Remembering and honoring Tribal leader H. Sally Smith
January 20, 2017
We are all saddened by the loss of one of our great Alaska Native leaders, H. Sally Smith. ANTHC joins friends and colleagues in offering our deepest sympathy and prayers to the Smith family.
Sally’s passion for the health and wellness of Alaska Native people will be greatly missed. She was an advocate for our Native community for nearly 50 years and was instrumental in helping shape the Alaska Tribal Health System, negotiating the transfer of health services from the federal government to Tribal self-governance. She was Chairman of the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation Board of Directors for 22 years, serving on the board for 30. She also sat on the boards of Alaska Native Medical Center, ANTHC, the Alaska Native Health Board and the National Indian Health Board.
Her encouragement, her advice, her vision, her enthusiasm and most importantly, her compassion, will be missed.
The public is invited to attend and celebrate the life of H. Sally Smith at two memorial services, one in Anchorage and one in Dillingham. The Anchorage memorial is today, Friday, Jan. 20, at 6 p.m. at the Nuka Learning and Wellness Center, located at 4085 Tudor Centre Drive. A potluck will follow. The Dillingham memorial is Sunday, Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. at the Seventh-day Adventist Church.