Wrangell Sentinel -

The Washington-based Yakama Nation Tribal Council unanimously voted last week to support the passage of Sealaska’s land legislation, the Southeast Alaska Native Land Entitlement Finalization and Jobs Protection Act (S. 730 and H.R. 1408). The Nation sent a letter of support to members of the Washington state congressional delegation.

Yakama’s chairman, Harry Smiskin, stated in the Dec. 6 letter to Congress, “As Native peoples, we have sacred and spiritual ties to our ancestral homelands and nothing has been more harmful to our cultures and communities than the unjust and illegal appro...