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: Grant application process-Administration for Native Americans, along with a diagram of a country club, (Concerning a restoration that the grant project would have possibly funded), correspondence with the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the grant.
Fd 2: Draft of minutes of the Southeast Native Subsistence Commission, December 1993, Juneau, AK.
Fd 3: Material from Fall Self-Governance Meeting Materials, 1994, includes meeting minutes.
Fd 4: Fall Self-Governance Meeting Materials, includes discussion paper and correspondence concerning issues to be covered at the meeting, 1994.
Fd. 5: Fall Self-Governance Meeting Materials, includes correspondence concerning meeting, and agendas. Includes “Concept Paper,” relating to possible creation of a satellite bureau of the Department of the Interior, 1994.
Fd 6: Committee on Committee Guidelines, Fisheries Committee Guidelines, information on crime on Native land, Position Statement of Pueblo of Sandia, Campo Band of Mission Indians, all to be presented at Listening Conference, May 1994.
Fd 7: Documents from Federal Tribal Listening Conference, including memorandum from President Bill Clinton concerning debate over distribution of eagle feathers for Native American religious purposes, 1994.
Fd 8: Documents concerning Native American Indian listening Conference, May 1994.
Fd 9: Native American Rights Fund information, including information on lawsuits Natives are filing against the government, information on subsistence, and information concerning pending legislation in congress that will effect Native Americans.
Fd 10: Continuation of information concerning Native American Rights, fund, contains “Tribal Rights Update” letter, information from Alaska Federation of Natives regarding various issues, especially regarding subsistence.
Fd 11: Information concerning NW Indian tribes self-governance, also includes informational pamphlets from shows radio shows on KTOO in Juneau, AK concerning cross cultural communication, story of Robert Willard.
Fd 12: Information concerning full SENSC Full Board Meeting, December 16, 1994, including a congratulatory letter from the SENSC congratulating Tony Knowles on his election as governor, meeting minutes, and financial reports.
