Rep. Charisse Millett (R), seated, and Liz Medicine Crow, standing, watch vote on Native language bill. Photo from Charisse Millett

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) will finally sign a Native language bill today, six months after lawmakers approved it.

House Bill 216 designates 20 Native languages as official in Alaska. Parnell intentionally delayed signing it into law in order to present it during the Alaska Federation of Natives, which begins today in Anchorage.

"It passed in April,” Georgianna Lincoln, an AFN board member and former state lawmaker, told The Alaska Dispatch News. “One half a year later he wants the signing at the AFN convention? Now isn’t that politics?”

Parnell, who is running for re-election, is on the agenda for this morning's opening session. But the signing will take place away from the main convention.

“It seems like it took on a life of its own on social media, with people inviting other people and so on,” AFN President Julie Kitka told the News. The ceremony will be held in another room at the Dena’ina Center.

Get the Story:
Official languages bill will be signed at AFN convention -- away from main event (The Alaska Dispatch News 10/23)

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