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 | Exhibit
List
| PDF Version
Overview
(On record at 10:20 a.m.)
MS. FATE: This is the
Alaska Natives Commission. It's a joint federal/state commission
on policies and programs affecting Alaska
Natives. This is our first public hearing of several that will
be held throughout the state of Alaska, in the villages and
in the urban. We had our first official meeting in February of
this
year; got on board our staff just a couple of months ago; and
I want to introduce some people today. You'll see up in front,
three of the Commission members. We have 14 voting Commission
members -- seven federal and seven state. And would the Commission
members stand as I call you and remain standing.
Up in front
today that will be overhearing all of your presentations will
be Morris Thompson. He's with Doyon. Morris will be throughout
the day hearing; and if there's any questions, or he'll may be
questioning you, or any comments, it’ll be Morris; and
Edgar BOYKO:, the attorney from Anchorage; and Beverly Masek as
Commission members. The other Commission members that are here
today: Johne Binkley, sitting back there; Dr. Walter Soboleff;
Father Sebesta, he may not be here now, but will be throughout
the day; Father Norman Elliott; and are there any others that
have come in? And myself.
Today we have with us the staff members,
and first of all, you know Mike Irwin, our Executive Director.
He's originally from
Nenana, most recently with Sealaska. He is the new Executive
Director, and I'd just like for him to say hi to you just briefly,
if you would.
MR. IRWIN: Hi.
(Laughter)
MS. FATE: Everyone knows Mike, so if you need any
work done, just call Mike. Bill Hanable.
MR. IRWIN: He's making
coffee.
MS. FATE: Okay. He's one of our researchers, and
he’ll
be in and out. Bob Singyke. We all know him with --
MR. SINGYKE: Hi.
MS. FATE: -- Indian Health Service, AIHS in Anchorage.
And so with this, I’d like to thank everyone for attending.
We have other people chat we'll be hearing from throughout this.
It's your Commission. It is up to the presenters to what we're
going to get out of this, and I think this is a great opportunity
that our Alaska Native people have in making any changes, if
there should be changes or in the policy anything that should
stay as is.
I see Emil Notti also. And our elders, thank you
for coming -- Poldine and Debbie Wanus (ph.), sitting there with
(indiscernible).
And with this, I’d like to have a few
comments from our Commission members that will be hearing you
today. That's Morris
Thompson, Edgar will be next, and Beverly will be third.
COMMISSIONER
TH0MPSON: Thank you, Madam Chairman, and I’d
like personally to welcome everybody here this morning. As Mary
Jane indicated, we view this Commission as a real opportunity
to look at the programs and the policies that affect Alaska Native
people -- we Alaska Native people -- to determine, one, their
effectiveness, what areas can be improved, what programs should
be changed, what programs should be altered.
I believe that the
Commission has a lot of visibility right now, and we look forward
to working together as the Commission with
the staff, and with you, the presenters, to try to make an impact
on the lives and futures of Alaska Native people.
Just a couple
of structural comments, and then I'll turn it over to Edgar.
We'll have each group come forward. We'd ask, if you
wou1d, to -- if you have written statements, leave them, and
we'll make sure that the staff members have them for inclusion
in the record. We do have a signup. If anybody comes late and
would like to testify, we will stay here until everyone has testified.
We do have a long list. We would ask, if you would bear with
us, and maybe limit your testimony to five to eight minutes.
If you feel, however, you must go longer, we will hear you.
And
with that, we welcome you this morning and look forward to service
on the Commission. Our report is due late in 1983, both
to the State of Alaska, and to the President and Congress of
the United States, so we look forward to working with all of
you.
And, at this time, I’d like to introduce
Edgar Paul Boyko:, who is also a Commission member and an attorney
from Anchorage.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Thank you, Morrie. Since
I’ve been
introduced as an attorney from Anchorage by both Mary Jane and
Morrie, I'll maybe give you a couple of words of information
why this particular pale face is sitting up here trying to do
something for the aboriginal Native people of Alaska. As the
oldtimers among you know, Morrie and Emil and others, the rights,
equities, and justice for Alaska
Natives have been my theme for the last 40 years. I started out
learning, as the Regional Counsel for the Bureau of Land Management,
that Native lands were being squeezed away by various interests
trying to grab a piece here and grab a piece there, and I got
into that
battle.
In 1967, I was appointed by then Governor Hickel
to be Special Counsel to the State on the Native Claims Settlement.
And I was
in direct conflict with his then Attorney General, who wanted
to fight the Native Land Claims, and I wanted to have the State
support them.
I was able to convince the Governor to go my way,
and I was then promoted, if you wish, to be Attorney General.
And together,
Governor Hickel and I -- and Morrie was in the Cabinet at that
time -- and others, created a Commission consisting of Native
leaders, which made it possible for them, at State expense, to
travel, and meet, and plan for the Native Land Claims. And the
rest is history.
I have, of course, in my many years, represented
many Native corporations, Native groups, tribal groups; and I've
continued
to have an ongoing active interest in the well-being of the Alaska
Native community.
