ALASKA NATIVES COMMISSION
JOINT FEDERAL-STATE COMMISSION
ON
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS AFFECTING
ALASKA NATIVES
4000 Old Seward Highway, Suite 100
Anchorage,
Alaska 99503
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Witness List | PDF
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FATHER ELLIOTT: Is that the next one?
MR. IRWIN: Mm-hm (affirmative).
FATHER ELLIOTT: Mary Anne.
MR. IRWIN: Oh, wait, wait.
FATHER ELLIOTT: Excuse us. Excuse us.
MR. IRWIN: I forgot about this.
FATHER ELLIOTT: Andy here?
MR. IRWIN: Andy. Andy Golia.
TESTIMONY OF ANDY GOLIA
My name is Andy Golia. Last name is spelled G-o-l-i-a. And I was born and raised here in Dillingham. I currently work as the economic development planner for the Bristol Bay Native Association here, and I'm also a commercial salmon and herring fisherman. I've been in the fishing business for about 30 years now.
I've worked off and on with the Bristol Bay Native Association since 1975. So I've been able to see the growth and the history, I guess, of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation and the Bristol Bay Native Association. And I've seen, you know, the land claim bill passed, I've seen BBNC formed. When BBNC was initially organized, it had one board member from all of the 29 communities out here in the region on its board, and then suddenly it, I believe developed a ten-man board or a ten -it had ten board members, and then BBNC moved its office from Dillingham to Anchorage and has made investments in like the Hilton Hotel.
On the other hand, the Bristol Bay Native Association started off real small. When I started working there, we only had about three people three, Trefon Angasan and then -- and Don Nielsen and I, was working as staff members. And over time, I've seen, you know, BBNA grow. I think that we started off -- we rented out a small house and -- right here in town. We moved to another small house. It was a little bigger house, but we were expanding. And then suddenly, we grew so much that we moved out to the current office that we have. Now, that's the office that the Bristol Bay Native Corporation had. And BBNC gave us that building to -- for us to do our work.
It was some real excellent program that are delivered by BBNA, and I'd like to mention some here. BBNA contracts with the BIA to provide higher education, scholarships, vocational training, employment assistance, credit and finance, natural resources, and realty, or Native allotment services. BBNA also offers an economic development planning program, elderly services, the Indian Tribal Welfare program, vocational rehabilitation, and a Headstart program. And I believe that the BBNA actually delivers these programs right to the village level. We have village employees.
And in recent years I've seen, like I said, BBNA grow and expand, and I think that it's healthy for the Native community that this is happening. In recent years I've heard people from the Lake Iliamna area, people from the Naknek area, as well as the Chignik area, say that we want a subregional office of BBNA in their communities because they see what BBNA has to provide.
In any case, I think that right now, BBNA needs a new office. The office that we have up here is overcrowded. It's -- the building is -- over time has deteriorated, you know, and it's falling apart. We've had, I guess people look at the building and it's not going to be cost-effective to renovate that building.
And I guess my message here is that if the Alaska Native Review Commission is going to do anything to elevate the; I guess the health and the social welfare and the economic well-being of the Native community, then it should try to get the government, you know, the state and the federal government, to work more closely with the regional non-profit corporations like BBNA.
Like Terry Hoefferle said yesterday, there's a lot of state and federal programs out there that the state and the federal government offer. But there's little -- very little funds to administer these programs. And I think that if -- I guess if the state and the federal government were more willing to work with these regional non-profit corporations, I think that the impact would be good.
You've probably heard of all of the needs that we have out here. Despite having a -- the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery and one of the state's largest herring fisheries, 27.5 percent of our Native people live in poverty. We have a high suicide rate, a high incarceration rate, a high dropout rate, and a high alcoholism rate.
I think that the Bristol Bay Native Association is real fortunate to have some board members on there that have volunteered, you know, their services over time. You've seen what happened at the potluck last night. Bill dark, you know, and Harvey Samuelsen have relentlessly, over a number of years, volunteered their services to help BBNA grow and expand. And I think that BBNA has an excellent executive committee right now. I think that we have a real good administration, you know, and we have real good staff support.
