OPINION: Welcome, AFN — Quyana for being here

As our neighbors from all across the state gather this week for the annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention, we as the leadership of the Anchorage Assembly wish to welcome everyone to Anchorage and say quyana for supporting our community with this incredible event. The AFN convention is the largest representative annual gathering in the United States of Native peoples, and we are honored that AFN is once again hosting the event in Anchorage, on the traditional lands of the Dena’ina Athabascan people.

Not only does the event energize and inspire our community, AFN also brings millions of dollars into the Anchorage economy, and we are grateful for this support of Anchorage businesses. We encourage Anchorage residents to visit and shop at the Alaska Native Customary Art Fair that runs alongside the convention to help support the economies of our Alaskan neighbors by purchasing unique art, jewelry and clothing. You’ll be sure to see both of us there shopping and visiting with old friends.

At the convention, delegates discuss strategic opportunities and challenges, listen to memorable keynote speeches, hear reports from political leaders and presentations from expert panels, and share stories of resilience, experiences, strengths, knowledge and hope for the future. This year’s convention theme, “Our Ways of Life,” gives us all a lot to think about. Whether your people have been in Alaska for 10,000 years or you have recently moved here, the traditional ways of life of Alaska Natives are hugely impactful on all of us. Subsistence living and respect and caring for the lands that provide our food have sustained Alaska Natives for thousands of years and are values that many Alaskans hold dear.

This year’s AFN is especially meaningful to our community because this is the first year that Indigenous People’s Day on Oct. 9 was officially observed as a municipal holiday. It is a special way that the Municipality of Anchorage recognizes the important and abundant contributions of Alaska’s Native peoples — elders, artists, leaders, scholars, tribes and corporations, as well as the many ways in which those contributions strengthen our municipality and state.

Though there is important work to accomplish, the convention is also an opportunity to visit friends and relatives we haven’t seen in a long time. Once again, we thank AFN for gathering here in Anchorage and wish all of the participants a successful meeting and an enjoyable stay in Anchorage. As we were taught by our partners at the Native Village of Eklutna, “Chin’an gu ninyu” — thank you, you came here.

Christopher Constant is the chair of the Anchorage Assembly, and Meg Zaletel serves as the Assembly’s vice chair.

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