The Haines Borough Assembly discussed the next steps for both the Chilkat Bald Eagle Advisory Council and Lutak Dock at Tuesday’s Assembly meeting.   And, students and staff of Haines schools celebrated Elizabeth Peratrovich Day on Thursday with a school-wide assembly.  Students performed songs to honor the late civil right’s advocate, including a biographical rap song of her life.  The Chilkat Dancers brought the crowd to their feet,  followed by a speech from master weaver and Culture Bearer of the CIV, Lani  Hotch.

The Haines Borough Assembly approved at its Tuesday meeting a resolution supporting the continuation of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Advisory Council. Governor Michael Dunleavy last month issued an executive order that would abolish the council.

The resolution cites the council’s creation in 1982 in an agreement between commercial, industrial, environmental, and governmental organizations following years of debate over the best use of 48,000 acres of public land including critical eagle habitat.  State law currently empowers the 12-member council to assist and make recommendations to the Department of Natural Resources.

The assembly also received an estimated maintenance cost analysis for Lutak Dock designs from Moffat & Nichol, an engineering and consulting advisor firm. The assembly requested maintenance cost estimates after critics of the dock’s design claimed that costs would exceed the dock’s revenue. KHNS will report the details of that story next week.

The borough manager also briefed the assembly that it should hear from the United States Maritime Administration this week. The assembly has been waiting to hear from MARAD about whether the Lutak Dock reconstruction project will be impacted after the contractor tasked with building the facility purchased $10 million worth of steel before the agency approved any expenditures.

In other news…

Haines School celebrated Elizabeth Peratrovich Day one day early, due to a school closure on February 16th for staff in-service

Students, staff and community members filled the bleachers on Thursday morning to listen to speeches and watch performances by the student body.The assembly kicked off with the older students singing “One Day,” a Matisyahu song co-written by Bruno Mars.  

Then, grades K-4 took the floor to perform, led by music teacher Stoli Lynch.  The students were dressed in regalia vests they had sewn and decorated earlier in the month, with help from Alaska Native Sisterhood volunteers.

Elementary students performed a rap about Elizabeth Peratrovich’s life.  

The rap, which began, “There was a Tlingit woman named Elizabeth / She married a man named Peratrovich…”  was an adaptation of a slower, more traditional song.  Mary Cruise, an educator for SeaAlaska Heritage Institute in Juneau, wrote the song.  Cruise shortened the original for the rap, and the students worked with her to create the beat.  The students have been learning and practicing for the past three weeks. 

Next, Jan Hill introduced the Chilkat Dancers.  Hill told the crowd that the group consisted of just 17 young dancers only a few years ago.  Now, dozens of students, in regalia, waited to dance as she spoke.  

Larry Sweet, Jr., who was wearing a robe given to him by the late Smitty Katzeek, explained that it is custom to “dance new items from regalia to life.”  Sweet Jr. stopped mid-speech to run to the bleachers and hug an elder.  When he resumed, he said he and a student, his daughter Isabelle, would be dancing two paddles to life.  And then he passed the mic to Dakota Strong, who said he would have to dance the feathers he was wearing to life.  He said the feathers were given to him by his best friend’s father.

The Chilkat Dancers performed to drums and song.  For the final dance,  Hill invited the audience to join.  The bleachers thinned, as many onlookers accepted the invitation.

When everyone returned to their seats, Lani Hotch gave a speech honoring Elizabeth Peratrovich.  She told the crowd that Peratrovich helped to pass the Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, calling it the first anti-discrimination law in the States.  The Act was passed nearly 20 years before the US Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Hotch reminded the audience to remember the people who fought for the rights they have today, specifically the right to vote.  But she cautioned the audience and said,   “We should not keep fighting the battles of the past.  We need to move beyond that and we need to live in harmony with one another.”