Incumbent Martha Moses was the top vote earner, reclaiming her seat with 53 votes, followed closely by Lesa Way and Frederick Olsen Jr. Incumbent Harvey Kitka did not seek re-election this year. The open seat will be filled by write-in candidate Rachel Moreno, who previously served on the Council for eight years, and ran a close race for a seat on the Sitka Assembly this fall. 

In a press release issued by STA, Tribal Chairman Lawrence ‘Woody’ Widmark said that low voter turnout isn’t uncommon when candidates run unopposed. “We weren’t surprised to see fewer voters get out to vote, we thank all our citizens that did vote,” he said. 

The newly elected and re-elected Tribal Council members will be sworn in for their two year terms of service in early December. 

Although the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Tribal Council Election was held nearly a month ago, the election results have not been certified, and the newly elected council members have yet to be sworn in. The reason for the delay has not been publicly disclosed, and even the presumptive winners were not invited to recent proceedings on the matter in Tribal Court. 

Former Sitka School Board member Dionne Brady-Howard was elected to the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Tribal Council at the beginning of November. She was one of two new candidates winning seats, tying for top vote-earner with her mother Louise Brady. Incumbents Bob Sam and Michael Miller retained their seats, and Lawrence “Woody” Widmark was elected as Tribal Chairman.

But those results are still technically unofficial. Brady-Howard was supposed to be sworn into office in early December. But then she heard that the election results had not been certified as planned, when the Council met on Nov. 18. 

“I received a message from a friend who had heard that they weren’t certified, and at that point, I inquired as to what the delay was,” she said. “At that time I did receive an email that stated that there had been a protest regarding the results — as in someone was contesting them.” 

According to STA’s bylaws, any qualified voter can contest election results. They must file a written protest within three days of the election certification.  It’s reviewed by an election committee, and if the protestor is unhappy with the committee’s decision, they can file a complaint with Tribal Court.

KCAW reached out several times for more information about the court proceedings, and to ask why the election results were being contested. Representatives from STA and Tribal Council have not provided answers to those questions.

While it’s still unclear why the results are being contested, they have made it to the next stage of the process. Brady-Howard said she later was informed that the matter would go to trial. 

“There are pretty tight timelines that exist in terms of the time between when a protest is filed, and when the pre-trial needs to happen, when the trial needs to happen,” she said. “I was told there needed to be a trial within five days of the pre-trial conference and a decision within two days of that trial. So I’m hoping to hear something within the week.”

Court was scheduled for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 9, but in an email to KCAW, a representative from Tribal Court said the proceedings were not open to the public. 

Brady-Howard said she does not believe the protest relates to the conduct of any of the candidates who ran for public office. But whatever aspect of the election that’s being contested, the process has already delayed the start for the new candidates’ terms by over a week. Brady-Howard said she’s feeling a bit anxious as she waits for more information. 

“One has to be concerned after the way things have played out recently on the national scene in terms of the Presidential election,” she said. “But that being said, I think that I’m just going to hope that the ordinances that the previous Councils have put in place will help streamline the process, and we’ll be able to move forward soon. So right now I’m just trying to trust the process.”

Brady-Howard said she’s eagerly awaiting when she’s sworn in and hopes it will be soon. She’s ready to get to work. 

“I’m anxious to get on the Council and just sort of be brought up to speed from a Council perspective as to where the Tribe is heading,” she said.

“In my opinion, the Tribe has come a long way in terms of what they provide. I’m excited to be a part of that. And my whole goal in running was to just bring, hopefully, a different voice and a different lens as we move forward as a Tribe in continuing linguistic and cultural revitalization, and the efforts to support that, and to bolster it and hopefully make a long term difference.”

According to STA’s bylaws, a judge must make a ruling within two days of the trial. If that happens, it would be just in time for the next Tribal Council meeting, typically the third Wednesday of the month. 

Miyasato received 75 votes. Incumbent KathyHope Erickson did not seek re-election. 200 ballots in total were cast by Tribal Citizens. 

For the four available council seats, the winners were Louise Brady and Dionne Brady-Howard, who tied with 144 votes each. Incumbent Bob Sam received 131 votes and incumbent Michael Miller received 105 votes, narrowly winning the fourth seat over incumbent Lillian Feldpausch by just four votes. Fifty-three people also voted for write-in candidate Rachel Moreno, and 18 other people received write-in votes. Incumbent Nancy Douglas did not seek re-election. 

The ballots will be certified at the November 18 Tribal Council meeting, and the new council members and Tribal Chairman will be sworn in at the beginning of December.

The following is a statement from a candidate running for one of four open seats on the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Tribal Council. All candidates have been offered the opportunity to record a statement.

Good morning. My name is Bob Sam. I’m currently running for Sitka Tribe of Alaska Tribal Council. I am very honored to have served on the Council for a number of years now, and really hold Sitka Tribe in the highest honor.

I’ve been very impressed with the direction Sitka Tribe has gone in regards to the COVID and the pandemic. They’ve really been on the forefront of services to Tribal Citizens in ensuring that they get their needs met. I really feel that we need some consistency so that we can continue to make the hard decisions that we have been faced with.

