Harold “Buddy” Brown, the former president of the Tanana Chiefs Conference, died on Tuesday after a battle with cancer. He was 39.

Brown was diagnosed with cancer in October 2004. He underwent surgery and treatment and was declared cancer free before being elected to a second term as TCC president in 2005.

He stepped down a year later after his cancer resurfaced and spread through his body. He spent more than three weeks in the hospital before passing among family and friends.

“He proved that a young man could go to college and become a lawyer,” Guy Peters told The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. “He embodied the hope for Native youth.”

TCC represents 42 tribes in interior Alaska.

Get the Story:
Alaska Native leader Buddy Brown dies (The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 4/22)

Related Stories:
Alaska Native leader to leave Tanana Chiefs post (2/16)
Alaska Native leader recovering from cancer (03/18)