made for workers, it was advised that many Alaskans could not pass the drug test which was required to work on the beaches. It is a significant reality. It is not just Alaska Native people by any means-drugs know no racial bounds. It is a tragedy and a reality that we have to face up to and I think you have drawn even further attention to that reality.

For the benefit of the Chairman, I might add that Mary Jane is from Fairbanks. The Chairman asked me before the hearing started if this was an average day in Anchorage. Not residing in Anchorage, it would be inappropriate for me to comment but Mary Jane lives in a community 400 miles north and I think it was 70 degrees and sunny. So, I just wanted you to know that much of Alaska is like Hawaii, Mr. Chairman. [Laughter.]

The CHAIRMAN. This is tourism now, then?

Ms. Fate, are you suggesting that the reports we have received to date on alcohol and drug abuse affecting Native Alaskans are not quite accurate?

Ms. FATE. Senator, I don't want to say that maybe they are outdated and maybe not updated. Most of us Alaskan Natives are true wonderful, great citizens-I would like to make that point-and they are sober. We are concerned about our youth that are innocent and are being abused and used and are handicapped. I feel our data is outdated and I feel maybe the programs are not meeting some of their bottomline requirements.

The CHAIRMAN. You mean the real numbers are worse than what we have now?

Ms. FATE. I believe so.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, it is bad enough with what we have. I can assure you that we will look into this. Thank you very much. Our next witness is from the Arctic Village, Mr. Lincoln Tritt.

STATEMENT OF LINCOLN TRITT, ARCTIC VILLAGE, AK Mr. TRITT. Thank you Mr. Chairman. I'm here in place of the Chief of our village, Trimble Gilbert.

Arctic Village is a federally recognized tribal village. By this fall we should have a certified Native teacher in that village. What we did up there was just bring everything to a halt, stop everything, and then reassess our situation. Since studying our history we've found that the missionaries and the BIA took it upon themselves to do everything for the village. As a result, a lot of responsibilities were lost among our people. During the late 1960's, there was a group of vista volunteers up there who did everything from repairing engines to doing the income taxes. We ended up with some well educated list of vista volunteers but it didn't do us any good. We have found that in order to work better among ourselves and educate ourselves and work with alcohol and drug problems, we need to assume a lot of the responsibilities for ourselves. Pride in the individual is what we've been trying to develop. As we see it, it is the individuals who make up the tribe. It is working pretty well, I think. Most of our problems up there are being handled by our own people and right now we don't have any drug or alcohol problems. Through our history, our people adopted more of the church values than they did those of formal education. That's because

their background is that of a nomadic tribe. They had to have more in the way of personal values than they did with material values, unlike today's society where more of the value is measured in dollars and cents. Understanding our own historical perspective helps us a lot in understanding and adapting to modern society.

One of the problems we do have up there as far as education goes is there is too much politics involved in our education. Education has become a victim of politics. They are not teaching people to use their brains, it's more like processing people.

Working with all these problems from our own perspective and our own background, we find it helps us a lot to understand more things. At this point, what we need more is more formal education. A couple of years ago a class in Federal Indian Law and the instructor would teach it and I would interpret it in a way that our people would understand it. That way the idea came across a lot easier than it would have with a normal teacher.

I was asked to assure you that self-determination does work. It has worked in our situation and I'm sure it will work in other villages.

I was also asked to request a hearing in our area or other rural area because most recognized Native leaders are urban Natives and their perspective on a lot of the issues are urbanized. [Laughter].

Like I said, when we work with all these problems ourselves from our own perspective, our own value system, and adapt that to the modern society, it makes for a lot smoother transition.

Thank you.

The CHAIRMAN. Because of my belief that the real solutions to your problems can be found in the villages and not in Washington, DC, that is why have I travelled to Alaska on two occasions. The first time I spent 80 percent of my time in Native villages, as you know, and spent just one day in Anchorage. This time I will be spending half the time in the villages, primarily to see the effect of the oil spill. But your concern is a valid one. Often times city people don't know what the country folks are doing.