I’m currently on the Sitka Historic Preservation Commission, representing Sitka Tribe. I’m the Vice President of Historic Preservation. I’ve been able to bring issues to the table — for instance, rezoning of cemeteries in Sitka. Many of the cemeteries haven’t been addressed. There are currently 18 major cemeteries in Sitka and three of them have management of a board and are in excellent condition, but the remaining 15 are forgotten and neglected, and in the process of being restored. That’s something I’ve been able to do.

I’m also on the enrollment committee of Sitka Tribe, and we have been very active in updating our enrollment records and making sure that all our Tribal Citizens’ needs are met in regards to enrollment. 

I’m also on the University of Alaska Advisory Committee, and we’ve been very active with the preservation of the university in Sitka. I’m very impressed with UAS in their including Native classes and instructors and master artists, and serving the community of Sitka, so I’m very proud of that committee.

I’ve also been very active with other issues as well. I’m on a working group with the state of Alaska to upgrade their policies and procedures on how they work with Native groups in regards to sacred sites and cemeteries in Alaska.

I’m also on other working groups where, to bring human remains back from boarding schools and sanitariums across the country. This kind of work is work that very few people do, and very few people know this kind of work is going on. But I feel it’s very essential that we address funerary issues. Because this is a very unusual time we are living in. So it’s important to upgrade our cemeteries for this reason. 

With the pandemic that’s going on, there was a need to make more room in our local cemeteries, just in case the numbers go up and we lose a lot of people. But my hope and my prayer is to keep the curve low and protect our Tribal Citizens and the community at large on what we can do during this very difficult time to keep the curve low. Thank you. 

Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s Tribal Council election is Tuesday, November 10. Find election and candidate information here.

City and Tribal government leaders broke bread at their biannual government to government meeting on Tuesday  night (3/5/19). During a two hour dinner at the Westmark Hotel, five of Sitka’s seven assembly members and Sitka Tribal Council members discussed issues of shared significance to STA and the city, like education, affordable housing, homelessness, and economic development.

But the future management of the Sitka Sac Roe Herring Fishery was at the top of the list. STA leaders asked assembly members if they would be willing to voice support for a subsistence management plan for the fishery. STA General Manager Lisa Gassman said the Tribe will present a document for the assembly to review at a later date, though whether that will be a resolution or letter of support has not yet been determined.

Tribal leadership also spoke about the status of their new address, 204 Siginaka Way, the former Forest Service building where the new headquarters of STA will be. Gassman said they hope to move into the new building by mid-August. Assembly member Aaron Bean asked what they would do with the former STA headquarters.

“That’s still up in the air,” said Tribal Chair KathyHope Erickson. “There are so many wonderful things we want to do with it.”

Assembly member Richard Wein said he thought the Tribe should consider opening a charter school in the building, where educators would teach K-12 along with more cultural education components.

The groups also talked about collaboration goals for 2019, including homelessness in Sitka and affordable housing. They discussed changing city zoning for cemeteries, and STA’s funding contributions to Sitka, including around $900,000 in pass-through grants in 2019 for things like remodeling of the SAFV shelter and funding the Sitka Police Department’s hiring of a detective dedicated to domestic violence investigations.

Sonya Smith is one of five candidates on the ballot for four seats on the Tribal Council of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. Also running are Nancy Douglas, Lillian Feldpausch, Michael Miller and Robert Sam. A sixth person, incumbent Harvey Kitka, is also running as a write-in candidate. Sitka Tribe of Alaska holds an election Tuesday, November 13. 

Downloadable audio.

My English name is Sonya Smith and my Tlingit name is ShoolNik. I have been involved with Youth Advocates of Sitka. I’m a mental aide there for the state. And I have had a lot of advocacy experience through the certified nursing assistant occupation. A lot of my work has always centered around advocacy.

I don’t necessarily have college education but I feel that I’ve always maintained an excellent background in staying involved in what the primary issues have been socially, culturally, tribally. And I’ve never served in the tribal council before but I think I need to be more involved and I think the tribal council is one way that I could actually be more involved with what I’d like to see in the community.

But my emphasis would be in what our sovereign rights need to be and what that could look like versus where we’re at right now. There seems to be a disconnect and I’ve noticed it more and more. We’re being watered down, I guess there’s no other way of saying it. This is who were are and it would just be a beautiful accomplishment if we could see more of that, hear more about that here in Sitka.

I come from such from such a beautiful cultural and rich heritage and to not talk about it I think is a great disservice. And so, for the tribal council, I feel like that would be an added component: How we can establish ourselves on a more sovereign level. This is that sovereignty. This is what makes us unique. I can look for ways to reintroduce some of those concepts from a tribal heritage standpoint, not just institutionally or educationally-rounded but has more to do with the historical aspects of why we need this, why we need this to be a part of our educational identity.

And these are the challenges. These are the things that make people uncomfortable. I’ve seen it, I’ve been a part of these discussions. Tribally, I think that we can take on that challenge and do something with that challenge.

