his year will go down in history for many things—a worldwide pandemic, a presidential election, a total shift in how we live our daily lives… so it could be easily forgiven if one were to forget that 2020 is also a Census year. Required by the US Constitution, legislators have been using data collected during the surveying process for 230 years to determine congressional representation and to inform how more than $675 billion in federal funding is distributed to communities nationwide.

Alaska is renowned for many things, but our response to the census is not one of them; when it comes to filling out our census forms, we rank dead last in the nation. And of the Alaska population, it is often the state’s Native people who are counted the least.

Late last year census officials held a consultation with the Alaska Federation of Natives that included nearly 140 tribal participants representing 58 tribes, villages, and Alaska Native corporations. The problem they faced was an estimated 8 percent undercount that occurred in Alaska in 2010 (when the last Census was taken). The reasons why Alaska Native people continue to be underrepresented are familiar to most Alaskans: no road systems, often no numbered addresses, and multi-family households who may not want to interact with the government or share their private data (this is Alaska… that independent spirit runs deep).

The solution included face-to-face visits from local enumerators who can speak the local languages and in-person committee meetings. And (for first time in Census history) respondents can submit the survey online, by phone, or by mail. With the plan in place, Census officials said in January that the Bureau was “on track to complete the largest, most effective Census ever.” Of course, then COVID-19 happened and we all know where we are now.

In our annual Alaska Native special section, we examine how Alaska Native organizations are spreading awareness through the media and how Census-takers adjusted course to make sure every Alaskan resident is counted. And it’s not just Census awareness that has placed a spotlight on Alaska Natives—regional and village corporations are increasingly sharing their stories and cultural history through mass media channels.

Helping to lead the charge is Brian Adams, our cover model and the award-winning Alaska Native documentarian behind the books I am Inuit and I am Alaskan. Adams, an incomparable photographer in his own right, requested Ash Adams as his photographer, and we were only too happy to comply and join an esteemed list of publications shot by Ash, including The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and TIME.

Speaking of time, I urge you to take some out of the day and read about how these and other incredible Alaska Native voices are telling their stories, one award-winning project at a time.