Having been one of the midwives that brought
into being the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act, I have
been very concerned,
because I have felt that, despite its great promise, and despite
many areas of progress, there remains a great deal to be done
before, particularly rural Alaskan communities and their people,
can be brought up
to the same standard that others enjoy here in this state and
in the Lower 48 -- standard of living, the lifestyle, the health
care, the education, the kind of things that Americans expect
to enjoy in our country, and which, to this day, are denied to
many, many Native communities, and many Native people. And unless
this Commission can come up with suggestions and solutions which
are new and creative, and which address these shortcomings, which
address the lagging movement of improving the lot of Native people
in, Alaska, we're wasting our time.
I think I can speak for most
of us by saying we pretty well know what the problem is. What
we're looking for are new answers,
different answers, breakthroughs, because we have not, in the
years since ANCSA was enacted, made the progress that we should
have; and that's why we're here. Beverly?
COMMISSIONER MASEK: Thank you. My name is Beverly Masek. You've probably heard and
seen a lot of me during the winter, with the
dog mushing, and I'm really pleased and happy that I'm here to
hear your testimony regarding this Commission work that has to
be done; and I want to make it clear, and to let you know that
it's really, really important that you not be afraid to speak
out and give us solutions. We all know what the problems are
with the economics, and with the education, and with the problems,
but we need to work together. And I think all of your input will
be really important, and I really look forward to working with
you. And, hopefully, by the time the 18 months is up, we'll be
able to move forward and make healthier and happier lives for
the Native people, because I feel we all should be living nicely,
and working. And I'm really sad to see that there's so many people
that are not doing well in the villages; and this is why I'm
here today is to hear along with the other Commission members,
to work together, and try to come out of what has happened. And
I really appreciate that you're here, and I want to thank you
all.
MR. IRWIN: A couple of housekeeping things. Over
at the round table over there is Jan Welch with Kron & Associates;
and she's acting as the recorder for the hearing today, so she
might
be asking you to speak up, or whatever. Please listen to her,
as that's who she is. John McCorder (ph.) is here with public
radio, and he's got one microphone that he's going to be trying
to pick up as much of you guys as he possibly can; and I just
wanted to let you know that he's going to be in front of you
and stuff; and I hope that he's not in the way; and if he is,
please tell him so. Bill Hanable had been introduced by Mary
Jane, but wasn't here. Bill, if you could stand up, and let folks
see who you are. Bill is my Deputy at the Alaska Commission,
full-time with the staff; and, as has been indicated, will be
doing a lot of major research for the Commission.
And then also,
just one other thing, there's only one microphone that actually
works on the PA, and since you'll have your backs
to the rest of the crowd when you're talking, it would be real
good if you guys could move it around. Is it up there now, John?
MR. MC CORDER (ph.): It's the middle one.
MR. IRWIN: The middle one.
MR. MC CORDER (ph.): The tall one.
MR. IRWIN: If
you'd feel more -- I think it would help out if you guys would
just move that microphone around. We apologize
for not having fancier equipment and all, but we'll just hope
we can muddle through today and get everything. Back to you.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: Thanks, Mike. Let's have
the first panel. We have the overview presenters: Chief Peter
John from Minto,
the Traditional Chief for the Interior of Alaska; James Nageak,
President of Fairbanks Native Association; Will Mayo, President,
Tanana Chiefs Conference; and Representative Georgianna Lincoln,
who, I don't know, I don't believe made it; but if we could have
the first panel, we'll get started here with this batch.
MR.
IRWIN: Morris, Eileen Kozevnikoff from Tanana is also here, and
she needs to leave town; and since Georgianna isn't here
yet (indiscernible-speaking simultaneously).
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON:
Please, Eileen, come forward. For Commission members, Eileen
Kozevnikoff from Tanana will sit in and offer
testimony as well with the panel. And, well, I guess as is custom
and tradition in the Interior, we would like to start with the
Traditional Chief from our area. On behalf of the Commission,
we welcome Peter John, who has recently been elected by the people
from Interior Alaska as the Traditional Chief; and it's with
great honor that we welcome you here today, and look forward
to hearing from you.
CHIEF JOHN: I'd like to really try to understand
the true meaning what I have to say on the things that the Indians
used to live
by many, many years ago. That is all gone; it's not here anymore,
except that we do it the White man way. It seems that the people
that live on many, many years ago is something that's hard to
explain. Animals is what they lived on, and it's hard to me to
explain the true meaning what that is. You would understand that
the Native people didn't have no medical, and everything they
lived by is what they get off the country; and that's very important
to understand this, because, to me, it means a whole lot to me,
how I live, 92 years old; and I never take no medicine from no
doctors. That's the way our great, great grandfather used to
live, before the White people.
But the things that they went
by is understanding the animals that they catch. That's something
that I don't think anybody
would really understand the truth, what they live by. The people
that I'm talking about is before the White people, how they used
to live. It's so very important to have our grandchildren understand
the true meaning what an Indian is. The Native people really
don't understand the true meaning what that is. That's really
why we have so much trouble with the young people to make them
understand what they are. The medicine comes from the animals,
but didn't come from the library or anyplace where there's doctors.
It come from the understanding and the true way of putting them
things together. I say I'm 92 years old, and the things that
I seen in my day is something that is hard to live by today.
The animals. Our great, great grandfather. You
see the fun they had, the Eskimo (indiscernible). How the Indians
and Eskimos
live by that before the White people. That's never been set aside
for the young people to understand the true meaning of what that
is.
