Forget about conferences as boring, staid, too technical or uncool and welcome to the Alaska Federation of Native Conference 2024. The Alaska Federation of Natives, or AFN, includes 177 federally recognized tribes, 154 village corporations, 9 regional corporations, and 9 regional nonprofit and tribal consortiums. Their yearly conference is the gathering of political, social, and subsistence happenings for Natives in the state of Alaska. From October 17 to 19 it took over the Dena’ina Convention Center in Anchorage, and pretty much the entire city along with it. 

On September 17, with over a month to go until her re-election vote, Alaska’s incumbent U.S. Representative Mary Peltola took a break from her job in D.C. to chat via phone with The Sun Star. We discussed explaining Alaska to outsiders and solutions to our state’s unique problems, such as outmigration and aviation needs, the Presidential election, hyperpolarization, and the younger generation. 

Workers also enter their first full semester under the new labor contract between UAF and the Alaska Graduate Workers’ Association. The contract, which came into effect on July 1, includes pay increases for all Graduate Workers, just-cause employment measures, and other benefits that help guarantee a fair and secure working environment for UA graduate students.