By Whitney Schaeler, Intern
Title: Central Council for the Tlingit and Haida Indians of Alaska Records, 1935-1983
ID: MS/016
Primary Creator: Central Council for the Tlingit and Haida Indians of Alaska
Extent: 8.0 Boxes
Date Acquired: 00/00/1982
Subjects: Haida Indians--History., Tlingit Indians--History.
Languages: English
This collection contains a wide range records associated with the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA) and the numerous committees, organizations, and Alaska Native villages associated with it spanning from 1935 to 1986, the bulk from 1965 to 1980. This includes meeting minutes, reports, subject files, and correspondence between the Central Council and an assortment of organizations from Southeast Alaska and wider Alaska. The collection also includes articles, governmental papers, and financial statements concerning CCTHITA. Materials have been organized topically.
Boxes 1, 2, 3, & 5 contain primarily the working files of CCTHITA, with Box 4 containing oversized materials, all of which contain correspondence, meeting minutes, and other materials. Box 5 was added to the collection as an addendum after its initial processing. Of special interest are the contents of Box 1, Fd 14, which contains the meeting minutes from delegates of Tlingit and Haida to organize under HR 2756, for a land suit, 1935-1936. Boxes 3 and 5 consist of organizational files kept by CCTHITA, and contains documents relating to CCTHITA’s interactions with various Southeast Alaska organizations, some of which include the Chilkat Indian Association, the Klawock Cooperative Association, the Wrangell Cooperative Association, papers concerning the Organized Village of Saxman, Metlakatla Indian Community, and a host of other entities.
Boxes 6, 7 and 8 contain information pertaining to issues concerning tribal health care systems that the CCTHITA was involved in, as well as information about other causes the organization championed, including subsistence rights, intertribal cooperation, and strong tribal governments recognized by the federal government.
In 1929, at a convention in Haines the Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) passed a resolution to sue the United States government for the creation of the Tongass Nation Forest and the Glacier Bay National Park without the permission of the indigenous people of Southeast Alaska. The suit was filed in the Federal Court of Claims and the ANB was later advised that only federally recognized tribes can sue the United States over aboriginal land claims. The ANB then petitioned the United States Congress to recognize the aboriginal people of Southeast Alaska as a tribe and on June 19, 1935, an act of Congress was passed to recognize the Tlingit and Haida people as a single tribe.
Note: In 1934, the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) was passed to set a standard for the federal government to recognize tribes in the Lower 48. The Alaska Native Brotherhood petitioned Congress to amend the IRA to apply to Alaska, and in 1936 the revision was made.
In 1975, the Indian Self-determination Act (PL 93-638) was passed requiring federal agencies, primarily the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), to contract with federally recognized tribes to manage programs that are intended to benefit Native Americans. In Alaska, the BIA adopted an “Order of Precedence” for recognizing tribes for the purpose of contracting:
Indian Reorganization Act tribes;
Traditional tribes;
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act village corporations; and
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act regional corporations.
In 1993, the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior amended the list of federally recognized tribes that are posted in the Federal Register to include all tribes in Alaska. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska was left off of the list and petitioned Congress to restore the tribe to the list. In 1994, the President of the United States signed into law an Act that not only restored Tlingit and Haida to the list but also required that the Department of the Interior must consult with Congress before removing any recognized tribe from the list published in the Federal Register.
Sources: Central Council website, accessed January 3, 2014: http://www.ccthita.org/
Repository: Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives
Acquisition Source: Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indians of Alaska
Acquisition Method: The material in the collection was donated to SHI in 1982 by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indians of Alaska. Accession number 1982.001.
Fd 1: Handbook containing the “Supplemental Materials on the Alaska Tribal Health Compact.” May 1994.
Fd 2: Correspondence concerning Indian Self-Determination Act, December 1994. Includes a copy of the law as passed by the U.S. Congress in November 1994.
Fd 3: Correspondence concerning the recognition of Tlingit and Haida Central Council as a federally recognized organization. April 1994.
Fd 4: Minutes of the 58th General Assembly of the Tlingit and Haida Central Council, April 15-17, 1993, in Sitka.
Fd 5: Draft Testimony for Senate Committee on Indian Affairs-concerning rural Alaska Sanitation Initiative, March 15, 1994. Also includes final draft of operations manual of Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council, 1994.
Fd 6: Rough draft of letter to be sent to President Bill Clinton for Tribal Summit meeting in Washington, D.C., November 30. 1993.
Fd 7: Report of Health Task Force of the Alaska Natives Commission, November 1993.
Fd 8: Drafts of unpublished essay, Native Americans, “Glacier Bay National Monument and the Artifice of Wilderness Preservation,” by Pat Mills. September, 1993.
Fd 9: Resolution authorizing Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium to enter into self governance compact and annual funding agreement on behalf of Goldbelt, inc. 1994.
Fd 10: “Alaska Tribal Health Compact Between Certain Alaska Native Tribes and the United States of America,” October 1, 1994.
Fd 11: Various correspondence from Tlingit Haida Central Council regarding appointment of new Director of the Office of Tribal Self-Governance, includes vacancy announcement and sheet on each job candidate describing their backgrounds, August-September 1994.
Fd 12: Program for Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. workshop, “Alaska Native Traditional Knowledge and Ways of Knowing, court case against George Jim (having to do with subsistence laws), documents concerning the Tlingit Haida Central Council’s involvement in the case, 1994, bylaws of the Southeast Native Subsistence Commission.
Fd 13: Documents concerning the Alaska Tribal Health Consortium Compact-Self Governance Project.
Fd 14: Court document concerning Gregory Brown, has to do with subsistence issues, 1992.
Fd 15: Documents concerning American Indian Trade and Development Council, including newsletters, update on tribal health care issues, information about Native issues before Congress, 1993-1994.