When we start to talk about things like this, we're
talking about something that was here before the White people.
The way
it was.
I seen the people used to take care of the animals. Try to understand
what that is. When you seen people that just lived by bow and
arrow, there ain't much you can get protection from that, unless
you really understand the way to how to use it.
I really would
like to get this across, so that you people will understand how
they take care of their animals. That's very important
by the Native people themselves. These are the things that are
very important to us as we grow up and see our great, great grandchildren
holding back. We're here to try to help our grandchildren. I
don't care what you are, but you have to understand the true
meaning of what that is.
There's dope, whiskey, everything is
connected with what is going on right now. And these are the
things that are so very important
to the Native people themselves, to live by what our great, great
grandfather used to live by. And you're never going to get that
back again.
In some way that's never been written, the history
never been written, so we really don't understand the true meaning
of what
our great, great grandfather lived by. The animals. How they
take care of them. What they used to use for medicine and everything
like that is connected to what's going on right now, right here.
We got too many problems by the Native people.
Not only that, but everybody; because there's a lob of things
that's connected
with our daily lives that we never look into it. There's a lot
of problem out there. Our grandchildren, what do they know about
the Indians? That’s the thing that is so very important
for us to understand; because if you're going to live right,
you have to understand who made this world in the first place.
And that's for us to take care of things that we use. To me,
that's very important.
I live down there in Minto, and I guess
you remember Dr. Davis here. He used to teach in here. One day,
two persons come from
New York to study medicines (indiscernible) with me. These people,
I don't understand what there is for them to work by. But the
same thing what is going on right here, that we have to understand
the truth of what our great, great grandfather lived by.
I could
talk in my Native tongue, (indiscernible), but then nobody here
would understand the true meaning of what I'm saying. That
makes it pretty hard to explain the truth to what we are. Animals,
fish, everything is connected with the Native people. How you
use is very important.
I seen people that (indiscernible), yet
we don't use no eyeglass or anything like that, except what do
you live by the animals
that they catch. And the thing is this that we have to take care
of the things that we live off, and we have to make our grandchildren
understand
I really had a hard time when I get here. I had
a hard time to try to find out what this meeting's all about;
because,
to me, it’s something that's very speculate
for us Native people to understand that what our great, great
grandfather lived by many years ago still stand. But we have
to understand the true meaning what that is.
There's a lot of
things that's connected with the Native people's life before
the White people that's never been written, or to
look into it if what there is for us to know.
I really thank
you people for inviting me for this meeting, and I have to really
to try to hold myself up. 92 years is too old;
but then when you start to be that old, you know what you lived
through, and that's the one you want to pass on to your grandchildren;
cause each and every one of us right here in this room right
here, one way or another, has to fight for the older people,
which we try to care, but we misinterpret the word.
A lot of
us make mistake. I wonder how many will understand just a few
words that I'm going to say in my Native tongue. (Spoke
in Native tongue.)
Every one of you, you go to school over here
at the university. These are the very important things by the
Native people themselves
to understand what ground they stand on. To me, I want to understand
everything that the Native people stand for. Everything. All
the village care (indiscernible). I know the Native name for
all of the villages, and that's what I go by, because my great,
great grandfather said that I have to understand the truth of
what we are; and that's what I try to bring out. The animals
our great, great grandfather lived by, what they are. That's
the reason why they didn't bother with the doctors or anything
like that, because it's already there. But it's up to them to
understand what it is, by themselves.
(Applause)
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: Thank you, Traditional Chief
Peter John. We’ll -- if it’s okay with the rest of
the Commission, we'll go down the panel, and if it's okay with
the presenters,
next we'll call on Will Mayo, who's President of Tanana Chiefs
Conference. Will, welcome.
MR. MAYO: Thank you, Morris. In putting
my thoughts together in preparation for this hearing, I wanted
to try to give an overview
of my interpretation and impression of some of the purposes,
and then to offer some of my thoughts on some core issues facing
Native people today, as we've been facing for many years, ever
since the contact with the Western Civilizations. There's going
to be a number of people coming forward to testify on different
issues affecting Alaska Native people. They'll be talking about
the problems in specific areas; they'll be talking about the
needs that they see in their contacts and their life; and I wanted
to make a few broad comments here regarding the overall picture
of the Native American experience in this country since contact.
This year, we have the 500th year since the arrival
of Christopher Columbus, and we have 500 years as Native people
to reflect on
the impacts. We have 500 years of history, and 500 years of the
past White man have walked in our land. We have the benefit of
this period of time to look at it very carefully, to assess the
impacts, the advantages, the disadvantages that we have seen
develop over these years.
In the history of the Native people
and their presence on this their homeland, there has been, depending
on which professor
or scientist you talk to, anywhere from 6,000 years to 30,000.
The last one I heard was 30,000 years Whatever it is, 500 years
of relationship with the Western culture has brought, by far,
the greatest changes. It is the changes that we have seen that
have, I think, initiated and called for this Commission. One
thing that I am grateful for immensely, is that though we know
that many people left their homeland to come to our country in
search of hope, success, gold, fur, oil, fish, riches, and some
came for freedom -- many came for freedom -- most came for freedom.
