UA Press releases new book on Native rights and Western law

March 23, 2018

University Relations

The University of Alaska Press has released "The Tanana Chiefs: Native Rights and Western Law," the story of Alaska Native leaders working to understand and prepare for the changes brought on by U.S. ownership of Alaska.

William Schneider edited the book in collaboration with Will Mayo, Natasha Singh, Kevin Illingworth and Thomas Alton.

Schneider is a professor emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he was the Rasmuson Library's oral history curator and taught anthropology. He has documented the history and cultures of Alaska Natives during his 34-year career in Alaska.

Mayo is a past president of the Tanana Chiefs Conference and national leader in Native American affairs. Singh is legal counsel for TCC, which represents Interior Alaska's Native villagers. Illingworth is associate professor of tribal management at UAF's Interior Alaska Campus. Alton is a longtime writer, editor and historian of the Progressive Era in Alaska history.

Their book tells of how, in 1915, Athabascan leaders met with government officials in Fairbanks to discuss the impact of prospectors and settlers on their subsistence way of life. In this historic meeting, the leaders sought education and medical assistance from the state. They also wanted to know how the federal government could help preserve their way of life and allow them to take advantage of new opportunities.

At the time of the meeting, it had been 48 years since the United States agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia. After the purchase, not much changed until the gold rushes of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Then things really changed.

For more information about this title and many more, please visit www.uapress.alaska.edu or call 800-621-2736.