Gov. Dunleavy signed a bill Thursday that acknowledges the sovereignty of Alaska’s 229 federally recognized Native tribes. Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky, who sponsored the bill, said it was “a statutory recognition of a simple truth — that tribes exist in Alaska.”
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy signs HB 123, the tribal recognition bill, at the Alaska Native Heritage Center on Thursday, July 28, 2022.
The measure, sponsored by Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky, a Bethel Democrat, passed the Legislature in May with bipartisan support. Zulkosky, who is Yup’ik, on Thursday called the bill “a historic milestone” in advancing state-tribal relations.The bill Zulkosky and other proponents of the measure say it will also ease a history of legal challenges between the state and tribes.Native leaders said that tribes in Alaska are already responsible for providing services for tribal members and others, relying on designated federal funding to boost education, health and infrastructure, among other services. But the state recognition, they said, could pave the way for better government relations between the state and tribes.
Alaska follows several other states that have recognized tribes within their borders, including Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. “It’s really great Alaskans exercise their voice at the polls. But I think what’s more meaningful about legislative action is the Legislature is such a microcosm of different political philosophies, different perspectives,” Zulkosky said. Advancing the bill, she said, required having sometimes difficult conversations.
Ida Nelson, a tribal member from Igiugig, attended the ceremony with her young children, ages 3 and 1. The bill, she said, ensures that they will “still have tribal sovereignty when they grow up.” Rhonda Pitka, chief of the Native village of Beaver, said she was excited about Dunleavy’s willingness to work with tribes and was eager to work on partnerships between tribal and state government.
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