The ironic thing about it is that the people whose home this
was for thousands of years uninterrupted have suffered much because
of the coming.
But as I was saying, chough this impact on our
land and our resources has been very detrimental in some ways,
yet wise men who came
together seeking independence from England, sat down and said:
"We need to create a nation where we can
exercise freedom; where we can exercise basic human rights
with dignity."
And in the development of their organic document,
the United States Constitution, these men chose to recognize,
without question,
the human rights of self-determination, and of freedom, and of
use and occupancy of the Native people. The only thing they said
was that Congress will have the power, and only Congress, to
regulate commerce with the tribes. So they did not even choose
to question the existence of tribes. That was not even an issue
with them. They did not even bring it up and spend any time with
it. The only thing they knew was that they must, if they are
just and honest, if they have really a sense of justice and fairness,
they knew that they could not come to these shores and deny the
Native American people the very thing that they sought -- the
right to be self-determining, the right to operate their own
form of self-government. They did not argue with the Indian people
that we all have equal rights. Therefore, what's yours is mine.
They did not even argue that, because they knew chat the international
doctrine of use and occupancy supersedes the international doctrine
of discovery. And they knew that in their fleeing of the monarchies
of the Europe, that they would be remiss, dishonest, and perpetrators
of injustice if they exercised their will over and against the
Native American right -- human right to self-determination.
I
believe that many of the difficulties we have are a result of
the forcing of a new way, of a new culture, of new ideas upon
the Native people without their consent, without their cooperation,
or even without their input. I believe that the cultural clash
that occurred could have been greatly mitigated, greatly lessened
in all of its negative impacts, if only succeeding generations
of American immigrants, since the drafters of the Constitution,
would have followed the principles of that Constitution and allowed
Congress to govern and regulate the relationship. Instead, what
we have seen is that, as time has marched on in these 500 years,
that there has been a gradual, and sometimes not so gradual,
but continuous loss of rights -- recognition of the human rights
and human dignity of the Native American people.
In exchange
for that, the federal government has chosen to provide services;
they have chosen to try to help mitigate and lessen
the impacts. And rightly so. And so it is that many of the things
that are happening are as a result of a relationship between
the tribes and the federal goodwill, in attempting to assist
in the social problems, the health problems, and education.
And,
in summarizing and closing my comments, I would like to say that
the work of this Commission -- you will be making a
report to Congress; you'll be making a report to the President
of the United States; you'll be making a report to the State
of Alaska, and its Governor, and to the people of this country.
I urge you to look back to the motivations of the drafters of
the Constitution of the United States to reflect on their good
work. It was not they that perpetrated the losses, for they tried
to put control on it, knowing the pressures that would be brought
to bear upon the Native American tribes; but that you would look
at their work, and that you would carry that forward into 1992
and into the future; and that with justice, and with the respect
for a nations of people, that you would consider your report
as you consider the rights of the Native American people to adapt
and evolve in this American experience, according to their own
desires and wishes, and not only according to the ideas and wishes
of some.
I urge you to recognize the right to self-determination,
to tribal government, and to also recognize the importance of
the subsistence
way of life to the survival of a culture of people who have every
right to continue to exist in a form that they design, and in
a form that they control. And I think that by working together,
as government to government, that the tribes, and the State of
Alaska, and the United States government can work to fashion
a hopeful future to assist the Native people in overcoming the
social disruptions, the problems that have emerged for the last
500 years, and that there be mutual respect for the lands, the
rights, and the culture.
Us working together in this fashion,
I think that we can go rapidly and quickly into the future in
a way that would result in a healthy
Native American populations, and healthy and happy Native American
children for the future.
So I thank you for this time to share
these thoughts. I urge you in your preparation of your report,
as you listen to testimony,
to open your heart to what you are going to be hearing, and recognize
that there is a place for all of these things, and that it does
not have to be one over the other, but it can be one beside the
other. And I appreciate your time. I know I've gone over my five
minutes, and I m very glad to be able to be here to share this.
Thank you.
(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: And next we’ll hear
from Eileen Kozevnikoff from Tanana. Eileen?
(TESTIMONY OF EILEEN
KOZEVNIKOFF ATTACHED AS EXHIBIT #1)
(Applause)
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: Eileen, if
you would, we'd like to have your statement, so we can make sure
it's inserted
in the record
as well. Thank you. The next speaker is James Nageak, who is
the Chairman of the Fairbanks Native Association; and we welcome
you, James.
MR. NAGEAK: Thank you very much. I
appreciate the opportunity to represent an organization that
has been an active
part of
this community of Fairbanks, and there are a couple of members
of the board that I would like to recognize from the audience
here. Poldine Carlo, and Jeanette Skanell back there, so I wanted
to make sure that I represent well the Fairbanks Native Association.
I appreciate that so. It's an opportunity
to look at some of the things that the association for the Natives
of Fairbanks
are trying to do, and some of the things that I jotted down here,
first of all, of course, is the relationship of the Native people
with the community in the education of the young people.
And,
also, the Fairbanks Native Association is dealing with some of
the economic problems that faces the Native people, not just
here in Fairbanks, but all around the state. So we have an opportunity
to work with the people right here, the business people, and
also to work with the people that need to get out from maybe
a welfare situation and get into something that they would like
to do.
