Tlingit & Haida Adds New Officers to Leadership

Two new officers are among the leadership at the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

Karen Taug accepted the position of Acting Chief Financial Officer. Taug will serve until the tribe can permanently fill the position. She replaces former CFO Theresa Belton, who retired in April after more than twenty years of service.

“Theresa worked tirelessly to look after the financial well-being of Tlingit & Haida,” says Tlingit & Haida President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson. “We cannot thank her enough and wish her well in all of her future endeavors.”

Taug is currently the president of the Deishu Tlingit & Haida Community Council and serves as a Tlingit & Haida delegate for the community of Haines, a board member for Sealaska, a board of commissioners member for Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority Board, and a member of the Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 5.

Taug retired as finance controller for Bartlett Regional Hospital after more than five years of service, and prior to that she was a finance controller for SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium.

“We are grateful Karen is willing to step out of retirement and assist us while we recruit a new Chief Financial Officer,” says Peterson. “She has an impeccable record in financial leadership and, as a tribal citizen, understands the importance of finance to our daily success.”

Taug’s Tlingit name is GunnaShaa and she is Raven of the L’uknax.ádi clan (Coho) and DaGinaa Hít (The Far Out House) of Dry Bay. She is also Tsimshian and Penobscot.