Backed by a coalition of 40 Tribes, states, and community organizations, Washington’s attorney general filed a motion Thursday to block the sale of the National Archives building in Seattle.
The facility houses an immense collection of historical documents and records, including records about Alaska and the Indigenous peoples of the area. The museum also contains documents related to 1882’s Chinese Exclusion Act and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Last January, a five-person panel earmarked the facility and 11 others for liquidation to help cut federal costs.
This is the second time Alaska’s collection of archives and records has been moved in recent years. The records lived at a National Archives facility in Anchorage before it was closed in 2014. The current sale would split the collection between Missouri and California, making it inaccessible to most Alaskans.
In a separate suit, Washington State’s Office of the Attorney General argues that the federal government provided no consultation and failed to give Tribes and Tribal organizations prior notice of the sale.
