Anchorage, AK- The Alaska Federations of Natives (AFN) Board of Directors voted Thursday to take the state’s largest gathering of Native peoples to Fairbanks, Alaska in 2013. The 2013 AFN Annual Convention will take place October 24th, 25th,and 26th.

“We’re very pleased about the announcement,” said AFN President Julie Kitka. “AFN 2013 will be all about bringing the community’s big event to the heart of Alaska.”Each year, the AFN Convention attracts nearly 4,000 delegates and attendees from Native Corporations, regional nonprofit associations, and villages across the state, as well as national and international guests. The gavel-to-gavel statewide television coverage reaches homes throughout Alaska. Thousands of daily web viewers from Alaska, the lower 48, and around the World follow the convention through live web streaming on the AFN Website.

The Alaska Federation of Natives was formed in October 1966, when more than 400 Alaska Natives representing 17 Native organizations gathered for a three-day conference to address Alaska Native aboriginal land rights. It is now the largest statewide Native organization in Alaska. Its membership includes 178 villages (both federally-recognized tribes and village corporations), 13 regional Native corporations and 12 regional nonprofit and tribal consortiums that contract and run federal and state programs. AFN is governed by a 37-member Board, which is elected by its membership at the annual convention held each October. The mission of AFN is to enhance and promote the cultural, economic and political voice of the entire Alaska Native community. Learn more at www.nativefederation.org.