Sonya Smith is running for Tribal Council 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.

Sitka National Historical Park is home to the Tlingit fort site Shis’gi Noow and battleground, where the Kiks.adi Tlingit clashed with the Russian American Company in 1804. (Photo/KCAW/Katherine Rose)

Some programs at Sitka National Historical Park may be under tribal management, as early as this summer.

The National Park Service and Sitka Tribe of Alaska (STA) have confirmed they are in ongoing negotiations to collaborate on some services in the park in 2018. Although neither park officials nor Tribal representatives have spelled out the details of the collaboration, it may involve historical interpretation. The park is home to the Tlingit fort site Shís’gi Noow and battleground, where the Kiks.adi Tlingit clashed with the Russian American Company in 1804.

At the STA Tribal Council meeting on Wednesday (01-17-18), the council voted to authorize the Tribal Chair KathyHope Erikson to sign the 2018 funding agreement.

The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act Amendments of 1994 allows tribal involvement in the management of federal lands. If a tribe has a special historic or cultural relationship with a national park, they can pursue an Annual Funding Agreement (AFA) to provide projects and programs in that park. In 2016, the National Congress of American Indians released a resolution declaring that many national parks fit the bill.

Sitka National Historical Park was on that list, along with Glacier Bay National Park, Denali National Park and Preserve, and many other large national parks across the lower-48.

Conversation between STA and the park service began in 2016, when STA communicated its interest in a funding agreement. They submitted a formal request for negotiations in April of 2017, and have since been meeting regularly to further that process.

A date for signature has not been announced.

Jeff Feldpausch is the Director of the tribe’s Resource Protection Department. (Emily Russell/KCAW)

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska heard some good news at its February Tribal Council meeting.

“The Resource Protection Department and Chris Whitehead were recognized at the Alaska Forum on the Environment last week and I just wanted to congratulate Jeff [Feldpausch] and the department,” Lisa Gassman, the Tribe’s General Manager, told the Council.

The Alaska Forum on the Environment brings together state, federal, and tribal agencies every year.

Chris Whitehead, the Tribe’s Environmental Program Manager, was given the Environmental Excellence Award by the Regional Tribal Operations Committee.

The second award– the Outstanding Achievement Award– went to the Tribe’s Resource Protection Department for its effort to monitor toxic shellfish and harmful algal blooms.

Sitka Tribe operates a laboratory and samples shellfish across the Southeast Alaska Tribal Toxins network, serving fifteen other tribes in the region.

“It was quite an honor,” Jeff Feldpausch, Director of the Resource Protection Department, told the Tribal Council. “A lot of the Southeast tribes nominated us and pushed the [awards] through, so, yeah, it was quite an honor.”

The Tribe continues testing weekly for shellfish toxins and harmful algal blooms. It’s also working on a program to monitor ocean acidification levels.

Kathy Hope Erickson has spent much of her career working behind the scenes for Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s Administration. Now, she’s the first female chair of tribal council. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Downloadable audio.

Sixty-four-year-old Kathy Hope Erickson was nearing retirement, when she decided to run for Chair of Sitka Tribe of Alaska – and won. Erickson is the first woman to hold the position in recent memory and has a long family history with Sitka Tribe. She talks about her political roots, the tribe’s recent acquisition of money and land, and involving tribal citizens. 

Lawrence “Woody” Widmark is one of three candidates running for Tribal Council Chairman this year. Widmark was the Tribal Chairman for 20 years previously. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Lawrence “Woody” Widmark is one of three candidates running for Tribal Council Chairman, along with Michael Baines and KathyHope Erickson. Widmark was the Tribal Chairman for 20 years previously. All Tribal Council Candidates have been offered this opportunity to prepare a statement.

Downloadable audio.

My name is Woody Widmark. I’m running for Tribal Chair this year.

I’ve been encouraged to put my name in the hat. I previously was the Tribal Chair for 20 years. I took three years off and reluctantly…gotta learn how to I guess say the word “No.” I’m having, not necessarily second thought, but I’m being encouraged to run again. Just taking that step to put my name in the hat and taking on some challenges that I used to do.

I’m trying to partner up with the community of Sitka, working with SEARHC as a partner, enhancing our relationship with the city through our MOU, working with the Forest Service, the National Park Service, and using other Native organizations that I’ve participated with through the National Congress of American Indians that I just went to in Phoenix. And working with our legislators back in D.C. on the tribe’s priorities statewide or legislative-wise. 

Basically, what our constitution says is we have to look out for our tribal citizens health and safety-wise. That’s a big challenge. And it’s a big sacrifice. I know that Tuesday is Election Day and not just for the tribe. It’s a big day. I’m encouraging tribal citizens to come out and vote. There will be some transportation if you cannot make it. It will be at the Community House from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

With the other candidates, I wish them good luck. I’m glad that they’re stepping up to take that initial step to run for office. Whether it’s the chairman or the council seats, it’s a big time-consuming job. And I’m encouraging that we have a lot of tribal citizens willing to step forward and take that initial step. Good luck to all. I’m hoping everyone will come out and get out the vote.