Editor's Note: The following is a condensed version of the presentation Matthew Nicolai gave as one of three keynote addresses at the RDC Annual Meeting Luncheon in Anchorage June 19. Nicolai serves as President of Calista Corporation. For the complete text, visit RDC's website at www.akrdc.org.
Alaska Native Cultures respect and honor the past while developing new ideas and goals to ensure the future. For millennia we have paid great attention to the natural resources of our lands to honor and respect the teachings of our Elders.
It is the instruction from our Elders that provided the source of strength that bound and guided our daily lives, to make the right choices for the common good of the people we serve. Managing natural resources in our past was done for the purpose of providing for the future.
In the past we looked upon the cultural value of land for the purpose of preservation of the culture and the resources it depended on. Land ownership in our Native Cultures is a new concept brought to us through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).
Alaska has a distinctive position where Native claims were settled through unique and untested charters by state and federal governments. These charters set up the 12 ANCSA regional corporations and 223 village corporations who own 44 million acres of subsurface and surface properties. To date none of the corporations have closed their doors, which is due to a common bond that ties us together.
During the past 32 years, these unique charters established great opportunities, especially in resource development. Before the charters were set up in 1971, we were stewards of the lands that nurtured and sustained our families. Today we have made great advances by making choices to develop our bountiful resources.
Developing our natural resources has been a long and arduous process, usually made through consensus. The consensus process takes a long time as compared to western society’s standards of decision-making. The decision process invigorates the emotional intelligence of our Native people because we are cautious people. In our world, emotional intelligence is usually managed through the trust and leadership of the Elders.
Elders are very much respected in our communities because their wisdom and teachings increase awareness that we must prepare for the future.
Elders in the Yupik culture possess confidence in the future due to their understanding of past challenges and the barriers that prevent successful dialogue. The basic rudimentary rule among Elders is to constantly listen, show confidence in self and humility to those around them. Elders carry the wisdom to translate rules and give admonishments for all our actions.
These traits are relied upon by our leaders when decisions have to be made. In the 1970s and1980s, the leaders of our region were not interested in development of the subsurface lands due to inept rules established under federal and state regulations. Our leadership was listening to the Elders’ advice that it was not the right time for development.
Later, new federal and state regulations brought encouraging changes. Native corporations started to develop subsurface agreements one region at a time.
These agreements affect all of us because of the ANCSA 7(i) 7(j) agreement. 7(i) requires natural resource income from regional corporations be shared under a 70/30 formula. As I understand 7(i) revenue sharing, it came from our long-standing traditional values that require us to share with all peoples with whom we have a common heritage.
The wisdom of the Elders who negotiated the sharing formula of 7(i) has been a godsend to the communities we serve. 7(i) is the common bond that ties all Native corporations together.
Nowhere else has such Native American law been implemented to benefit the whole. Funds shared from ANCSA resource income have surpassed $812 million dollars from regions developing their oil, gas, timber, and mineral properties. Village corporations in our region have received $72 million dollars.
The common bond of revenue sharing spurred support for mineral exploration in our region. Over $140 million dollars has been invested on Calista subsurface lands by several companies.
This investment has had a huge impact to the people we serve. Over 2,100 jobs were created from mineral exploration projects at Donlin Creek, Nyac, Goodnews Bay, Kako, and Stuyahok. If Donlin Creek becomes a mine, the economic profile of our region will change.
Our region has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country. The creation of the Donlin Creek exploration project in the upper Kuskokwim region has changed the demographics and economic profile of the 10 communities there.
A shareholder survey in 1994 showed 36% support of the Donlin Creek project. A new survey last year indicated a complete turnaround, with 76% support.
We want to thank the predecessor of Barrick Gold Corporation, Placer Dome, for placing trust in our Elders and the leadership of Calista to develop a regional communication plan for shareholders of our company to learn and comprehend mining today under new federal and state mining laws. Elders and leaders were invited to visit new mines established under NEPA and the Clean Water Act in Montana and Nevada. These trips provided helpful learning experience to our Elders, regional leaders, and to our hosts.
Historically, mining companies did not listen to local concerns. That changed with the arrival of new federal laws. New reclamation regulations do place a heavy burden on companies to obtain local input.
The mining companies we work with recognize the importance of the leadership and emotional intelligence of our Elders who can guide us while we develop our resources and honor the cultural values of our past.
The State of Alaska has a lot to offer, but Native corporations have a lot more to offer. That is, Native peoples build upon the instructions of our Elders as a source of strength and adopt new ideas that will benefit the future. The Elders in our region have led changes that benefit resource development.
As Native people and Native corporations, we will develop our resources as we have done for many millennia, and we will continue to honor our past.