And, of course, some of the problems
that we have are with the alcohol and other addictions. We have
a center that
is very active
in dealing with some of the problems that we have as a community,
not just for the Native Alaskans, but the Regional Center for
Alcohol and Other Addictions is a center in which the Fairbanks
Native Association welcomes the other people into their program.
And it's always a good feeling for the board members when we
begin to hear some of the things that are happening with our
agencies right here in Fairbanks.
And this is one of the highlights,
the moment in which we feel pride in ourselves that we associate
ourselves as board members
with the Fairbanks Native Association, and so it's one of those
things that's growing It's beginning to be a focus in which the
other agencies and other communities in the state are looking
to this center, the Regional Center for Alcohol and Other Addictions,
to look at that thing and say:
"Hey, maybe we can have something
like this in our communities."
And, of course, we have
also the community services that -- the Bureau of Indian Affairs
have had some contracts that are let
out to the Fairbanks Native Association, and we have been the
association that spearheads some of the things that we are trying
to deal with, not just from the State, but also from the federal
agencies. So we have been doing some of the things that I'm hoping
that you are here to hear; that the state, federal, and local
agencies can begin to communicate with each other, and try to
come together, and try to not have the state, or the federal,
or the local government to be fragmented and not know what the
State is doing, what the federal government is doing, and what
the local government is doing; but like the lives of the Native
people, when Peter John is talking about the true meaning of
being a Native, the coming together of a person, coming together
of a community, and try to face with some of the core issues
that we have in our communities. It all boils down to being together.
The history lesson that Will Mayo
gave us is really something that I appreciate, because as we
look back, the first contact,
the things that we needed to begin to understand -- as these
guys are coming, the things that we needed to understand then
was used in the educational system in which we didn't use in
our own communities.
So I want to go back to the education,
that this community is a community of over 70,000 people; and
we,
as Alaska Natives,
are just a part; but because we are a minority within the system,
we are trying to find some ways in which the voice of the Alaska
Native is heard by the system that is educating our children.
I and my wife have a ten-year-old that will be in the fifth grade
in one of the schools here; and because of our relationship with
the PTA, and with that particular school, we have a good relationship.
But, overall, working with the administration and the policymakers
of the school district, we have a mediated agreement that is
being looked at, as one of the agreements that is -- in administration
over there in we that central office. But we have, as the Fairbanks
Native Association, an agreement that was put together, trying
to deal with some of the this communication, they have their
own ways of looking at the situation, and we have our own ways;
and because I feel that the Native people tried to put together
everything that their children needs to know about social, economic,
and spiritual, in the relationship that they have with their
environment -- the animals, the flora and fauna, that I'm beginning
to appreciate, since I am an Inupiat from Barrow, Alaska, where
there are no trees, where -- and I'm beginning to appreciate
sometimes being able to get lost in among the spruce tress, and
the birch bark, and trying to get some ideas on how to relationship
with the Western culture.
I think that's one of the problems
is that we, as Native people, always have (indiscernible - noise)
to educate the other side.
We have trying. We spend so much time in trying to put down on
paper, or in communicating -- talking with the Chief of the Forest
Service. When Gates of the Arctic was trying to become a park,
we have these people come here to Anaktuvuk Pass, and they heard
the Native people and what their feelings were, and we were educating
the people that were coming there to begin to regulate through
the National Park Service rules and regulations that all of a
sudden we had to follow. And sometimes the elders in that community
never knew until the National Forest rangers came along and said:
"You know, that's par -- you're
doing something wrong. That is in the rules and regulations
of the thing that you accepted."
The lack of communication.
The lack of interpretation, I think. Even though the park chiefs
goes in front of the people and gives
the speech, and the polices and regulations of the National Park,
75 percent of the people never understand what is being said.
And that's one of the things that
we as Fairbanks Native Association is trying to do, I believe,
is to begin to give the community,
not just here in Fairbanks, bur we're being expanding. We just
had a workshop at Chena Hot Springs into which we tried to deal
with some of the ways in which we can begin to be more effective
in the way that we deal with some of the problems. And we're
finding out that the other parts of the state, some of the communities
are beginning to come to Fairbanks and say:
"Hey, you guys have a really
good program. How can you help us?"
So, it's always a good
feeling to have this particular aspect in our lives, especially
me coming from a different village,
being Inupiat within, the Doyon, the Tanana Chiefs, and being
accepted, and also trying to become a part of this. Well, it's
something that is not unique to Fairbanks. It's not something
unique to Barrow, but something that we all -- the state, the
federal, and the local governments have to begin to deal with.
I saw some five different ways in
which to try to look at that: the economics, the education, the
social, and other aspects of
our lives, which we as Native people have always tried to put
together.
You know, when I was growing up, my
mother told me:
"If you are going to be dealing
with some of the animals, you better be respectful."
And
the way that I relate to other people is directly related to
that particular animal that I will be hunting, and also
it will affect my relationship with an elder in that community.
It used to have a good effect on me when I was young and getting
my first seal, and I took that seal to an elder, and that elder
began to say to me every time she sees me:
"Man, I want to thank you
for that seal. You made my day in providing the sustenance
that I
need to survive."
