JUNEAU, AK – The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida) announced Amelia Rivera (Jiyal’áxch) has been promoted to Senior Director of the Cultural Heritage & Education division.
In this position, she will provide broad oversight of the Generations Southeast Community Learning Center and Cultural Heritage & Education division, which includes the Haa Yoo X’atángi Kúdi language immersion nest, Head Start, Little Eagles and Ravens Nest (LEARN) Child Care, Higher Education, and Navigators. The division was established in 2017 under the principle that our communities, lands and tribal citizens thrive when our culture is our foundation.
Rivera joined Tlingit & Haida in 2021 and previously served as manager of the Employment & Training department which works with individuals and families to support their efforts to reach self-sufficiency by obtaining long-term employment. She will also retain this department within her leadership, focusing to merge post-secondary educational funding options, expanding opportunities for youth, and establishing robust training programs.
Rivera has a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado and a Master of Arts in Secondary Teaching from the University of Alaska Southeast – Juneau. She also has several years of experience in the fields of behavioral health, education, curriculum development, and social services. Prior to joining Tlingit & Haida, Rivera was a Social Studies teacher with the Juneau School District. She also worked for the State of Alaska Office of Children’s Services where she partnered with tribes and tribal organizations to maximize Tribal Title IV-E federal funding reimbursement and the State of Alaska Department of Education & Early Development to support school districts in their Response to Intervention efforts.
“I’m deeply humbled by the opportunity to serve our Tribe in this capacity,” Rivera said. “I look forward to building infrastructures and programs that celebrate Indigenous knowledge and ingenuity, while positively impacting generations to come.”
Rivera grew up in Juneau and is the daughter of Leonora Florendo (Juneau) and Reinaldo Rivera, Jr. (Bronx, New York); granddaughter of the late Nora Marks Dauenhauer (Juneau), late Antonio Florendo (Mindanao, Philippines), late Richard Dauenhauer (Syracuse, New York), late Reinaldo Rivera, Sr. (Bronx, New York), late Louisa Brugman Rivera (San Juan, Puerto Rico); and great-granddaughter of the late Emma Frances Marks (Dry Bay) and late Willie Marks (Hoonah). She carries her great-grandmother Emma Frances Marks’ Tlingit name, Jiyal’áxch, and is Lukaax.ádi, Raven Sockeye of the Canoe Prow House on the Alsek River with ties to Shaka Hít in Dry Bay and Yéil Hít in Haines. She is a mother, an artist, and an activist, and enjoys reading, doing beadwork, and beachcombing in her free time.
