Keolani Booth

Keolani is a member of the Tsimshian village of the Metlakatla Indian Community in southern southeast Alaska. He learned about subsistence harvesting from his elders and continues to practice these techniques as he harvests sockeye and coho Salmon, berries, wild game, and cedar for elder women and men.

Keolani was a commercial fisherman, harvest diver and Journeyman Carpenter for 25 years prior to starting his career in Civil Service in 2016. In recent years, Keolani has served on his community’s Planning and Natural Resources Committee to explore kelp and mariculture as a sustainable economic driver for the region. He advises the Alaska Sea Grant, the Alaska Mariculture Alliance, and other groups about Native traditional perspectives and how they can be incorporated into programming. Keolani continues to work with state, federal and industry partners to bring mariculture into the forefront, enabling all Alaskans to prosper and sustainably provide these nutritious products to the world.

Keolani is also the Chairman of the local Utility in Metlakatla. In 2018 he became a member of Indian Country Energy and Infrastructure Working Group (ICEIWG ) under the Department of Energy working to forward energy projects and affordable internet access to his tribe, Southeast Alaska and all 574 tribes across the Nation. Growing up as a Hawaiian and Tsimshian native, he has lived and seen the struggles of two peoples divided by an ocean yet bound by common atrocities and desperate situations. Keolani is very passionate about solving the cultural and economic issues of Indigenous peoples everywhere.