And so the relationship in the way
that we deal with our environment, the clothes you can buy them
in
(indiscernible) whether it
be in Barrow, or here in Fairbanks, whether it be in Southeast
Alaska,
but having a good relationship with those around us. And appreciate
the opportunity that the state and the federal government are
beginning to come back to getting together the things that
are needed to face some of the problems -- alcohol, drug abuse,
and
suicide, education. All of these things we need not to be fragmented,
as the State agencies saying:
"Hey, you can't do that. That
is our responsibility."
And the federal government saying
here:
"Hey, that's our turf. You
keep away from our turf, and we are dealing directly with the
Native
people."
And so I'm glad that this Commission,
hopefully, will begin to put these things together and begin
to say:
"Oh, yeah, it is our problem.
Let's see if we can put together our resources; not have
a duplicate situation in each of the
governments, but a unified attempt in working out with
the Native people of Alaska in trying to deal with the social
issues."
I thank you for this opportunity.
Thank you.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: Thank you,
James.
(Applause)
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: Does -- do
any of the Commission members have questions of any of the presenters?
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: I do, indeed.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: Please, Edgar?
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Did you want to
go first?
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: No, go on ahead,
please.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Before I address
my questions, and I've taken some careful notes, because I found
what you told
us
to be very
interesting and challenging. I want to say something about
-- a little bit about the procedure we're following here. This
is
a trial balloon. We're trying to work out some way of getting
input from the people in some organized, sensible way; and
it was proposed that we try this type of hearing today, which
may
or may not be the pattern we follow in the future, depending
on how successful it works today. What's been done is we've
broken into various panels today, dealing with specific subjects
which
correspond to task forces within the Commission, which have
been created under the enabling law that created us. And the
panel
that is sitting here right now is called the Overview Panel,
and what we've been looking for in this particular portion
of this session is some overview thoughts on where we should
go,
how we should address your concerns, how we would best draw
out from you folks what we need to know in order to make an
intelligent
report which will be helpful to you. This is not a civil service
agency, where we each stake out our own turf and feather our
own nests.
There's a very short sunset on this
Commission. We are here to gather information. We are here to
get your views
and to
put
it into a rationale report to the two governments, with recommendations
of what we can do to improve what1s been going on; and so this
is what this is all about.
I had hoped to ask the Traditional
Chief, Peter John, a couple questions. If he's still here, I
would like to do that. I sense values here that are disappearing,
not
only
among the Native folks, but among all nations, all ethnic groups,
which is a disregard for the past, a disrespect for the elders,
and it gave me a feeling of buoyancy to hear the Traditional
Chief to speak about those things, because not only your people,
Chief, but my people, are losing those traditional values.
We're here, and now, and quick; and we don't even know what
our past has been; and it's folks like the Chief Peter John who
can teach us to go back to that.
And my question
to you -- I have two questions, if I may? One, can you see
anything that we could recommend that would make it possible
to preserve
the memory and the values of the old ways, and carry it forward
to the younger people who don't really seem to understand
it anymore? Is there something we can do? Can we create some
kind
of an entity that will teach the old ways, where folks like
Chief Peter John and others can carry on the traditions of
their people?
Is there anything we can do positively to make that happen?
CHIEF JOHN: I think there's a lot
of things that need to be ironed out, as I see those things,
'cause the old Indian ways
is all
gone up to right now; and that is not going to get back, unless
we do something about it and try to get the younger people
to understand what our great, great grandfather stand by was
a very
strong to understand the true meaning what that is. Now you
see me right here, 92 years old. What make me feel this way
is what
the younger generation should understand that could be done
by the way they live. Your grandchildren, if you have grandchildren,
are they going the way you want them to go? That's the question
that is before them right now. Do our grandchildren want to
live
according to their great, great grandfather? There's a lot
of things to mention right now, according to the way we try
to live.
The thing that I think is very important is that our grandchildren -- our
grandfather happy without school many years ago, that I was
raised up in. And you can't find it no where, unless you took
your talkative
old people that understand these things. So when you start
to talk about the old way, of our grandchildren learning that
way,
you have to understand that who you're talking to.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: I have another question, Chief, if I might? Is there
some way that you can see that we can preserve the
old languages? You said that probably very few people would
understand
the Language. Is there some way we can encourage people to
learn it, so that they don't -- the o1d languages don't die
out? I mean,
all over the world, there is a new respect for the past. Dying
languages have been resurrected, Latin, Hebrew, just to name
a few. Is there some way that the old Indian, and Eskimo, and
Aleut languages can be preserved, and encouraged that the young
people will be bilingual?
CHIEF JOHN: That is something that
we must not forget. Our Native language is very important to
the young people today.
You look
back, you talk about when the first White people come what
they (indiscernible). That's the question you’re asking
yourself right now. The language -- what we don't understand
is this: that
the White people come from Europe, and when they done that,
they lost something that God give them, and that's the question
that
we're asking right, that our great grandchildren have to understand
what they are; and that's very important to the school, and
the way the kids -- once I said in Juneau at one time then
we was
out there for the meeting, I said that our children never get
the full benefit of what the school is. And that’s what
it is. We have to make our grandchildren understand that their
language is a headstone of the people that's living today.
Now you grandchildren need that advice, and make them understand
where they come from.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Thank you, Chief.
Mr. Mayo, can you enlighten me as to what degree education
is available to Alaska Natives
in their original languages, be they Athabascan, or whatever?
