The Alaska Federation of Natives Board of Directors announced that the 2012 Convention will be held in the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage from October 18‐20. The full AFN Board voted to pass the recommendation.
The AFN Convention is the largest representative annual gathering in the United States of any Native peoples. Delegates meet to discuss current event and issues. Approximately 4,000-5,000 delegates and attendees from Native Corporations, regional nonprofit associations, and villages across the state as well as national/international guests attend each year. The gavel‐to-gavel statewide television coverage reaches homes throughout Alaska, Lower 48 and around the World follow the convention through live web-streaming on the AFN Website.
The Alaska Federation of Natives was formed in October 1966, when more than 400 Alaska Natives representing 17 Native organizations gathered for a three‐day conference to address Alaska Native aboriginal land rights. It is now the largest statewide Native organization in Alaska. Its membership includes 188 villages (both federally-recognized tribes and village corporations), 12 regional Native Corporations and 12 regional nonprofit and tribal consortiums that contract and run federal and state programs. AFN is governed by a 37-member Board, which is elected by its membership at the Annual Convention each October. The mission of AFN is to enhance and promote the cultural, economic and political voice of the entire Alaska Native community.