Viewpoints
71st General Assembly of the
Central Council of
Tlingit-Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
By Dana Ruaro
April 25, 2006
Tuesday
The 71st General Assembly of the Central Council of Tlingit-Haida
Indian Tribes of Alaska ended late Saturday afternoon. Congratulations
to Ed Thomas on his re-election. He narrowly defeated a challenge
from the first woman to ever run for the office - me. (61-54).
I was elected as 2nd vice-president of the Executive Council.
(There are 6 vice-president positions on the Executive Council).
Elections for vice-presidents were as follows:
William Martin (Juneau) 1st Vice President
Dana Ruaro (Juneau) 2nd Vice President
Richard Peterson (Kasaan) 3rd Vice President
Richard George (Angoon) 4th Vice President
Robert Sanderson (Ketchikan) 5th Vice President
Jay Cabaug (Seattle) 6th Vice President
I would like to thank the past executive council for their years
of service:
Fred Lauth 1st Vice President of Seattle
Thomas Farquhar 2nd Vice President of Anchorage
Eli Hanlon 3rd Vice President of Yakutat
Millie Stevens 4th Vice President of Craig
Liv Gray 5th Vice President of Hoonah
Michele Metz 6th Vice President of Juneau
I would like to congratulate Mr. Thomas on his re-election.
I would also like to commend all the candidates who ran for office.
Whether successful or not, it takes a lot of courage to step
up and run for office. We had a lot of new candidates this year.
The high level of competition has, and will continue to lead
to greater effort by our leaders .
I ran on an agenda of change through respect, service, and listening
to our tribal members. I look forward to carrying that agenda
through my service on the Executive Council. Our Constitution
strongly recommends the Executive Council to hold its meetings
in our various communities. I want to follow through on that
and listen to the delegates and members of those communities.
The Tlingit-Haida Tribe has 26,000 members worldwide, the large
percentage of whom live in Southeast Alaska and Anchorage.
Thank you,
Dana Ruaro
Juneau, AK - USA
About: Dana Ruaro writes, "I am Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian,
I am originally from Ketchikan now living in Juneau. I am the
granddaughter of Mae Irvine- Leask of Kasaan and Ronald Leask
of Metlakatla. My mother is Sharon Brooks-Leask from Ketchikan
and my father Lloyd Brooks of Portland Oregon."
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