MR. MAYO: It varies. What we have
recognized is that what is available is not nearly enough to
be effective. Okay? I guess
that, if I put it that way, it would save a lot of time in
trying to exp1ain what is happening. Various school districts
in the
rural areas have, for years, some level of Native education
efforts going on through the Indian Ed Program, and also through
some
of their own programs. But what has universally been recognized
is that a structured curriculum with certified language instructors
needs to be developed, that will result in a effective Native
language transmittal, which has not been occurring so far.
For this reason, as you may be aware, there has been efforts
going
on in both the State Legislature and in the Congress to try
to help with this problem area -- how to develop effective
delivery systems for Native language instruction. Again, everyone
recognizes
that need. It's there. Senator Murkowski sponsored a Native
language
legislation that is still making its way through Congress that
would appropriate significant funds to help set up programs
for the instruction of dative languages. This is a very promising
piece of legislation, because it provides resources needed
for
us to begin to set up these program in a strong way.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Would that be administered through the school district,
or through Native organizations, or how would
it be
delivered?
MR. MAYO: I'm on a little bit of shaky
ground. There's going to be some other people; but I believe
there's going to
be
grants available through Native organizations, and, I hope,
through
tribal councils that will enable them to develop programs.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Yeah. Let me run
this thought by you and get a reaction from you. I've, for a
long time, had the feeling
that a lot of the symptoms we see -- the alcoholism, the suicide
rate, the child abuse, all the things that have been mentioned
here, are not solely economically driven, but there is an underlying
lack of self-worth that comes from powerlessness that creates
these situations. For a man or a woman to function effectively
in their society, they have to feel that they're worth something;
that they have power over their own lives and the lives of
their families and their communities. And through many, many
years
of neglect and misrule, we have deprived the Native people
and the original American inhabitants of this continent of
that pride,
of that self-worth, of that feeling of empowerment; and I think
that Chief John has stirred in my mind the thought that one
of the reasons is that we have forced upon them a culture which
was strange, and which they have now become somewhat accustomed
to; but in the process, we have taken away their own. There's
nothing wrong for aboriginal Americans, Alaska Natives, to speak
English,
to
function effectively in the White man's culture, but we should
not deprive them of their identity, of their culture heritage,
which is as valuable and as valid as our own. And I'd like
to see that process reversed; and I think, if we do that, if
we
allow them, and encourage them, and permit them to go back
to their roots, to identify with their language, to identify
with
their culture, to identify with their spiritual values, that
we will see the other things emerge. Now, what do you think
about that?
MR. MAYO: I think that you have addressed
and expressed one factor in the conditions that we find. I think
that there's
a very strong
move in individual villages towards the sense of moving forward
and ahead. I think that part of the answer is the strong focus
on cultural values; but, most importantly, I feel like the
Native leadership and future Native generations must have the
self-determination
to enable them to adapt in a sensitive and appropriate manner.
Now adapting and evolving are things that we have been forced
to do in an uncontrolled, and sometimes very harmful ways;
but I think there is time, and there is a need for an effort
right
now for there to be support, whether its from the state or
federal governments, in recognizing that adaptation, and evolution,
and
change. But the strengthening of the Native culture needs to
be done in a way that is guided and self-directed within. And
your help, the help of this Commission, I view as being a step
in that direction, if we care to go that way.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Thank you, Mr. Mayo. Has Eileen left us? And forgive me
for calling her by her first name. I still have
trouble; I haven't written down her last name properly.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: She had to catch a plane.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: She had
to leave? Okay. I had some questions, but I'm sure those can
be asked later. I'd like to ask Mr.
Nageak. You brought up something that I thought was very important,
and
the key word was fragmentation. I have a feeling -- and please
tell me if I'm wrong -- that a lot of the problems that we
experience that we're supposed to address here, come, indeed,
from fragmentation.
We have so many cooks working that broth. We have federal agencies;
we have the BIA; we have the Indian Health Service; we have
state agencies; we have the Park Service; we have the Forest
Service; we have
local governments, school districts, assemblies, city councils,
boroughs, ANCSA corporations, nonprofits, Tanana Chiefs, tribal
councils; and everybody is working in the same direction, but
everybody is kind of taking a slice of the pie and slicing
it smaller. Do you think there's a way that we can start eliminating
all of this duplication and overlapping, and maybe divide the
pie in such a way that one unit will take care of health problems,
another one will take care of education problems, not everybody
trying to do the same and having overlapping layers of bureaucracy
and overhead? What do you think?
MR. NAGEAK: First of all,
I think that the fragmentation -- or the diversity is the term
I want to use at this point --
that
the diversity of our society in which we live, that we have
all of these different ethnic groups that make up our unique
United
States government and United States country that makes it into
a very interesting country to live in (indiscernible).
But
the fragmentation in the way that we are trying to deal with
some of the problems, I guess we have been really good
students
in the way that the Western culture has taught us in looking
at yourself. Okay, Monday to Friday, you go out and make bucks.
On Saturday night, you go out to some bar and socialize; and
on Sunday, you go and get your spiritual lift, and then start
all over again on Monday. Never the three meet.
