Outlook; Growing Up Native / Return of the Masks

Oh. You need to really embrace. That. It's a job that has to be done. Laser guns like the private. Y have a lot. Of its people. Otherwise I was appalled. I like out. Really makes. You. A. Window into the community. This is out with your host there really Michael. Hello everyone and welcome to Outlook. Young leaders in the Alaska Native community are taking the reins in this new millennium. Our conversation with author and journalist A.J. McClanahan and valued and native artifacts are finally returned to Alaska. First on out look you're going to meet four young professional Alaskans who live and work in Anchorage. They are all of Alaska native descent and they work for banks of corporations Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act corporations or tribal organizations. Tonight we're going to talk about balancing urban

life with their traditional roots and profit with cultural values. My name is Deborah Art's term. And. I'm originally from St. Mary's. I was born in Bethel and ration St. Mary's. I'm the youngest of. 10 children. So I've always had family around me growing up. Deborah graduated with honors from a Catholic High School in St. Mary's went on to an all girls Catholic college in Massachusetts. And received her MBA this year. She's the executive director of the Alaska in her tribal council. My two younger children. Have grown up here in a great age. My 10 year old son. Prefers to be living back in St. Mary's. So we try to send him home during.

Spring breaks. Whenever there's a break. During school. It's very close to his grandparents nor his cousins and aunts and uncles. Matt Daniel's father and his father's extended family live in Cordova where Matt lived. Early in his life. But for the most part Matt has grown up in Anchorage with his mother and two brothers. He won a diving scholarship at USA. And now coaches the diamond high school team. Thanks for. The song incredible things. Are. Being I wasn't a very good student at first. As soon as I found that I was good at diving. I just found something I was good at and built my confidence and. Realize I want to do it. Collins. Right got me bringing grades up and I got to dive in college which was a great

opportunity. And it led me to here. With things. Here is that you got to Alaska corporation. While he was in college he was a management intern there and then he moved on to a permanent position at the corporation after graduation. Working for my company is something that I have wanted to do since I was like at the age of 14 and something I've always been talking about. And it's just always been a vision of mine of something that I've that I've always wanted to do. Matt will run for a position on the village corporation board after he completes his MBA next spring. My father he works for the lands committee and damage down over it yet corporation and my uncle. He's retiring from the board after about 11 years. Today Roberta Bobbi Quint of l lives in Palmer with her husband and daughters

ages 21 and 8. She works for Petra star. A subsidiary of the Alaskan North Slope regional corporation. She was born in Barrow raised primarily by her grandparents and spent much of her time in the villages. My ability to speak the language certainly as fluently as I speak it has contributed a great deal to my the principles I raised to live my life by as well as the values that I attach to who I am what I'm doing what my world is about. Well my name is Andrew guy and or Jacob I got named by my grandmother. My you big names are all corrupt or what. And go look. I grew up in Nebraska. Which was which is six miles downriver from Buffalo.

Andrew finished high school in Bethel went to UAE in Fairbanks received a law degree at the University of Colorado in Boulder today and he serves as vice president and general counsel to Lyster corporation and that's what a similar tour the way a wash brought up to have resolve problems. You talk to people about the situation the problems that might arise how they can be resolved and come to a consensus. But that's how a lot of. Situations are resolved in the field of law by lawyers talking with each other. He lives in Anchorage with his wife who was raised in look and has two girls and two boys. The oldest is Josh. I started taking him out fishing this summer and this fall I just started taking him with me. Hunting. He loves it and really glad that

he does. This last weekend the weather was getting really bad I was getting discouraged. So I said let's go. Let's go home. He wanted to camp out another night. He just makes me. Mark. My me. Time to. Come. Able to speak to you pick like I do in my life like my wife does. When I don't want them to forgive forget. A way of living. Especially as a man are hunting fishing practices. Living in an urban setting you have conflicting values with what I see as my you know about values because my you know about values are very communal. You know when I see somebody walking down the street it's 40

below. They have a thin coat on I'm going to pick them up. I'm going to give them a ride. You know that's life at home and eat here. You pick somebody up. You know you read in the newspaper you get robbed. Just the whole number of other pretty negative things can happen to you and I've actually had experiences like that and I tried to do was. You know I talk to my children a lot about who they are and where they come from because they're of mixed heritage. They're happy if they can they're happy to me. Yes. They're children of mixed heritage so I try to. Ingrained in them that. You know there. They have to to hear it Usenet makes them extra special. It goes both ways I think if you grow up in a rule environment that you're close you're closer to your culture and traditional lifestyle which is what this tied to the culture. So you get more and rich cultural life in

