About Us
Taġiuġmiullu Nunamiullu Housing Authority, or TNHA, was established in 1974 as a public corporation under state law to address the considerable housing needs of the Arctic Slope. We are one of fourteen Regional Housing Authorities in Alaska, and the northernmost public housing entity in the United States. The villages we serve are distributed across a region about the size of Minnesota, stretching over 600 miles from east to west and a third of that distance from the Arctic Ocean to the Brooks Range.
Taġiuq-means ocean and nuna-means land; our name, derived from the beautiful Inupiaq language of the region, means “for the coastal and inland peoples.”
Who We Are
At TNHA, we realize that housing is inseparable from community, culture and environment. Our work is about more than providing residential shelter to those in need. It is about protecting the good things in life that are important to all of us.
Our Vision – Creating opportunities that empower, build, and sustain vibrant self-determined Iñupiaq communities on the Arctic Slope for generations to come.
Our Mission – TNHA provides safe, healthy, affordable homes and services that inspire self-sufficiency and fulfills expectations of economic opportunity in our Arctic Slope.
Who We Serve
The Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) authorizes TNHA, as the Regional Housing Authority, to administer block grants for individual tribes who designate TNHA as the recipient of their housing funds. Currently, six Iñupiaq tribes have authorized TNHA to act on their behalf as their Tribally Designated Housing Entity (TDHE):
- Native Village of Point Lay: Point Lay, AK
- Native Village of Nuiqsut: Nuiqsut, AK
- Naqsragmiut Tribal Council: Anaktuvuk Pass, AK
- Native Village of Kaktovik: Kaktovik, AK
- Native Village of Atqasuk: Atqasuk, AK
Through the Board of Commissioners, these tribes continue to direct and monitor TNHA’s administration of their NAHASDA block grants.
Our History
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act signed into law by President Nixon in 1971—the largest land claims settlement in U.S. history—created twelve Native regional corporations in Alaska, including the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, or ASRC. The Arctic Slope Native Association, ASRC’s non-profit arm, was in turn empowered by state law to form a public corporation to address housing needs, and on September 18, 1974, the Arctic Slope Corporation Housing Authority was incorporated.
Twenty years later, in 1994, our Board of Commissioners changed our name to Taġiuġmiullu Nunamiullu Housing Authority, to avoid any confusion with ASRC. In 1996, Congress passed the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA), which consolidated several Indian housing programs into block grants exclusively available to federally recognized tribes. Under NAHASDA, TNHA continues to manage a portfolio of Indian housing projects developed with federal assistance prior to 1996.