SHI lecture to honor legacy of Native leader
Panel discussion to examine life and contributions of Byron Mallott
Nov. 7, 2025
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will sponsor a presentation next week as part of its November lecture series honoring Native American Heritage Month.
A panel discussion on the life of Byron Mallott will be held on Nov. 13. Tlingit leader Edward Thomas will serve as the moderator. Former Sealaska President and CEO Chris McNeil will speak about Byron’s tenure at the Native corporation and former Alaska Attorney General Bruce Botelho will discuss Byron’s political life while Mallott’s son, Anthony Mallott, will provide an overview of his personal life.
Byron Ivar Mallott (1943-2020) was an Alaska Native leader of Tlingit heritage and the leader of the Kwaashk’iḵwáan clan. His Tlingit name was Dux̱ da neiḵ, K’oo del ta’, which means “a person who would lead us into the future.” Mallott served as the 12th lieutenant governor of Alaska from December 2014 to October 2018. He also previously served as mayor of Yakutat, mayor of Juneau, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives and executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
In his business career, Mallott served as chairman and CEO of Sealaska Corporation from 1976 to 1992, where he established a permanent fund for Sealaska shareholders that grew to a net worth of $100 million by the late 1990s. He served on the board of Sealaska until 2014.
The lecture is scheduled for noon Thursday, Nov. 13, in Shuká Hít (clan house) within the Walter Soboleff Building, 105 Heritage Way, in Juneau. The event will be livestreamed and posted on SHI’s YouTube channel.
A model of Mallott dressed in his Tlingit regalia is currently featured in an exhibit case in the SHI lobby.
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a non-profit tribal organization founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. SHI also conducts scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee, a Southeast Regional Language Committee and a newly formed Education Committee.
CONTACT: Therese Pokorney, SHI Communications Officer, therese.pokorney@sealaska.com