Governor Dunleavy Signs Historic Agreement Returning Sacred Burial Grounds to Gulkana Village

After almost fifty years, the Gulkana Village Council has reached a resolution with the State of Alaska on the return of their former village lands and traditional burial grounds. Representatives from Gulkana Village Council and Ahtna, Incorporated joined Governor Mike Dunleavy in Gulkana on October 13 for a deed signing and parking lot groundbreaking ceremony.

“Today’s ceremony is a culmination of a lot of work that never should have happened, because this was always your land. I’m sorry it took so long. I want to thank previous administrations and others that worked on this. In a world that seems to be becoming more divided, this is an example of where we came together to solve problems,” said Governor Dunleavy.

The lands were developed nearly eighty years ago without permission of the Ahtna people. In 1943, the Alaska Road Commission bisected what was a thriving village on the Gulkana River in order to realign the highway and build a new bridge which came within feet of the village cemetery. Land that the Ahtna people had occupied for centuries was uninhabitable, and families had no choice but to pick up the belongings they could carry and resettle across the Gulkana River.

In 1971, the Bureau of Indian Affairs federal trustee deeded Gulkana’s former village lands to the State of Alaska, once again without the village’s permission. For almost fifty years, Gulkana has worked with each administration in an effort to have the land that was taken returned to the village. Over many decades, people have trespassed through the village’s sacred burial grounds to gain access to the river, thereby desecrating grave sites.