Alaska’s First Peoples

Gov. Bill Walker signed into law on June 24 House Bill 78, sponsored by Rep. Dean Westlake, D-Kotzebue, recognizing the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day.

“Alaska’s Native peoples are an integral part of the spiritual, cultural, political and historic fabric of what is now the Last Frontier,” said Walker. He signed the bill at Utqiagvik, (formerly known as Barrow), during the Nalukataq Whaling Festival. “This official recognition is just one way we as a state can acknowledge and celebrate the contributions made by First Peoples throughout the history of this land.” Photo courtesy of the office of Gov. Bill Walker

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