that aspect. As far as growing up in an urban community you don't get that as much you really have to seek it out for yourself which I definitely have to do. I am very very fortunate. I'm very fortunate. I have a family that's very committed to providing opportunities to include both me and my family in all of the subsistence activities that are necessary for my younger brother to have a successful whaling group in the subsistence activities around whaling include everything from seal hunting in the summer caribou hunting in the fall duck hunting in the spring. I mean everything in between. I mean we've got to make sure we've got all the sinew we need to make for the thread that so's the boat we've got to make sure we have the cash to pay for the oil and gas to power the engines. We've got to make sure we've got enough snow machines all of that. I mean everything every aspect of it is

very much something that we do as a family. There have been many times when it's been like the planes leaving in 45 minutes I need a goal streak with this part you can pick it up there. OK. You know and I'm gone. I've certainly felt many forms of discrimination. Some forms more obvious than others some forms more certainly a lot more blatant. I certainly felt that as a kid and it hurt it hurt. You're sitting there and you're taking a test whether it's in social studies histories doesn't matter. Act whatever academic whatever. Well you're smarter than us because you're white. No I'm not smarter than you. You know and I han't because I'm white. Things like that certainly things like I mean I think that's one of the reasons that it

drove me to really speak the language was because I didn't want to be different. I wanted to be you know there have been some rude people but that that might have been you know. Their essence. And I remember standing. In. The checkout line. And I had. Close and my. Arms were just like. Rubber and they're about ready to fall. And I just kept. Getting. Passed on. No one would help. I stood there at the register and yet the lady. And everybody else that came in. And were being served except me. I still. Am. Not as much as before because I think I'm. More prone to. Say something back. But I see it a lot. On the streets here

in Anchorage and in public places. That said. It's not a nice thing. I'm a descendant of my family who fought very hard in Exeter to have these organizations and these organizations are in place. For the prosperity of the shareholders. And that's that's what I'm here. I believe in that cause. And I think I do think that that's what these companies are here for. You know and so we're set up in the in the village corporations to reach this we're told to go out there and compete in the business world. I think from the get go we did get into that frame of mind and looking out for our individual village corporation or regional corporation interests. But as time went on I think. Especially the last 10

years or so we've come to see that we can work together and know how to drink tea and listen to the shareholders. I mean Sloan now long enough the hustle bustle life of corporate America is not so important that you don't have 20 minutes to sit down and drink tea. You got to be able to listen and not just listen for the sake of listening but to really try to hear and understand why this person is taking the time out in their life to share their concerns with you. Because I mean it's not just taking time away from you they're taking time away from their family as well. It's because it's something important to them. And maybe we can learn from it and that in turn would add value to the company. I know that there's an entire generation. Of Alaska Native students that are coming back to work for the companies that are going to move into leadership positions. And they're they're just they're just getting

out of the box. They're going to be here very soon. There is a. Need to. Educate. The outside world on who we are. And and some African native people and what we can bring to the table. Where we're educated. Like I said you know we got a new perspective. And. And we're ready to try out new ideas. I always remember a talk that my grandma gave me. And my grandmother a very wise woman. Said she'd talk to be certainly don't separate me talked to me for. Sometimes three three hours. Three four hours. One of those times four was the time si told me how to interact with the guy sucks the non-natives you know region insisted that

they be just like us. I had feelings you know a. Lot of people had. People love them. I got hungry I got cold. When she said that I should emphasize it with them. If I see one in the village walking around asking if they want to. Have a bite to eat or. Get warm or something like that. That's the kind of attitude that I have talked to live by. AJ McClanahan is the past president and publisher of the tundra times she is currently the historian for Siri. And she also wrote the book Growing Up native in Alaska. It introduces 27 young Alaskan Native leaders some of whom you've just met in our segment and we're really glad she can be here.

A.J.. What got me started in why we did this segment was my daughter who is about twenty eight started reading this book. Once I once I had it and she was fascinated with the story some of these young people she went to school with an in-service. And I took that and that idea too and expanded it and interviewed some of these folks thinking that there were many more like her who. Are interested to know what is happening in the young Alaskan native live professional lives. What were the reasons you compiled this book in the first place. I mean I'm glad you did but what prompted you. Well thank you. Well when I was hired by Siri a couple years ago my charge was to produce materials about the Alaska Native Claims Settlement

