Last night, the lobby of the Grand Aleutian hotel looked like the site of Alaska’s biggest family reunion.

Carolyn Crowder was among those receiving hugs from Southwest Alaskans that she hadn’t seen in ages. She’s the health director of the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, and she’s one of the planners of the conference that APIA is holding in Unalaska this week. The theme is “Wellness and Governance,” and it’s brought in a hundred people from St. Paul, Adak, Anchorage, and all the communities in between. It’s also attracted state lawmakers like Gov. Sean Parnell, Sen. Lyman Hoffman, and Rep. Bob Herron.

Crowder says that while the conference was initially just going to focus on health, APIA decided to broaden the scope of the event to include things like economic development and energy security after asking tribal and community leaders what issues they found most pressing.

“Had we asked everyone we had on our list, this conference would be about a month long,” says Crowder. “But I think that if you look at the agenda for the conference you’ll see it’s very well rounded.”

This is only the second time APIA has sponsored something like this. The inaugural conference was about a decade ago. Crowder says that first event was productive because it brought together leaders and elders spread out across a region where culture is shared but travel is difficult. She adds that it allowed people to discuss the displacement that the Aleut community suffered during WWII, and the potential loss of the Unangan language. Crowder hopes the healing process that started then continues this week.

“There haven’t been a lot of good discussions about some of the historical trauma that’s happened to the people from this region, and we think it’s healthy for people to open up,” says Crowder. “And that really was the first time people started opening up in a more open forum.”

The conference will continue through Saturday at the Grand Aleutian Hotel.