You said one thing that concerned me-that there is too much politics in education. What do you mean by that? Politicians are trying to influence you?

Mr. TRITT. In our area they have a school board of directors and a lot of times the board of directors sacrifice needed education in order to maintain a position. The decisions of most of the directors are made on the basis of votes.

The CHAIRMAN. Who selects the board members?

Mr. TRITT. I think they have different selection districts within the district.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you select them?

Mr. TRITT. Yes; the people in the villages do.

The CHAIRMAN. Apparently the people in the village are satisfied with them.

Mr. TRITT. Not as far as I know. A lot of our high school graduates-

The CHAIRMAN. Why don't they throw them out in the next elec

Mr. TRITT. They have a lot of political clout. They have a lot of money backing them. They are mostly people in influential positions.

The CHAIRMAN. You mean that these board members buy off their voters?

Mr. TRITT. I don't think so. A lot of our people are not educated to the point that they understand politics. They tend to believe whatever somebody who has any schooling tells them.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Murkowski.

Senator MURKOWSKI. Is it your interpretation that perhaps the board is influenced by progressive educators that may be hired into the system by the board which directs the curriculum which, perhaps, as basic as you would like to see it? Is that what your suggesting to the committee?

Mr. TRITT. In the past years, the amount of education a person has-how well he reads and writes-has a lot of influence on the people who do not read and write. They don't know what's going on so they tend to listen to people who can read and write more than they do to the elders. Most of those people who have learned to read and write are just out of school so the influence is held, in some cases, by the wrong people. It is not how much they know that gets them in the position, it is just their ability to read and write.

The CHAIRMAN. I thank you very much Mr. Tritt.

Our next witness is Mr. William Miller, representing the Dot Lake Traditional Village Council.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM MILLER, DOT LAKE TRADITIONAL VILLAGE COUNCIL

Mr. MILLER. Good morning Mr. Chairman, Senator Murkowski. My name is William Miller. I am here today to represent the tribal members of the Native village Dot Lake as well as the Dot Lake Village Council.

First, I'd like to comment on the AFN report on the Status of Alaska Natives. We found the report to be very informative and factual as far as it went. My major problem with the report was that it addressed primarily western Alaska and not the interior Native villages and/or Natives. Because of our closeness to the urban areas, a number of the Native villages in the interior, the impact on these areas has at times been even greater. The village members must leave the village to survive. Hunting and fishing pressures from the urban areas have had a very negative effect on their subsistence way of life.

ANCSA, even with the passage of ANILCA and the 1991 amendments, did little to help the village people. If anything, some of the actions and the State's interpretation of them has even hurt the individual tribal members. They are without a tribal land base because all the land belongs to the corporations. This whole concept is alien to the Native way of life. Throughout history the Federal Government has taken away traditional life styles of the Native people and attempted to make up for it through welfare programs administered and controlled from outside the village by individuals

with little or no knowledge of the Native life or traditional values or cultures. ANCSA is another example of this.

A number of individuals who worked on the settlement, including some of our respect elders, were under the belief that the land and cash settlements would go to the tribal members through their individual tribal councils. The Federal Government, in its great wisdom on Native lifestyles and values, required the formation of corporations before any land or cash was given out. Being very knowledgeable of the Native culture and their history of sharing, the government even built into the Act a requirement that the corporations share profits with one another and that the corporations be comprised of shareholders—again, the idea of sharing. This has not been the case in a number of instances. Villages that once shared with one another and worked together have become divided from one another. The ownership of land under the law is not the same as the mutual respect for ones rights to use the land and re

sources.

