An assistant football coach will be one of only six Alaska Natives to take part in a two-week leadership program for indigenous peoples from Alaska, Hawaii and New Zealand.
Juneau Huskies assistant coach Mitchell Haldane, who is Sealaska’s Carbon Offset Administrator, will be among the leaders from Alaska who will take part in the ninth annual First Nations’ Futures Program from Oct. 27-Nov. 8 at Stanford University, the First Alaskans Institute announced Thursday.
“It’s going to be really exciting to learn from other cultures and people, the professors that are going to be there,” Haldane said in an interview. “It’s just a great opportunity and I’m really thankful that I was chosen for it.”
The event is hosted by FAI, Hoʻokele Strategies, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Stanford University Woods Institute for the Environment. The program was set up to “cultivate and challenge indigenous leadership in order to impact our Fellows, families, cultures, communities, homelands and the world,” according FAI.
Haldane, who is Tlingit and Tsimshian, was born and raised in Washington and earned an environmental studies undergraduate degree and environmental resource management graduate degree at Central Washington University. He played on the football team at CWU, and joined the Huskies football coaching staff this season.
Haldane will be joined by Melissa Silugngataanit’sqaq Borton (Alutiiq), Martha Maalu Foster (Yup’ik), Jennine Qapqin Jordan (Iñupiaq), Dora Cikig’aq Moore (Yup’ik) and Alfred Sig̱oop Price (Ts’msyen/Haida/Tlingit).
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com.