But in the
Native society in which I grew up in, the idea that the economics,
and the social, and the spiritual are all interrelated
into activities that I had to do as a young boy, and also activities
that I had to do as a whaling captain, the things that regulated
my behavior, because I want to be a whaling captain; and all
of these things. The social part, of course, you see as a nalukataq,
the feast we have after successful whaling activities; and
the way that we relate to our elders, and the way that we relate
to the whales, the spiritual aspect of our live, and the way
that we relate to those things spiritually around us is also
within that activity. And the economics, of course, the Western
culture of the terminology economics which doesn't really apply
in the way that we share a part of the catch that we have,
whether
it be whale, seal, caribou, moose, and all of these things
that we do in our society.
So we have the whole system right
in our hands, and that's where the fragmentation in which these
-- we feel we're --
the educational
part over there in the education department, the social services
over here, and then we have the priests and the ministers on
Sunday to do our spirituality for us.
And so I guess I want
to go back to your first question that deals with language. I
teach the Inipuit [sic] language at the University
here. That's my other hat that I have, and one of the problems
we have, of course, is that the idea of teaching a language
in a classroom where there are four walls and a blackboard
is outrageous
for me. I need to be able to function, as a professor of the
Inupiat language, to be able to take my students where the
action is, not in a room. The idea that, as I am relating to
the environment,
the words come out, and those three things again -- the social,
the economics, and the spirituality -- all of these words come
out when I am out there doing the Native thing -- the subsistence
way of life. I think that's why I wanted to come back to that.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: I have a million
more questions, but we're told that we're running way overtime,
and I apologize for that.
Beverly, I'm sure, has some questions. Mike, what's the situation
as far as our schedule is concerned?
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON:
Mike just stepped out, and I was given a note, Ed, by Mike that
says that we have no option.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: We've got to
be done by 5:00.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: We have no
option to extend.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: They kick us out;
it's those rules and regulations that Mr. Nageak was talking
about.
And sometime
when we have
a chance to talk, I want to find out from you why the communication
breakdown between the regulators and the regulated, whether
it’s
language, or culture, or what. But we don’t have time
for that.
MR. NAGEAK: Okay, I have your fax
number, so I could get some information on that.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Good, please do. Morrie, what's your pleasure? Where do
we go from here? Maybe we should find out whether
there's anybody else that wants to say anything to this panel
-- what
do you think? -- that hasn't spoken.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON:
We do have panelists who've traveled, Ed, a long way, --
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Yes.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: -- many from
out of town; and to make sure that -- I think that each segment
is equally important --
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Yes.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: -- that we should -- I've been suggested by the Chairman
and others that we do try to limit ourselves
to -- and the future speakers, if you would, to five minutes.
We've been very liberal with the overview, because, obviously,
as we know, these people are all leaders within the region.
We are -- in order to hear all the others, however, we are
going to try to stick to the --
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Cut it down,
yes.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: -- five-minute
rule.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Yes. And maybe
we will learn from this that this is not the best format, and
that we will --
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: Yes.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: -- try something else next time.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON:
That' s entirely conceivable, so....
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Beverly,
I'm sorry I've taken up a lot
of your time.
COMMISSIONER MASEK: No problem. I
have some questions that I will let it wait, since we have to
continue on.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: Thank you,
Beverly.
MR. MAYO: Mr. Chair?
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: I, too, will do that. Mr. Mayo?
MR. MAYO: One brief
comment. I think this is probably a good way to get testimony,
Commissioner BOYKO:. I believe that you
need to hear it from the people, from their hearts.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: I agree.
MR. MAYO: And I think that allowing
people to gather together and to present their comments is a
good way.
The last point,
I urge you to bake your hearings to the villages. I would request
that you hold at least six in our region in the Interior, one
in each of our sub-regions; and I make that formal request
at this time. I'll be glad to work with Mike or whoever to
try to
help.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: You've put your
finger on a very contested issue there. There seems to be different
opinions among
various
members of the Commission and the staff. Some of us have felt
that that's exactly what we need to do. We've been told that
there are budget restraints. Some of us have offered to go
to the villages without pay; we were told we're not legally
allowed
to do that; but, certainly -- I know Father Elliott, for instance,
goes to the villages a lot; and he has offered to hold informal
meetings and sound out the people; and your request certainly
may help to get that accomplished, and I thank you for it.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: And we thank
the -- I'm told that we're all panel members, and I keep saying
presenters; but we thank
the first panel. We'll move on to the next panel, which is
the Native Education Issues Panel: Irene Nicholia, Michaele
Koweluk,
Angela Jackson, Rose Isaac. If there are other representatives
that would like to come forward in place of those people, if
none of them are here, we'd move into that panel now. What
we're going to --just for the audience’ sake, what I've
requested on behalf of the Commission members, is maybe a 10-minute
or
15-minute lunch break for us to gobble a sandwich, and we'll
keep going.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Where do we get
one to gobble?
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: I've asked
if they could go order a quick sandwich.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO:
Oh, that would help.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: And we'll take
a very brief break.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: Let's really make
it no more than 15 minutes, because otherwise
we'll get into a jam.
COMMISSIONER MASEK: We won't be able
to cover all of the agenda.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: No, no, no. I
suspected
that when I saw the agenda,
but then
we live and learn.
This document was ocr scanned. We
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