In the traditional way, an individual or family utilized an area for hunting, fishing, or trapping. They would farm the resources to ensure future use. Their rights were respected and no one would violate them. Today, this is corporation land and a number of corporations are afraid to even allow their shareholders to use land without payment for fear of lawsuits from other shareholders for giving away corporate assets without obtaining fair market value. A number of agencies and individuals failed to realize that the corporations and the village councils are two different and separate entities. The village councils have little or no control over the land or land matters. Also, some individuals and agencies view Natives born after 1971 as non-Natives. Lands transferred under ANCSA were not free and clear, they were subject to valid existing rights. This meant a large percentage of the money given to some of the corporations was expended in an attempt to retain the lands supposedly given to them. In addition to this, large amounts of cash have been expended on lawyers, accountants, and consultants so that the corporations could meet the different Federal and State requirements. ANCSA became a lawyers, accountants, and consultants retirement fund.

Section 801, subsection (1) of ANILCA, states in part, "the Congress finds and declares that the continuation and opportunity for subsistence use by Alaska Natives on Native land is essential to their existence." The State of Alaska has given no consideration to Native lands in establishing their hunting and fishing regulations, laws, or seasons. Within the area of the Native village of Dot Lake, the hunting season for moose, which is within their traditional hunting area, has been reduced from approximately 75 days in length in 1971 to a 10 or 20 day season in 1988. The subsistence season is identical to the sport hunting season. Approximately 65,000 acres of this area is Dot Lake Native Corporation land under ANCSA. We were told that Title 8 of ANILCA was designated and designed to protect the subsistence lifestyle. Right now, as we talk and testify, one of the Alaskan representatives has introduced a bill into the House which, if passed the way it was originally introduced, would exclude large numbers of our Native villages from being considered as rural and therefore they would not

be considered subsistence users. All of this because the State of Alaska wants rural to be defined in reference to communities and based on the community economy, not on individual rural residence. I cannot find the word "community" anywhere in Section 801, 802, or 803 of ANILCA with reference to subsistence. Once more, is the government speaking to us with forked tongue.

Why do all government regulations and/or written correspondence refer to American Native tribes and Alaska Native groups. Also a number of Federal program announcements state that Native village councils, Native corporations, and Regional corporations are qualified to apply. Is this another attempt to put village councils in the same category as corporations and eventually take away the tribal status? Also, villages do not like to be referred to as groups or communities. They are, always have been, and always will be Native villages and tribes in the eyes of the Native people. You ask how the Native people of Alaska can be helped. First of all, give them back their land and their pride. Listen to them on issues that concern and affect them. Do not listen to large profit corporations and organizations that represent the interest of these corporations. Remember the Native people of Alaska never voted in favor of ANCSA or the other legislation that was passed to "help them." What is needed now is first of all that tribal status of the Native villages of Alaska must be recognized by the Federal and State Governments. The State must start putting the Alaska Native village governments on the same level as governments organized under State law, such as cities. Service and assistance programs made available to cities and municipalities in the State of Alaska must also be made available to the Native village councils. For example, presently a number of village councils qualify for State revenue sharing. This program has decreased by almost 58 percent in the last few years, from $25,000 a year to approximately $10,500 for this year. Have revenue sharing and municipal aid for the cities and the municipalities within in Alaska been reduced by the same 58 percent? No.

Our villages are organized traditionally and have their own government. The tribal governments need a land base. A method of transferring land from the corporate status to villages was included in the original language of the 1991 amendments. Once again, because of pressure, this language was dropped from the bill. With the return of the land to traditional tribal status, the recognition of tribes in Alaska and equal consideration with cities for State services and programs, the Natives can again have pride and stand tall. They can take control of their destiny. No longer will they be a second-class citizen or a divided people.

Thank you, sir.

[Prepared statement of Mr. Miller appears in the appendix.]

The CHAIRMAN. I recognize that there is a difference between a village council and a corporation. How was the corporation formed? Mr. MILLER. Corporations were required under ANCSA. They had to form a corporation, they could not use the village council. The CHAIRMAN. Who sits on the board?

Mr. MILLER. The board is elected by the shareholders of the corporation.

The CHAIRMAN. In the village?