Thousands of Alaska Natives will flock to Anchorage this week for what's considered the nation's largest gathering of indigenous people -- an event that will pump millions of dollars into the city's economy and tackle tough topics from drug abuse to the state's fiscal crisis.
But the 49th annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention, dubbed "Heroes in our Homeland," is just the finale in a weeklong flurry of activities that will help fill hotels, restaurants and stores.
The three-day convention at the Dena'ina Center, starting Thursday, is the highlight and is expected to attract as many as 5,000 people from around the state.
"We're expecting this to be one of our biggest conventions," said AFN president Julie Kitka, basing her view on early registration numbers.
The AFN event is part cultural spectacle, part political gathering.
Alaska's congressional delegation, governor and leading lawmakers are scheduled to take the stage, along with Raina Thiele, an Alaska Native and associate director in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, who will speak Thursday afternoon on the impacts of President Barack Obama's visit to Alaska last month. He took a particular interest in Alaska tribal issues.
Otherwise, the convention will include more than 150 Native artists selling wares in the downstairs exhibition hall and more than a dozen traditional dance groups from the Arctic to Southeast Alaska who will perform at the popular Quyana nights Thursday and Friday.
The theme of this year's event is meant to honor local heroes in Native communities and families, whether it's a teacher who inspires students or a hunter who makes sure no one goes hungry in a village, Kitka said.
"We felt there are people among us who deserve tremendous respect, and we wanted to honor that," she said.
The city's biggest convention of the year, the conference is expected to draw up to 5,000 participants to Anchorage, many of them from villages, while pumping $5.8 million into the economy as they eat out, take cabs or stay in hotels, said Jeffry Silverman, special assistant to Kitka.
That cash infusion doesn't account for non-travel expenses, such as the impact of delegates stocking up at bulk-food stores or visiting doctors and dentists because they lack those services in their remote communities, he said.
"A lot of them do Christmas shopping or they buy gear for subsistence fishing and hunting," he said. "It's expensive to travel so if you come to a convention you take advantage of the stores that are here."
The gathering is also part family reunion for relatives and friends scattered across the state's far corners who haven't seen each other in months, said Anita Nelson, public affairs manager at Visit Anchorage.
"There's nothing else like this," Nelson said. "It's also an opportunity for people in Anchorage to take in extraordinary cultural events and see Native crafts made all over Alaska."
The week will also include:
• The three-day Elders and Youth conference starting Monday at the Dena'ina Center, with more than 1,500 Natives attending. Called "Not in our Smokehouse," the event draws together elders and young people to share traditions and explore heavy social issues, and is expected to bring an additional $1.4 million into the economy.
• A conference Wednesday at the Egan Center involving some 200 tribal leaders from around the state meeting with Gov. Bill Walker, members of his administration and federal officials. The event is organized by the National Congress of American Indians and AFN.
Most of the action will take place at the convention, which will be webcast live to about 70 countries and will reach villages Alaska-wide on live TV through GCI, ARCS and 360 North.
In a first for this AFN, food carts will set up shop at the City Hall parking lot behind Humpy's to satisfy hungry crowds.
The meeting will also include a health fair on the second floor of the convention center on Thursday and Friday run by the Southcentral Foundation and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, with such services as blood pressure checks and flu shots offered, said Fiona Brosnan, marketing director at ANTHC.
Providence will also provide a mobile mammography clinic outside the convention center and the city's health department will host a mobile clinic outside City Hall that will offer private screening space for people referred from the health fair.
As for the meat of the convention, Thursday afternoon will feature work sessions on issues such as drug abuse and health, Native justice and business innovations.
On Friday morning, the agenda will include discussions of potential solutions to the state's fiscal challenges involving Native corporate leaders, state lawmakers and others.
"The idea is that these are major hard issues in front of the state and as Alaskans we're all in this together," Kitka said. "We need to pull together to resolve it."
Also featured that morning will be back-to-back presentations about the $55 billion Alaska LNG project from an ExxonMobil executive leading the effort and state officials.
This year's event comes on the heels of important progress on Alaska Native issues at the federal and state levels, Kitka said. Another key official presenting Thursday afternoon will be Bill Mendoza, executive director of the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs.
"We've seen a very positive working relationship between the state of Alaska and Alaska Natives on so many fronts," Kitka said. "That's really exciting, and with the historic visit from the president and others, you're seeing a lot of progress on federal side as well."