And so what I'm saying, I guess, is that the regional non-profit corporations are -- I think have expanded and I think that the Alaska Native Review Commission, if it really wants to do some good, should try to get, you know, support and help everywhere it can to get the regional non-profit corporation to continue to expand. That's basically my message.
FATHER ELLIOTT: I have one question. And that is, what is the extent of the area represented by BBNA? How many villages approximately, and so on?
MR. GOLIA: We cover an area that's about 40,000 square miles. It's about the size of the state of Ohio. We have within that area 29 communities that we deal with. Out of the 29 communities, we have 30 tribal councils that we have. So we have one board member from each tribal council that provides direction, you know, if you -- to what BBNA will be doing. So it covers a huge area.
MR. IRWIN: The -- you know, I know that each region is different in size, geography, and political history and everything else. And -- but I think that every -- all seem to share kind of a situation where, on the one point you want to be able to get services as locally provided as possible, and there's always a pull by some communities to do their own contracting with the federal government, maybe groups of villages to split off from the bigger one. But there's also considerations of economies of scale and just how much money's available and how much services you can provide. And there's always that push and pull.
And I know that BBNA has recently instituted the program of having a -- in addition to VPSO's in each community and through the health corporation, the health aides and all, that there's a -- I think a children's services worker or a family services worker --
MR. GOLIA: Mm-hm (affirmative).
MR. IRWIN: -- now program in just about every village. And then I heard you say about a group of villages that we're talking about, saying a subregional office. What -- where are you guys now? Or do you still feel that economies of scale and politics should keep you together and should -- and the regional approach is still best for this? And what about what's happening at the local level? Because there are those who would say that it's best for the villages each to do it, because at least they'd have some local employment and stuff. So....
MR. GOLIA: I -- you know, I'd rather not say what's happening up in the AVCP area. I think that the communities out here should continue to have an organization like BBNA. I think for them to, you know, to form splinter groups and to go into clusters of communities, I think they could do it on some programs. You know, I think that that is -- this is possible. But to have the clusters of communities, I guess is what you're talking about, to have them take over the complete -- all of the programs, and I think that the Native community out here is going to suffer.
Like everyone says, you know, we need to be unified. You know, I think that BBNA is a political advocate of the Native community out here and it provides all the social services programs and, you know, I think it's just in the best interest that we continue to have that.
FATHER ELLIOTT: The Calista Corporation has stated that lack of employment is perhaps the basis for alcoholism and drug abuse and suicide and so on. What are your feelings about that and what steps do you think could be taken toward improving the employment -- or the unemployment situation in your area?
MR. GOLIA: Well, I -- you know, of course, I work here as the economic development planner; and I think, you know, alcoholism and drag abuse and the suicide rate and the dropout rate is -- you know, is caused by, I think one way of life being superimposed upon another. I think that the Native community is in transition, you know. We've moving from basically a nomadic way of life into a world of offices and....I really think that providing jobs is going to help. You know, I really do. I think that we have, you know, the Community Development Quota program out here and, you know, we've sent 30 people out to work on the factory trawlers. And I think that's good because it provides employment opportunities during the winter months.
We fish out here three months out of the year. We fish salmon and herring, and then nine months out of the year, we have nothing to do. So I think that if jobs are going to be created, it ought to be done during the winter months. I think that, you know, that would be a big help.
You know, we have the growth of tourism out here. You know, whether we like it or not, I think it's going to continue to grow. I believe that, you know, that the local folks should try to take advantage of the growth of tourism. You know, if we don't do it, someone from -- someone else from outside will do it. We see that happening already.
I think that, you know, that we have a tremendous resource out here in regards to fisheries, a market's undeveloped already. We have a lot of shrimp out here, we have a lot of clams out here, we have a lot of smelts out here, we have -- just which would -- some fish. We only fish salmon and herring now. But I think-there'll be a time when, you know, when we'd develop those fisheries and provide, you know, some job opportunities during the winter months. So I think that, of course, you know, putting people to work is always good.
FATHER ELLIOTT: Thank you.
MR. IRWIN: I just have one comment. I missed breakfast, and all that talk about fish is just making me hungry (laughter). Thank you, Andy.
FATHER ELLIOTT: Thank you.
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