We Learn When We Listen

ALASKA NATIVE SPECIAL SECTION

Alaska’s Native corporations share the wisdom of their Elders

Compiled by Tasha Anderson

t’s nearly impossible to imagine how Alaska Native leaders must have felt when the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was passed, creating more than 200 corporations across the state of varying resources, assets, and skillsets. In some ways ANCSA marked a victory in that Alaska Native peoples were awarded (legally, according to the standards of Alaska’s relatively new inhabitants) the rights to some of the lands they have occupied for almost countless years and monetary compensation for those lands now claimed by state and federal entities.

But that small victory also brought abrupt change and challenges to Alaska Native leaders tasked with launching corporations that would be profitable, support their communities and shareholders, make wise use of their lands and resources, build the economic stability of their regions, and preserve a cultural heritage that for decades had been under deliberate attack.

And yet that is what Alaska Native leaders did, leaning on the values that have sustained their people for generations and the knowledge and wisdom of those who came before.

Alaska Native corporation leaders today continue a long tradition of remembering and honoring the past while looking forward for the betterment of their families, neighbors, and communities, often stressing the importance of hearing—and heeding—past Alaska Native leaders and those Elders who lend their wisdom to conversations now.

Several Alaska Native corporations were generous enough to share with Alaska Business either their own accounts of the value of listening to the past or direct quotes from their Elders that have informed their decision making.

Their responses, as shared with us, are compiled below.

From Koniag:

“Although the aphorism ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste’ is commonly attributed to Winston Churchill, it was brought to Koniag’s corporate culture by the late M. Brent Parsons, who served on the Board of Directors for thirteen years before he passed in 2018. Leadership at Koniag has called upon memories of his guidance frequently during the recent pandemic; if ever there was a time to remain nimble, responsive, and innovative, the current crisis is proving that this is no time for complacency. Koniag has taken the opportunity to examine whether it is meeting its own internal expectations of being good partners to our communities, good stewards of our lands, good contractors for our clients, good team members to each other, and good benefactors of our shareholders.

An accountant by trade, Brent brought far more than just financial and business acumen to bear—some of Brent’s most valued advice has been integrated into the core values that drive Koniag. Brent particularly emphasized the value that lay in facilitating a diversity of thought and finding new ways to view the same thing. This openness of thought was the process that ultimately empowered the organization. It was through the discussion, the consideration, and the review that Koniag became a stronger company.

Finally, Brent’s impact on Koniag didn’t just cover how to strengthen business. His influence inspired introspection about how diverse individuals and opinions interacted with each other by frequently noting that, ‘We can disagree without being disagreeable.’ Stress and differences will always be a factor in a dynamic organization that is growing, evolving, and seeking to reach its potential. To make best use of a group’s diversity, the relationships must be preserved through a foundation of respect. The ability of a Board of Directors to debate difficult topics and at times disagree while emerging from the board room as friends and respected colleagues is as important as any of the individual decisions ultimately determined.”

From Doyon:

“We have to go back to our traditional ways of thinking. We [Alaska Natives] are a group of people—we are not individuals. Native people are like that—we think as a group… We live more by feelings and that’s how we make decisions this day and age and we need to get back to what our way is—the way our elders taught us that in order to be strong, you have to think things out and for the community. Without community, life is different.”
—Dr. Reverend Anna Frank of Minto

From Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation:

“Working together was an important part of forming the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. We’ve learned through growing up that it’s important to work together. The whaling captain’s got a crew working together and you’re successful. So we took the values that we had that worked for us and transposed it into a corporation. We’re gonna treat a corporation like we treat our crew members: we work together, we’re transparent in developing ideas, in developing how we should manage a corporation.”
—Jacob Adams Sr., ASRC Board Member and ASRC President and CEO from 1983-2006

“A founder of UIC and its eldest shareholder of record, Ugiaqtaq was a hunter, church elder, land claims activist, protector of the Arctic, family man, and culture bearer. He was North Slope’s most respected elder, just days short of his 94th birthday when he died January 7, 2020…

“‘He was like a time capsule of knowledge and experience,’ said his daughter, Martha Ikayuaq Stackhouse. Like generations of Inupiat before him, he knew how to adapt as his life evolved from one of complete subsistence to one driven by computers…

“He fully embraced the traditional Iñupiat values of sharing and respect for our Elders. ‘When I was young, I was a reindeer herder,’ he told an interviewer with the Presbyterian Mission Agency two years ago. ‘At that time, I saw old people who could no longer hunt, so I started giving some of the food to them. I am 92 years old and can no longer hunt, but young hunters and fishermen share their food with me.’” —From Ugiaqtaq Wesley Aiken: Living a Life of Traditional Inupiat Values by UIC Director of Marketing Greg Solomon

From Calista:

“In our collective efforts to address historic wrongs to our military veterans and preserve our history, Native people throughout Alaska are benefiting from behind-the-scenes work by Calista Corporation Elder Nelson Angapak Sr.

As a military veteran who served during the Vietnam War era, Angapak has advocated for many years on behalf of his fellow Alaska Native veterans.

While serving as senior vice president and board member of the Alaska Federation of Natives, Angapak worked to secure legislation to correct an injustice to many veterans unable to apply for Native allotments due to their military service during the Vietnam War.

Persistence by Angapak and other veterans is widely credited for passage of the Dingell Act by Congress last year. This bill paved the way for more than 1,000 veterans and their heirs to receive an opportunity to apply for an allotment. The five-year application period is slated to begin in the early fall.