Act and history in broader terms. And as I struggled to figure out how to bring that into a popular format I realized that the young people today are. We haven't heard much from them. We hear a lot about the well-known leaders Roy hunder. Willie Hensley Byron Malott and they deserve a lot of celebration. But it occurred to me that they were in their 20s and 30s when the when the Alaskan aid claim sort of an Act was passed. And I want to know what was happening to the people today. I began a series of interviews asking them how they felt about anx. And as I worked through this and spoke to them I did get very good answers about exit but really what was stunning to me was what I realized was they were discussing identity. What does it mean to be Alaskan native today. And as I worked on this the ideal audience

in my mind was my own daughter who is an adopted in your public Eskimo and I can see. As she grows up there is much that I'll be able to give her from my own background. But but there will be places where I'll need help in answering her questions. These people I believe can be her guides and of course not just her but all the other young people out there. How did you choose which ones there must have been many to choose from. To be very honest that there could be three or four more volumes. I mean it's almost embarrassing. There are a large number there are and the small number that we put in the book what we focused on of course was the geographical distribution. We wanted people born before the act. After the act. We wanted men women. Many of the people in there have college or even an advanced degree but we wanted to make sure that we also included people who didn't because you don't have to have a degree to be a

success although of course we all agree that education is very important but anyway really I would say one of the key things besides choosing leadership through education in our native culture whatever was diversity were the keen learnings that you walked away with having done this book. What I walked away with after this book is a tremendous feeling of hope. You know we we in Alaska worry and really get very concerned over many of the issues that are troubling us urban rural divisions subsistence. I mean all of these things are very difficult problems that have been going on for many years. What I feel is a real excitement about the future because I know that these people have the tools they have the the wherewithal to to work on the problems. Thank you for being with us A.J..

Growing up native in Alaska can be found in bookstores throughout Alaska or by contacting the Siri foundation. For most Alaska natives historical art and artifacts are important cultural ties. Laura bliss introduces us to one man who has worked very hard to bring those treasures back to Alaska. Down in the basement of the anchorage museum. Behind a double locked door a sturdy crate has arrived from the Smithsonian. And John Johnson is anxious to get an impact. What's inside is actually being returned as part of the recent federal mandate that allows native tribes to reclaim the artifacts that museums and universities have acquired over the years. For sure these masks are the latest and among the last of hundreds of artifacts that John has tracked down for the to Gotch

Alaska corporation. Sometimes when a child is very the place has been real real good. Most universities are Institute museums are not much happier but they're willing to work for the rarest Norwegian not proven. This will make a partnership it's not just because the objects return back doesn't mean it's in the relationship in fact if anything it's the build the relationship between our native community and the museum for now we know where experts are from various places that could help us with various preservation efforts. It's believed the masseur between three to four hundred years old and the staff here at the Anchorage museum is assisting Chu Gach in making sure the mast don't deteriorate any more than they already have. The homestead you're. Not using nasal. Just on from that. These Master Phil Horton a lot

of people are reading. And now they're finally all coming back and that's it's a nice feeling to have a more mammals here Center says almost like sea mammals are common ass tears coming out of your eyes. But more than artifacts were taken from the Chu got region which stretches from Prince William Sound to the lower cookin like hundreds of human remains were gathered by scientists so they could study them. John has been relentless in the effort to repatriate those ancestors. Most have now been re buried at their original grave sites. Now that the repatriation project is nearing completion. John is anxious to bring closure to the land issues he's been working on for more than 20 years. It's been a real uphill battle trying to get conveyance for the passage of the last native claims the Rock look like everything cut and dry. Here we're going to give you all these old burial place the old village site we have to fight every every tooth and nail for

every site we were promised long ago. That's probably. What gives me the motivation to follow through on. This window of opportunity to finalize these very selections and I want to make sure they're done right and it's done fair. This place. New chick island is especially important to John. Is one of the oldest village sites in the area. It's also where his relatives live from his grandmother on bass. One of John's dreams came true 60 years ago when two Gach created a spirit camp here. Every summer now kids from all over the region as well as the lower 48 come here to learn more about their heritage. The higher elders are also invited to new chick to pass along their knowledge and whether they offer goes beyond simply teaching basic skills.

What's this plant called a Roman. Collar line A. Good clue only if the roots go you know I thought of her. You know her. All across Alaska right now people are battling in the hole on the one of the dearest things they have as a. Subsistence way of life that it's not just gathering food but it's their culture it's what people fought and died for over the years. And. We realize that and that's why we're concentrating on this. That's been the way of life for thousands of years and. It's going to continue. In fact it's going to grow with the knowledge and I think it will be a better world. Just people that have respect basic thing and if you suspect your culture respect people then you respect other things matter where you go. Those two gas masks are now on display at the Anchorage Museum of History and

Art. Going out next week and outlook prostate cancer can be a killer. But more men are learning early detection can be a lifesaver. And you know one in Alaska and grow some tasty apples like Lawrence Clark and we're going to learn some of the secrets. Well that's our show for tonight. Thank you for joining us and hope you're with us next week for Outlook. I'm back for my calls. Tonight. If you have questions or comments or would like a copy of tonight's program call cave am area code 9 0 7 5 6 3 7 0 7 0. Or write us at our blog. KKR Channel Seven thirty eight seventy seven University Drive Anchorage Alaska 9 9 5 0 8. Or email us at this address.