This week I turned in the first draft of the Senator’s Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN)
speech. It marked the end of a couple weeks of work on a project I’ve spent more time, energy, and thought on than near any other single thing I’ve worked on in my entire life. Simultaneously, it is probably the single greatest thing I have produced (to-date) that has a possibility of making a mark in the world. Most of my work has been resigned to a classroom, a club, or a back room, away from public consumption. With this speech though… everything is different. Public officials’ AFN speeches are legendary, and basically serve as a “State of the Union” speech for Alaska Natives. They work to set the agenda for Alaska Native policy at the state and federal level, and outline officials’ long-term views for Alaska Natives and their respective governments. I still remember how influential Governor Walker’s 2018 AFN speech was. The tears shed in the audience and honor song shared afterwards. It was huge. For this year’s speech, I wanted the Senator’s message to reflect both the everlasting strength and fortitude of the communities he would be speaking to as well as the spirit he has for working with them. To match the moment we all are in while maintaining a certitude for the direction we must head moving forward. I felt daunted by the task. To start, I looked back over his past speeches to AFN. Reviewing the speeches as written and also as presented, I hoped to get an insight into the way the Senator talked. The ways he communicates and also how he sees the world. The conceptions he carries concerning Alaska Natives and the ways in which he frames the concerns and capabilities of Alaska Native communities. Reviewing four years of speeches, I took over two dozen pages of notes. I identified themes and noted repeated phrases and worked as best I could to solidify his cadence, humor, and performative style. After that, I went back and reviewed all of the work we’ve done as an office over the past year concerning Alaska Native policy. With the help of a couple staff members, I worked on identifying our recent accomplishments while tying in some issues the Senator has consistently touched upon in each of his past speeches. Creating a framework of issue areas and policy approaches, I finally decided upon a couple different calls to action. In the end, the first draft of the speech is around 2,500 words. And there is plenty more room to expand. But, with the speech just a week or so away, it’s now out of my hands. I don’t know what will happen to it. I sure hope that some of what I wrote makes it in to the final draft. I’m nervous to see what gets cut and what is kept by the time the Senator delivers his speech on the 16 th . In any case, I look forward to seeing what comes of it. If it has any impact on anybody. Or, like most speeches, if it is just lost to the ether.
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Photo used under Creative Commons from Mike Juvrud