Angapak recently helped Calista Corporation and its shareholders understand and preserve one of the most crucial parts of our region’s history—the first and second round land selections under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

Angapak was uniquely suited to write a historical paper on ANCSA land selections [Editor’s Note: Calista Corporation’s Role in the Land Selection Process Pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of December 18, 1971, is available upon request from Calista through contacting Calista_land@calistacorp.com].

In 1973, soon after returning to Alaska from service in the US Army, Angapak joined Calista as deputy director of its new Land Department. His duties included leading the team of young Yup’ik land planners who worked directly with fifty-six villages on their land selections.

To identify the best available lands for subsistence and other resources, including minerals and oil and gas, the Calista Land Department consulted with village elders and conducted scientific surveys. Angapak, who grew up in Tuntutuliak, describes many examples of the art and effectiveness of arbitration using Yup’ik traditional knowledge.

‘From time to time during the actual land selection process, advice from the Elders was sought to solve what appeared to be difficult land-related issues; in the majority of the cases, their suggestions were effective in resolving conflict,’ Angapak wrote in the paper, published in January.”

From Bristol Bay Native Corporation:

“If you hire good people and treat them well, they’ll do good things for you.”
—Harvey Samuelsen (1926-2004), one of Bristol Bay Native Corporation’s founding leaders

From Olgoonik:

“I’m from the Arctic village of Wainwright (called Olgoonik), Alaska, on the coast of the Chukchi Sea. I wouldn’t be serving in my current role as president and CEO if I hadn’t listened to the wisdom of my elders and mentors who encouraged me to take on a leadership role for our people many years ago.

Every Alaska Native corporation has its own unique story. Wainwright, where I grew up, is home to about 600 residents now. We are a subsistence community where families rely on what the land and the sea provide, not just for food, but to help strengthen our cultural identity as we teach the young ones what we learned from our parents and grandparents.

In 1973, things started to change. I was a young man, but I remember our village leaders working to establish our own village corporation under the guidelines of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). From the very beginning, Olgoonik Corporation was designed to bring benefits to our shareholders, approximately 1,300 Iñupiat people with ancestral ties to Wainwright. Unlike most western business model corporations, we are wholly owned and governed by Alaska Natives.

I have the privilege and the responsibility of being the first shareholder to serve as both board president and CEO, but there are many shareholder elders who have served in important corporation roles before me. As we work to preserve our community origin stories, we have had the opportunity to talk at length with two important Wainwright elders with ties to our corporate history: June Childress, who served on our Board of Directors for forty years and who served as a mentor to me personally, and Rossman Peetook, a veteran of the Alaska Territorial Guard who served as a village leader and on our Board of Directors in the corporation’s early years. His son, Oliver Peetook, carries on the family tradition and serves on our Board of Directors today.

Leaders like June and Rossman helped us to establish ourselves as a corporation that operates under Iñupiaq core values that include honesty and fairness. Coming from subsistence culture, to be successful, we must rely on each other. We cannot land a whale and turn it into a season’s worth of food for dozens of people by ourselves. Collaboration and integrity are key.

When we asked June what she wanted our young ones to know about service to the community and involvement with their corporation, she said, ‘Use your mind, just like I was told when I was young. Use your mind, use your vision, think big!’ With June’s direction and vision, Olgoonik began expanding our government contracting abilities. What started small has expanded around the globe to become a corporation that employs more than 900 people in multiple industries.

Rossman passed away earlier this year and is greatly missed by our community. I had the privilege of speaking with him at length last year (our discussions were entirely in Iñupiaq), and he said what he wanted our young ones to know was that integrity and accountability among our leaders was important. Translating from the original Iñupiaq, he told me, ‘I’m thankful for the leadership we have now… we are not working for ourselves, we are working for our grandchildren. We have smart shareholders running the corporation. Keep it up. You guys have learned.’”
—Hugh Patkotak Sr., President and CEO of Olgoonik Corporation

From Ahtna:

“A very long time ago, there was a group of Ahtna people who were trying to decide the best way to cross a swift moving river. The people knew that sending one person at a time, or worse, separating and everyone doing their own thing, could mean losing one or all of the group to the strong current. As they were taught, they picked up a long sturdy stick that each of them held onto and they moved together, as one, to successfully and safely cross the river.” —A story passed down to Ahtna, Inc. Board Member Nick Jackson by his father-in-law, the late Traditional Ahtna Chief Ben Neeley

From Chugach Alaska Corporation:

“‘We will learn from the past, we will learn from each other, and we will live,’ said Walter Meganack, one of Chugach Alaska Corporation’s founders. ‘Where there is life, there is hope.’

I can recall the devastation of the oil spill on our region. One moment, we were secure in our home, in the lands and waters we had known for more than five centuries, and in the next moment, all of that security was gone. Our lives were forever changed, and the connection to the way of life we had enjoyed for thousands of years was taken from us.

I can remember my people standing on that shore and nearly being swept away by anger and grief and confusion. But then, through all of the despair and darkness, we would hear the voices of our Elders, and those calm, measured tones were like beacons. They gave us hope. They saved us.

Before COVID-19 swept across the world, I don’t think anyone outside of our region could truly understand how we felt in that moment. But I think it’s possible now. We, the citizens of the world, have all suffered a similar loss. The lives we had known a few months ago are gone, but we will make it to the other side of what COVID-19 has put before us. We are alive, and where there is life, there is hope.

The people from my region have lived and flourished in Southcentral Alaska for more than 5,000 years. Our resiliency and the wisdom that has been handed down from our Elders has made this longevity possible, but resiliency and wisdom is not unique to the Chugach people. We all have it within us to survive and to make sensible choices—and come out stronger on the other side of adversity.” —Sheri Buretta, Chairman of the Board and Interim President and CEO of Chugach Alaska Corporation

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