The second and final day of the AFN convention is packed with guests and big conversations. Sponsors of a ballot initiative took the opportunity to say their piece on why tribal recognition in the state is long overdue. Multiple attempts to pass a bill through the Legislature were unsuccessful. A tribal recognition bill was passed this year in the House but never went to a vote in the Senate. Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson is the president of the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. He’s also one of the initiative’s sponsors. “A bill that did come forward from Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky to recognize tribes couldn't make it because they were unable to really just get their business done. We thought it was better to just, let's put this in the hands of the people.” The initiative wouldn’t give tribes any new power, since they are inherently sovereign. Instead, the initiative aims to have the state acknowledge that sovereignty. To make it on next year’s ballot, the