let’s tear it down, symbolically, so that we can create a bridge. Symbolically create a bridge, between the Native community, the village, and you.”

Sitka Mayor Mim McConnell welcomed that suggestion.

“It’s a symbol of the fort, and of what was separating the communities, so you’re right on about that. And I think that it would be a wonderful thing to maybe to try to have a playground put in there and the blockhouse taken down, for the 150th anniversary.”

The 150th anniversary of the U.S. purchase of Alaska is coming up in 2017.

Servers carried plates of turkey from the kitchen and called out, “Who needs to be fed?” Hands shot up, signaling the new guests in the hall. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

On Thursday (11-27-14), families and friends flowed through ANB Hall for a community Thanksgiving meal. Organizer Rachel Moreno estimated that 400 plates were served over the course of three hours.

ANB Hall, Camp #1. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Of the 1900 tribal citizens eligible to vote, 1800 of which live in Sitka, 174 voted. (KCAW photo/Rachel Waldholz)

Although it’s not a major changing of the guard, the Sitka Tribal Council will see some turnover if the unofficial results of Tuesday’s (11-11-14) election hold up.

With a voter turnout of 174, fewer Tribal Citizens than usual turned out to decide who will control Sitka’s federally-recognized tribal government. 

Downloadable audio.

Mike Baines will return as chairman for another two year term. He earned 104 votes to challenger Cliff Edenshaw’s 61 votes. In the past decade, Baines has seen some promising changes. 

“It almost seemed like the tribe was getting kind of stagnant. Just not setting high goals for increasing income and expanding services. And that’s what I hope to do in the next couple of years.

Tribal citizens also returned Michael Miller and Rachel Moreno to their seats on the council with 125 votes each. Wilbur Brown earned 110 votes.

Moreno also was the top vote-winner two years ago. She said, “It’s just really an honor to be able to serve our people and to be appreciated for it is just such a bonus.”

The candidates for Tribal Council took audience questions last Sunday (11-2-14). The event was organized to encourage voting. (Mike Hicks/KCAW photo)

But not all incumbents fared as well. Council member Lillian Feldpausch lost her seat to Bob Sam by a tiny margin, 106 votes to 109.

“Wow, that’s really close,” said Sam upon learning that he won by three votes. 

Sam put his name forward at the last minute to introduce some competition to an otherwise predictable election.

“Four seats come up and only four people run wasn’t a good thing,” said Sam. “So I’m glad I ran.”

Of the 1900 tribal citizens eligible to vote, 1800 of which live in Sitka, only 174 voted. That includes absentee ballots available two weeks before. The last time Wilbur Brown was elected, voter turnout was over 300.

“It could be taken two ways,” said Brown. “It could be feeling like the Tribal Citizens don’t feel like they have a voice, which I don’t think it is. But also too that they feel confident in the folks that are running and want to keep things status quo.”

In general, Brown believes voter turnout is higher when there’s a hot button issue on the table and that a low turnout does not signal voter apathy. Moreno thinks voters are content.

Moreno said, “Even though that appears to be a low number, when there are contentious topics that come up and people feel very passionately, they will come out and vote. If they feel like there needs to be a change, that’s when they put forth their vote and exercise that power that they have.”

These elections results will not be official until next Wednesday, during the regular Council Meeting. Moreno looks forward to keeping the momentum of the tribe going.

“I just look forward to what we can do and what we can continue to do for them,” said Moreno.

Moreno with fellow candidates for Tribal Council (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)