Shauna Hegna: Alaska Native Societies Serve Tribal Communities

Thursday, June 16, 2022

By Shauna Hegna

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) mid-year conference was meant to be a time of gathering and celebration after being sidelined by the pandemic for several years. As Alaska Native leaders, we were thrilled to welcome our Native friends from the Lower 48 to our beautiful lands as we work toward common goals. We will continue to do these things, because there will always be much more in common between us than there are attempts to divide us. However, we must acknowledge the unfortunate and unnecessary conflict that was created at this conference through the continued efforts of a handful of individuals who would harm Alaska Native Peoples by marginalizing Alaska Native Societies (ANCs) . These actions have proven in the past to divide and weaken our broader Indigenous community. In the high-profile CARES Act case, the U.S. Supreme Court last year upheld the rights of NCAs to serve as tribal entities for the purpose of providing benefits to their Alaska Native shareholders by under the Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act (ISDEAA). Having lost the case, some tribal leaders still seek to ignore the critical support the ANC provides to Alaska Natives. This message is further amplified in messages aimed at reducing the role and history of ANCs to those of mere ‘state chartered corporations’. It is true that the ANC hold state charters, but it is horribly misleading in what it omits. There’s a reason the Federation of Alaska Natives, Alaska’s largest tribal organization, representing 158 federally recognized tribes, called an anti-ANC resolution introduced at the NCAI conference a source of division and non-conformity. By mischaracterizing the purpose and nature of Alaska Native corporations as traditional business enterprises rather than their true expansive role as congressional-mandated organizations providing for the economic, social, and cultural well-being of their Native shareholders from Alaska, opponents are trying to twist ANCs to put them in familiar boxes. The problem is that Alaska never fit into a box. More than fifty years ago, the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act made Alaska a major experiment in Native self-determination, which created organizations never seen before in the lower 48, if not the world. . These organizations have evolved and grown together, becoming a unique constellation of nonprofits, corporations, foundations, and tribes, all working together for the good of our people. I’m the president of Koniag, the regional ANC for Kodiak Island. I am also a tribal citizen of Port Lions Hometown. I can no more separate these aspects of myself than I could separate my identity as an Alaskan native from my identity as a parent or small business owner. My experiences in every aspect of my life inform the other, and that’s exactly how ANC works alongside our nonprofits, tribes, and educational foundations. As a village where everyone, from youth to elders, contributes to the well-being of the community through the tasks that suit them, this is how our Alaska Native entities make decisions and advocate for people. When one of these groups is excluded from decision-making, the whole system breaks down. For example, a quarter of Alaska Native stockholders and descendants who applied for and received Koniag’s CARES Act support are not enrolled in a federally recognized tribe. For these shareholders and descendants, Koniag was the only source of support they received during the pandemic. It is also the Koniag Tribal Delegation of Authority that enables the Kodiak Island Housing Authority to provide essential housing for many low-income Alaskan Natives in Kodiak. Without this delegation from Koniag, hundreds of low-income Alaskan Natives in Kodiak would be homeless. As always, Indigenous peoples have much more in common than what divides us. The key to our collective self-determination remains understanding our differences and the unique strengths they give us, combined with the unity of purpose we derive from our shared values. This fusion is what allows us to reach our full strength. We must resist the urge to put each other in boxes. On the contrary, we must remain united to solve the real problems facing the Indian country. In my area, we say: “a rising tide lifts all boats”. May all of our organizations work together so that we can cast our nets further. By working together, we can catch enough fish to feed all of our families.

Quyana (Thanks).

Shauna Hegna is president of Koniag, the Alaska Native Regional Corporation for Kodiak Island. She is also a tribal citizen of the Port Lions home village.

Relevant documents

NCAI support to closely monitor legislation involving definitions of “Indian tribes” in light of Yellen v. Confederate Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation and. at (ANC-22-003)

United States Supreme Court Decision: Yellen v. Chehalis Confederate Tribes Reservation

Program | Opinion [Sotomayor] | CONTESTATION [Gorsuch] | Complete document

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