Alaska Native Federation Christens Dena'ina Center: Convention runs Oct. 23-25.

• Author: Pounds, Nancy
• Position: Alaska: This Month

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Anchorage's historically largest convention will inaugurate the city's new Dena'ina Center in October.

The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) convention runs Oct. 23-25 at the new 215,000-square-foot, $100 million convention center. The Youth and Elders Conference runs Oct. 20-21.

"We're their first big deal," said George Irvine, a vice president and convention organizer for the Alaska Federation of Natives.

The new center will triple the amount of space the convention previously used in the Egan Civic & Convention Center, Irvine said. Also, the main meeting area will allow about 4,000 people to attend the plenary sessions, offering more room for attendees than in the past, Irvin said.

This year the convention will offer 150 tables for the arts and crafts fair plus 90 tables for exhibitors in the tradeshow, he said.

"One of the endearing things about the convention is that it's free and open to all," Irvin said.

The convention's Keynote speaker is Marie Kasannaaluk Greene, president and CEO of NANA Regional Corp. Inc., and will include a presentation from an Alaskan of Dena'ina descent, he said. "I love the fact that they chose to name it after the aboriginal people," Irvin said.

But AFN delegates face weighty discussions beyond the reverie of touring the new center. The main topic at the convention will be energy and escalating costs of energy in rural Alaska, the predominant issue facing the Native community, he said.

Noting that in Nikolski, gas is $11 a gallon, and other towns face high gasoline costs, Irvin said fuel oil and food costs are climbing, too, and high airfares could affect the number of rural delegates who attend the convention.

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Irvine praised state lawmakers' late summer approval of a $1,200-per-person energy rebate for Alaskans.

"Absent that, we are staring down the barrel of a humanitarian crisis," he said.

On Oct. 24...