The Fairbanks City Council approved an ordinance Monday to establish a standing, verbal land acknowledgement at the beginning of regular meetings.
The measure passed in a narrow vote, and the move comes after the council voted down the same proposal earlier this year. That was before the municipal election in October, and a change in the mayor’s seat between then and now proved decisive.
The land acknowledgement is 59 words and reads as follows: “We respectfully acknowledge the Dena people upon whose traditional lands we reside. We honor the Dena who have been the stewards of Interior lands and waters for centuries, the Elders who lived here before, the Dena people of today, and future generations to come. We also recognize that Alaskan Native people would traditionally gather here and harvest Native foods.”
Councilmember Valerie Therrien started voluntarily reading those words into the record as a matter of routine following a city council meeting in May. That’s when the previous ordinance that sought to codify the practice failed to advance past its first reading. David Pruhs, who was mayor at the time, broke a 3-3 council tie at the May meeting by casting a no vote, killing that ordinance before public hearing.
Therrien introduced the measure in the spring and cosponsored its return for another vote.
“I look at this as a method of respect to our Native leaders,” she said Monday of the land acknowledgement.
This time, the vote was also 4-3 – again requiring a mayoral tie breaker – but with the tally falling in favor of the ordinance.
Every council member held onto their seat following this year’s municipal election in October, while Mayor Mindy O’Neall beat Pruhs in the city mayoral race. At Monday’s meeting, the six council members voted the same way on the ordinance as they had in May, leaving O’Neall to decide. She cosponsored the ordinance with Therrien and Councilmember Crystal Tidwell and cast the decisive yes vote.
“This is the right thing to do. It’s the right thing to show our community that we are one together with the Alaska Native community, and that government exists for everyone,” O’Neall said.
The final vote followed public testimony from 11 people, 10 of whom supported the measure. Testifiers included leaders from local Native organizations, such as Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC), Denakkanaaga and Fairbanks Native Association (FNA).
TCC Chief and Chairman Brian Ridley told the council that the words don’t assign blame or rewrite history.
“It simply recognizes it [history],” he said. “It honors the original stewards of this land and the cultural continuity of the Athabaskan people who are still here, contributing to the strength and well-being of Fairbanks every single day.”
Council members opposed to the idea noted that the acknowledgement’s language is already displayed outside the council chambers and said reading it by choice during meetings, as Therrien has been, means more than when doing so is required by code.
Those who voted no, like Councilmember John Ringstad, also said the city should focus on more practical matters for improving the city’s relationship with its Alaska Native population.
“What we need to do is work on our problems. We need to talk. There’s no reason we can’t do that. It doesn’t have to be at a formal meaning. In my mind, I’d rather actually do some substantive work, rather than symbolism,” he said.
Ringstad pointed to an upcoming measure as something he likes. It proposes creating a monthly spot on the agenda for the council to receive reports from Alaska Native organizations, including TCC, Denakkanaaga and FNA. Council members who supported the land acknowledgement ordinance said they appreciate that idea, too, but viewed the two measures as complementary rather than commensurable.
Councilmembers Therrien, Sue Sprinkle and Tidwell voted yes, along with O’Neall; councilmembers Ringstad, Jerry Cleworth and Lonny Marney voted no.