1/ FUNDS ALREADY EXPENDED ON PARTICIPANTS AT FIRST P.L. 93-638 CONTRACT AMENDMENT MEETING IN ANCHORAGE. BALANCE OF FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR FUTURE P.L. 93-638 CONTRACT AMENDMENT MEETINGS.

DELORES E. GRAVER

CHIEF, BRANCH OF BUDGET MANAGEMENT

04/21/89

GAMBELL

GOLOVIN

KOYUK

NOME

SAVOONGA

SHAKTOOLIK

SHISHMAREF

SOLOMON

STEBBINS

ST. MICHAEL

TELLER

UNALAKLEET

WALES

WHITE MOUNTAIN

A RESOLUTION CALLING FOR THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROVISIONS for the Hiring of Alaska Native Educators.

WHEREAS, the State of Alaska sees the need for more Native professionals to work in their schools; and

WHEREAS, the state Universities and colleges have endeavored to attract and train competent Native educational professionals to work in Alaska's schools; and

WHEREAS, Native organizations, parents, and Elders have
encouraged their graduating high school youth to become
"teachers" so that they can teach in their own
region/community; and

WHEREAS, school boards and educational committees have
produced local high school graduates to go on to colleges
and universities to become "professionals", so that they can
serve their commuinity from whence they came, in a
profession they have chosen, especially as educators; and

WHEREAS, some districts have enacted policy to train Natives
to become educators, especially Lower Kuskowkwin School
District to meet Affirmative Action requirements; and

WHEREAS, Nome Public School district has a 76% Native enrollment and 6% Native professional hire, and Bering Straits School District has about 85% Native enrollment and about 13% Native professional hire; and

WHEREAS, there is a need for Native students to have more of
their own people as professional role models in their
schools; and

WHEREAS, there is a need for school district policy and contract language to state "Affirmative action provisions" which would encourage the ratio of Native professional hires comparable to the community's population, especially Alaska Natives; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Kawerak, Inc. urges Bering Straits School District and Nome Public School District, and other educational institutions, to include in both their school district policy and contract language "affirmative action provisions" which would encourage the ratio of Native professional educational hires comparable to the community's population.

convened meeting of the Kawerak Board of Directors, held at

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ELIZABETH LEBLANC

CALISTA CORPORATION

LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES DEPARTMENT

TESTIMONY BEFORE THE

U.S. SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE

ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

May 27, 1989

OVERSIGHT HEARING IN ALASKA

ON THE AFN REPORT

My name is Elizabeth LeBlanc. I am the Plans Director for the Land Dept. of Calista Corporation. My work has required that I travel to villages throughout the Calista region, consequently,

I am quite familiar with the culture and lifestyle of the people of the Calista Region.

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to speak today at these hearings. I would also like to thank Senator Inouye for having taken the time on his last trip to Alaska to visit the villages of Chevak and St. Mary's so that he could see firsthand what life in a village in the Calista region is like. His interest and concern for the people of the Calista region is greatly appreciated.

In November of last year, the Land Dept. began to prepare a report on the social and economic problems in the Calista region. Copies of the final report, The Calista Region: A Gentle People and Harsh Life were given to Senator Inouye and his staff in March 1989. The report documents the extreme conditions and circumstances that village residents experience daily. The report's findings clearly indicate that no other region in Alaska experiences the same level of social, health and economic problems and adversity as is found in the Calista region. Further compounding the difficulty associated with a harsh lifestyle is the fact that the Yupik people are in a state of transition.

Sadly, the problems the people are facing aren't going away; if anything, they are exacerbating. In fact, in the short period of time since Calista Corporation began working on this report, there have been more suicides in the region, of which one was the 15 year old nephew of the landplanner who until recently worked with me, and the other was the 17 year old brother of one of Calista Corporation's Board of Directors. These aren't the suicides of anonymous people in a big city; they are individuals known by all in their village and relatives of people whom I know and work with.

In addition to the suicides, we have had two murders and a suicide in the village of Alakanuk. Again, it's only three people, but this