A nonpartisan group of Alaska Natives has submitted a ballot measure application to Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer aimed at strengthening government-to-government relationships between the state and 229 federally recognized tribes in Alaska.
If approved by voters in 2022, the measure would officially recognize the state’s responsibility to engage in a meaningful government-to-government relationship with these tribes.
Sponsors of the ballot measure include Chaa yaa eesh Richard Peterson, president of the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indians; La quen nay Liz Medicine Crow, president and chief executive officer of the First Alaskans Institute; and Waahlaal Gidaak Barbara Blake, director of the Alaska Native Policy Center at First Alaskans Institute. All three are sponsoring the initiative in their capacity only as registered voters in Alaska.
Meyer has 60 days to review and certify the initiative, they said. Once certified, supporters will have until the start of the 2022 Legislature to gather 36,140 signatures, the number required for the initiative to be placed on the ballot in 2022.
