Home / About Us / Central Council Presidents

Central Council Presidents

  • David Morgan: 1935-1940 (Photo)
      David Morgan, a school teacher form Hoonah, was the first president of the Central Council. Morgan served as president from when it was organized until 1940. During the period of his leadership the organization concentrated primarily on trying to raise money to press the land claims suit.

  • Andrew Percy Hope: 1940-1966 (Photo)
      Andrew Percy Hope was for many years a boat builder in Sitka, Alaska. Many fishing boats active in the industry today were constructed by Hope. He was long active in the Alaska Native Brotherhood and was a charter member of Camp No.1, organized in 1912. In 1922, he was elected Grand Camp President, and was active on the Grand Camp Executive Committee. Hope was first elected to the territorial house of Representatives in 1944. He served the the Territorial Legislature for a number of terms, and also served in the first State Legislature. Hope, along with Frank Johnson and a number of other leaders, guided the Central Council through its early years. Hope served as President for 25 years, and his contributions to the Tlingit and Haida people and the Central Council, are beyond measure.

  • Ted Denny: 1966-1967 (Photo)
      Ted Denny became active in the Central Council when the Seattle Community Council was organized in the late 1950's. He was elected delegate to the Central Council, and shortly thereafter was elected President of his community council. Andrew Hope and Mr. Denny successfully lobbied Congress to amend the Jurisdictional Act of 1935. Denny served one complete term as Central Council President. Denny was a graduate of Averswalds Business College of Seattle. He served as senior accountant for Pacific Northern Airlines and then Western Airlines. He was president of the Pacific Northern Airlines Federal Credit Union, and was a member of the supervisory committee of Western Air Federal Credit Union. Denny also worked as a consultant for the State of Alaska. In 1972 he became chief certifying officer of enrollment for the BIA in Anchorage, Alaska.

  • John Borbridge, Jr.: 1967-1972 (Photo)
      John Borbridge, Jr. was raised in Southeast Alaska and graduated from Juneau High School. He attended Sheldon Jackson Junior College in Sitka, Alaska. Borbridge graduated from the Univeristy of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He attended graduate school at the University of Washington in Seattle. During his six years as President of the Central Council, he was instrumental in efforts to settle the Alaska Native land claims, serving as chief lobbyist for Southeast Alaska. Borbridge was also a lobbyist for Alaska Federation of Natives. In 1972, following the enactment of ANCSA, Borbridge was elected President and Chairman of the Board of Sealaska Corporation. He served as President of Sealaska Corporation until 1978. Borbridge was appointed by the United States Congress to serve as a Commissioner ont he American Indian Policy Review Commission from 1975 to 1977. He received a Presidential appointment to serve at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. He also served as Chairman of the Board of the Alaska Federation of Natives, and as an AFN Vice-president.

  • Clarence Jackson, Sr.:1972-1976 (Photo)
      Clarence Jackson, Sr. is a merchant and commercial fisherman from Kake, Alaska. He was one of the five incorporators of Sealaska, and has served as Sealaska Director. Jackson has served as President and Chairman of the Board of the Southeast Native Timber Corporation, as a director of the Kake Tribal Corporation, Vice President of the Kake IRA Council, President of Southeast Alaska Community Action Program, Area Vice President of the National Congress of American Indians, and Commissioner of the Tlingit and Haida Regional Housing Authority. Jackson has also served on the Board of Advisors for Sheldon Jackson College, and on the Fisheries Advisory Board for the Kake area.

  • Raymond E. Paddock, Jr.: 1976-1980 (Photo)
      Raymond E. Paddock, Jr. was born and raised in Southeast Alaska. From 1955 until 1968, Paddock served as analyst and electronics technician in the U.S. Air Force Intelligence. Following his military service he settled near Washington, D.C. His first employment in civilian life was a computer systems analyst. In 1971 he was hired by the National Congress of American Indians as a publicity director. Other responsibilities soon followed, most notably as assignment to eliminate the serious debt of the organization. Early in 1972, Paddock was hired by U.S. Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska, as legislative aide. The following year he went on to serve as a full time staff member of the U.S. Senate Public Works Committee. He worked on a number of important subcommittee assignments. In August of 1973, Paddock returned to Alaska to become Executive Director of the Central Council, a position he served in until late 1975.

