The annual Denakkanaaga Elders and Youth Conference and Annual Meeting will take place on June 2-4 in Gwichyaa Zhee (Fort Yukon). The two-day conference will be held on June 2 and 3, with the Denakkanaaga Annual Meeting occurring on June 4. This year’s conference theme is “Upholding Our Traditional Ways to Move Forward”.
“We appreciate the Gwichyaa Zhee (Fort Yukon) Tribal Council agreeing to host our gathering,” said Denakkanaaga Executive Director Sharon McConnell. “We hope that all the villages will send a delegate to vote at the annual meeting and participate in the conference that will be addressing important issues for our region.”
Three Elder Denakkanaaga board seats are up for election this year, as well as the Denakkanaaga youth representative, and the TCC E-Board Elder Advisor position.
- Elder Seat B – Yukon-Koyukuk sub-region. This is a three-year term ending in 2029.
- Elder Seat D – Yukon Flats sub-region. This is a three-year term ending in 2029.
- Elder Seat F –Upper Tanana sub-region. This is a three-year term ending in 2029.
- Youth Representative – regionwide. This is a one-year term expiring in 2027.
- TCC E-Board Elder Advisor – regionwide. This is a three-year term expiring in 2029.
Conference and Annual Meeting packets were mailed to Tribal councils in March. They included delegate registration forms, and nomination forms for the Denakkanaaga election. Nomination forms must be received by Denakkanaaga no later than May 8, 2026. Background checks will be conducted on all candidates. For more information on the conference or annual meeting, please contact Denakkanaaga at 907-451-3900 or
info@denakkanaaga.org.
For the TCC Elder Advisor position, Tribal councils shall submit a nomination letter for interested individuals to the TCC Executive Secretary at 122 1st Avenue, Ste. 600, Fairbanks, AK 99701, or email chelle.johnson@tananachiefs.org. You may also fax the applications to 1-(907)-459-3884. All applications must be sent no later than May 28, 2026, which is the deadline of seven days before the June 4 Denakkanaaga election. Elder Advisor nominees must be a resident of the state of Alaska and an Alaska Native Tribal member 55 years or older. The Elder Advisor may not be a full-time employee of TCC. The term for the Elder Advisor is three years.