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I Work For the People By |
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My name is
Lydia Robart and I am Vice President of the Village
Council here in Port Graham; I am the second chief. Port Graham is a
traditional council and it is recognized under the Federal Government. In
this way we are able to get grants like the J.O.M. program, B.I.A.
assistance, plus we get assistance from I am on the
board of directors. I represent Port Graham. I also am a commissioner on the
housing authority. The housing doesn’t fall under the vice-presidency. It is
under the In case the
village president is out of the village, I take over his position. We have
people coming in from the Rim and if the President isn’t here then I show
them what to do and where to go for the meetings! I take over the council,
which consists of six members. My position
usually lasts about three years and then they are re-elected. This year we
were supposed to have the election. Every election is on Tuesday till Nov.,
but we can’t change the by-laws. The by-laws
in articles of traditional council are not official on the State, but through
B.I.A. we are recognized as traditional council. Like for example, when
I.R.A. council has something to do with some kind of a charter, and is
recognized from the Federal Government, etc… It’s really government work, and
I do enjoy it! I work with
people and II look for goals and objectives for the council or the governing
body of Port Graham. I feel in the future we will work real hard. We have to,
to get anywhere! We have this 14c municipality according to Land Claims Act. Twelve
hundred and eight acres are set aside for our kids (I hope so). It ells you
in the act, saying that the village council, or traditional council, is
entitled to 1,280 acres of land, that’s two sections, 640 acres each, rather that’s two townships, not sections. So the village corporation will work
together and municipalitize that area of land. I
have a feeling development is starting so fast, that right to this point, all
lots are taken, so we have to subdivide somewhere else and tat will probably
fall under our deficiency area, and then we fall back to our profit making
organization, the village corporation. The
difference between the Village Corporation and the Village Council is, the council is the non-profit governing body. The
Corporation is the profit making organization and they are supposed to bring
in money, profit investments, for our 101 stockholders of Port Graham Corp. Port Graham
is entitled to 93 thousand acres of land according to ANSCA, Alaska Native
Settlement Claims Act, and we have three townships and deficiency areas which
fall under 12B, and according to ANSCA, set aside some lands in Resurrection
Bay Area, I feel I am
serving the people, and I feel that they put me in there to work for them and
I feel I want to accomplish something for them. At this
point the Village Council brings in lots of grants. For example we have a
fire truck coming and it’s a 60 thousand dollar piece of equipment. We have
to have a place to put it in case of a fire.
We have eleven trained E.M.T.’s (Emergency
Medical Technicians) in Port Graham that can qualify to help in any
emergency. I am a
commissioner on the housing project board. I see 28 houses coming into Port
Graham. I see development coming; better homes and it’s going to be
different. The houses will be in Port Graham in the spring of 1980. We have
to meet with our executive director and our architect and meet with
individuals on how they want the houses designed, how many rooms they want
and how thick they want the walls, how many doors, or if they want basements. I served in 1973 as a secretary and I felt that leadership was important in this community, and other than that I served on the interim board of the Chugach Natives in 1973. I was just getting started in getting to know the government bodies and finding the channels through different agencies. Then in 1976 I was elected as Vice President.
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Copyright 1981, Volume 1 |
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Port
Graham Corporation