Tanana Chiefs Conference
Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC), the traditional tribal consortium of the 42 villages of Interior Alaska, is based on a belief in tribal self-determination and the need for regional Native unity. TCC is a non-profit organization that works toward meeting the needs and challenges for more than 10,000 Alaska Natives (mostly Alaskan Athabaskans) in Interior Alaska.
The Tanana Chiefs Conference is a non-profit organization with a membership of Native governments from 42 Interior Alaska communities. The full Board of Directors are 42 representatives selected by the village councils of member communities. The board meets each March in Fairbanks.
The nine-member Executive Board is elected by the Board of Directors. The president of the Board of Directors is elected by the full board and serves as the chief executive officer of the corporation. Programs funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of Labor and the Alaska Native Health Services are available to tribal governments, and eligible Alaska Native and American Indians. Services financed by the state of Alaska are provided for all residents of the region.
In 2006 Tanana Chiefs Conference had almost seven hundred full-time employees and numerous part-time and seasonal positions. About two-thirds of the staff members work in village positions, and about two-thirds of the employees are Alaska Native.
The history of the Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) reflects the importance of balancing the traditional Native values with the modern demands facing us as indigenous peoples. TCC works toward meeting the health and social service challenges for more than 10,000 Alaska Natives spread across a region of 235,000 square miles (610,000 km2) in Interior Alaska.
TCC's movement into the modern era began with the advancement of non-Natives into the Interior. Tribal leaders strengthened their loose confederation to protect traditional rights.
The first land dispute came in 1915 when the chiefs organized to protect a burial ground in Nenana from the Alaska Railroad. As a result, the railroad avoided the cemetery. Conflicts became an increasing problem; the threat of loss of Native land grew after statehood in 1959.
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