For thousands of years, the Tlingit people have lived in relationship with the glaciers of Southeast Alaska, and today that relationship is being protected through active tribal self-governance. At the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, the Tlingit & Haida Tribe exercises its inherent sovereignty through government-to-government agreements, leading a co-stewardship partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and asserting authority to manage, interpret, and protect their homelands.

As the glacier rapidly recedes and climate impacts intensify, tribal self-governance enables real-time leadership, from cultural education and land stewardship to frontline flood response, demonstrating that Indigenous governance is not symbolic, but operational, effective, and essential to the future of both the land and the community.