Relatives,
One week ago today, I stepped into the role as Executive Director of the ACLU of Alaska, the first Indigenous person in the Nation to executive lead at the ACLU since its founding 100+ years ago. When people ask me how it feels, I am often glib and say things like “about time” with a laugh, but what I really want to say is that it makes me feel as uncomfortable as it makes me feel proud, that it fills me with as much heaviness as it inspires joy.
It is not lost on me that I have stepped into leadership within an organization whose calling and creed is the Constitution, the very document whose birth marked death for my Ancestors. It’s not lost on me that our State Constitution, one that is imprinted by the civil rights era it was born from, does not mention the rights of Alaska Native People, their tribes, or their sovereignty. I have been told to regard these documents as tools, an imperfect means to a better end, and I do, but I must also tell the truth. And I must hold both truths in tension as I step into this space to lead as a Native woman.
On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I want to sit with the discomfort and the pride, the heaviness and the joy, and I want to sit most with the Native People of this Land—the place that gave me a home, the place that healed me. Another thing, perhaps the most important thing that is not lost on me is that I broke this ceiling on Homelands that are not my own, and that I owe a debt of gratitude to every Alaska Native Elder who has taken me under their wing, who has taught me, who has given me opportunities and space and grace to grow and try and mess up and thrive.
On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I want to say: Thank you most, Alaska. Thank you most, First People of Alaska, many of you, my dear friends. Relatives, you took me in; you taught and trusted me. I will keep your teachings close as I work with my heart and hands to use these imperfect, incomplete tools to build toward a more perfect union, a more beloved community.
Wopila tanka, my Relatives.
Lu
The ACLU of Alaska welcomed Lu-Anne Haukaas Lopez as the organization's next Executive Director on October 3, 2026.
Haukaas Lopez has served as the ACLU of Alaska’s Deputy Executive Director since 2024. She brings executive leadership, restorative justice, and community organizing experience to the ACLU of Alaska. Haukaas Lopez, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, is the first tribally enrolled affiliate executive director for the ACLU, a 100+ year old organization spread across all 50 states. Read more here.