  • Andrew "John" Hope, Jr.: 1980-1984 (Photo)
      Andrew "John" Hope Jr. has been actively involved as a delegate to the Central Council since 1968. Hope was formerly employed by the BIA as a Tribal Operations Officer, "638" Coordinator, and as Temporary Area Director. Hope joined the Angoon Camp No.7 ANB in 1945 and was elected as first Grand Camp Secretary. He was elected Grand Camp President in 1962 and 1963. He served as parliamentarian of the Grand Camp, and was appointed parliamentarian of AFN in 1967 and served for over twenty years. He also served as parliamentarian for Calista, Doyon, the Aleut Corporation, and the National Congress of American Indians.

  • Edward K. Thomas: 1984-2007 (Photo) (Resume)
      Administrator, teacher, and fisherman, Edward Thomas was born and raised in Craig, Alaska. He received an Associates Degree in Science from Sheldon Jackson College, a Bachelor of Science from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and a Masters degree in Education from Pennsylvania State University. Thomas has served as Chairman of the Board of the Shaan-Seet Corporation of Craig, President of the Southeast Alaska IRA Councils and as First Vice President of the ANB Grand Camp. During the early 1970's Thomas worked as a classroom teacher in Klawock and as a high school counselor in Craig. After receiving his Masters degree, he took a job as Indian Education Counselor in Sitka. He then worked as Indian Education Director in Ketchikan.

      In 1976 he was instrumental in re-activating a dormant tribal government, the Ketchikan Indian Corporation, and helped build it into an organization with an annual operating budget of over $1 million. He served there as Executive Director from 1976 to 1983. Thomas served as Juneau area Vice President of the NCAI and as Chairman of the AFN Human Resources Committee. He was one of 16 tribal leaders nation wide to meet with President Reagan in 1988 and one of 18 to meet with President Bush in 1994. Thomas was one of eight to meet with United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali for the United Nations Decade of the Native American. Thomas successfully led the Central Council through a challenge to its tribal status, and in 1994 succeeded in having the Central Council put back on the list of federally recognized tribes.

William Martin: 2007- Present (Photo)

  • OCCUPATION(s):
    President, Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
    Operations Manager, Tlingit Haida Technology Industries
    Programmer, MVS mainframe systems, IBM and Affiliated Computer Corporation
    Customer Service Rep for hardware systems at IBM
    2007-Present
    2003-2005
    1986-2003
    1965-1986
    SPOUSE: Lorraine Martin  
    CHILDREN: Bill, Jr., Teri Lynn, Matthew, Elizabeth.
    Nine grandchildren, five boys, four girls.
     
    (Public Service) Offices:  

    Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, President
    Central Council Tlingit & Haida General Assembly Delegate
    Central Council 1st Vice President            
    Alaska State Suicide Prevention Council
    Juneau Tlingit & Haida Community, President
    ITMA, Chairman
    Central Council 1st Vice President
    Central Council 5th Vice President
    President, San Francisco Tlingit & Haida Community
    Central Council Tlingit & Haida General Assembly Delegate
    San Francisco Tlingit & Haida Community, Vice President

    2007-Present
    2006-Present
    2006-2007
    2004-Present (Chair 2005-2006)
    2004-2006
    2002
    1998-2004
    1996-1998
    1992-1994
    1990-2004
    1990-1992

    Community Service:
    Volunteer at a bowling center coaching kids, ages 5-18.
    Selection Committee for Youth Olympic Event; Headway Tech
    2002
    Hobbies:
    Bowling
    Surfing (the Internet)
    Chess
     
    Goals:
    All I ever wanted in life was to be was to be as good a grandparent as my grandparents were to me.  In all issues which come up, the grandchildren, and their generation, must be the first consideration.

<< Go Back or to Top of This Page