The Chilkoot Indian Association might have to shut its doors and end funding for food and housing assistance if the federal government shutdown lasts much longer. In addition, a federally funded health care provider in town isn’t receiving pay, and the Haines Sheldon Museum’s newest exhibit set to open on Feb. 1 is stuck in Homer because the federal agency responsible for shipping its contents is closed.

Chilkoot Indian Association provides funding to tribal members and non-member residents for food assistance. They also assist tribe members with housing expenses and run environmental programs such as shellfish monitoring, water quality testing and community cleanup projects. That funding comes from CIA’s general fund and the federal agencies reimburse CIA quarterly, tribal administrator Harriet Brouillette said. The tribe hasn’t been reimbursed for its spending during the last four months of 2018, and there’s no guarantee they’ll be reimbursed this quarter.

“We have a limited amount of money in general fund,” Brouillette said. “Once that’s gone there’s no money to pay our staff. Right now, we’re doing okay, but if it lasts longer, we’ll have to reevaluate whether we’re going to keep the office open or not. If we shut our doors, it’s not just going to be the people in our office who are affected. There are people who are vulnerable who are going to be affected.”

Brouillette said she’s now determining how much longer they can operate with the funding that’s available.

A dentist at the SEARHC dental clinic, whose position is also federally funded, is working without pay.

The museum’s new exhibit commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Japanese invasion of Attu during Ward War II is stuck in Homer because the federal agency responsible for shipping the exhibit materials, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, is non-responsive.

“They’re the ones that are doing the loan and sending things out.” Sheldon Museum director Helen Alten said. “We can’t get ahold of our contact because she’s not able to work.”

“Due to a lapse in funding of the federal government budget, I am out of the office,” says a voicemail from Marianne Aplin, visitor services supervisor for the Fish and Wildlife Service. “I am not authorized to work during this time, but will respond to your message when I return to the office.”

The exhibit materials include five collapsible information panels containing the history of Attu before, during and after the war. If they get permission, museum staff will try to copy the language from those panels and transfer it to a different medium, Alten said.

“It’s a lot more work,” Alten said. “It will still be interesting.”

The exhibit includes Alaskan artists’ work, including that of local assemblage artist Andrea Nelson. Alten is waiting on five photographs for the exhibit. Nelson’s work is already at the museum.

The partial government shutdown, which arose after Congress failed to pass a spending package that includes $5.7 billion in funding for President Trump’s border wall, began Dec. 22 and is now the longest running government shutdown in U.S. history.

Around 350,000 federal workers are furloughed.

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