tion by Judge Deede, which are followed again in the Teheitan decision, combine to deprive the Alaska Natives-as you call us-of our 5th Amendment rights. They have also combined to create a legal fiction that purports to extend the claims of the United States over the indigenous tribes and to extinguish our aboriginal title to manipulation of law. To speak to Russia, at no time did she exercise sovereignty or claim such over Alaska. In fact, if one studies Russian history, particularly that which relates to Alaska and the Russian American Company, one will immediately. find that the Russians were in actual occupation of very limited forts and trading sites. They lived in a state of constant readiness due to the hostility of the tribes up and down the coast. These hostilities were not met with Articles of War. In fact, the dependents of the Russians upon the good graces of the indigenous tribes was such that every effort was made to prevent accidents which would prompt uprisings. There are, as a matter of fact, numerous recorded incidents of attacks which successfully drove the Russians for a time from Kenai, Yakatat, and Sitka. Although the Russians had in 1867 an elaborate administrative structure with 10 districts identified, at no time did they claim sovereignty over Alaska nor did they impose any legal systems or occupy lands without some type of agreement with the areas indigenous occupants. In fact, in a memorandum transferred to the Secretary of State William Seward by Secretary to the Czar Kozlivtzov, it is clearly stated just what the status of the Alaskan Natives was. This report clearly delineates the tribes into dependent and independent groups and there were, in fact, only two tribes under administration of Russia. All other tribes were independent and were treated as such. No taxes or tributes were levied nor were the lands taken or occupied. Dependents, in the context of the times, clearly is related to trade not to the maintenance of life or what has become known today as a dependent sovereign. The Kozlivtzov Memorandum is contained in a report entitled "Russian Administration of Alaska and the Status of Alaska Natives," Senate document 152 of the 81st Congress, 2nd session, presented by Senator Mahoney, then chairman of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, on April 6, 1950. This report of the memorandum clearly a response to the questions arising concerning jurisdiction after World War II during which the United States had conveniently conducted what only be construed as the invasion and occupation of Alaska under the guise of the Aleutian Campaign in defense of our national security. The report speaks for itself. I will not attempt to interpret or elucidate further on it here for you today. I believe that it behooves you to retrieve this report and to review its implications for I am given to understand that the Federal Field Commission Report on the Status of Alaska Natives did not consider the Kozlivtzov Memorandum or this report because of political reality. This report, in my opinion, supports what I have long suspected-that the Treaty of Cession is not and never was a transfer of title, it was merely a transfer of Russian possessions and trading rights. Russia did not sell what Russia did not own. I would like to very briefly state to you that the legal decisions which have imposed jurisdiction of Federal laws and courts upon us in Alaska today are based upon what can only be considered very tenuous tenets of law. I believe that any law that deprives a person of their human rights or 5th Amendment rights cannot be and should not be recognized as just. I cannot be a citizen of the United States without my 5th Amendment rights. If I am to be a citizen of the United States today, it would be as a second-class citizen. I am told that is not supposed to be possible. However, I submit to you today, sir, that there are thousands of us who are, in fact, second-class citizens because we have no right to due process. It is imperative that the United States of America reexamine its legal history in the light of the passage and implementation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime Genocide as well as to conform to the accepted international standards for human rights. No one likes to discuss genocide but the reality is that the assault upon the indigenous people of Alaska is occurring today. It has taken new forms that are much more subtle but the results are the same-the annihilation of a people. The history of the United States and its relations with Indian tribes is not one which can be described as a beautiful relationship, to be somewhat sarcastic. I think it would be fair to say that the genocide that occurred to our people across this continent has been surpassed by only two people-one was Adolph Hitler and the other is his progeny who are finally being driven out of South America today, such as Mr. Stroessner. I would like to relate to you that we once were greater in number than you and at that time we freely traded and offered all that we had to provide you with the accouterments of life, the necessities of life. The laws, the combination of disease, famine, alcohol have all combined to put the indigenous people of Alaska on the edge of extinction while the Congress and the United States of America's hand picked corporate leaders rushed to finalize the completion of the biggest theft of lands and resources in the history of the world. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act is not working, it was not designed to work, and the 1991 amendments did not fix anything. I cannot accept an Act that puts my land back into the Trust of the United States of America without my permission, without even informing me. The genocide of the indigenous people of Alaska must be stopped. Today I will say to you that our human rights and sovereignty have been violated enough. I say to you, "No, never again." It is not for you or any commission formed by you to examine or question our sovereignty, rather it is for you to examine your own sovereignty and to restructure your oppressive government and its racists institutions to conform with your own laws and to the currently accepted standards regarding human rights. The sovereign rights and plenary powers of our tribes rest in the tribal law and history preserved by the elders, enacted upon by them in times of need. Today we witness the devolution of the world and the struggle of indigenous across the world to regain title and control over what is rightfully ours. Senator, recently I think we won a case on subsistence. I was assisting my cousin, who is a grandmother. She has been charged with eating food, which we have eaten for thousands of years, and selling some of that food so that she could have money which is necessary to live in the world today. Right after or during this trial The CHAIRMAN. We are pleased with the Ninth Circuit Court's recent decision that upheld your jurisdiction over the taking or non-taking of goods by non-Natives. The Court in so doing recognized that you had residual sovereignty over the land. Congratulations. I thank you very much. Our next witness is Ms. Clare Swan. STATEMENT OF CLARE SWAN, TRIBAL CHAIRPERSON, KENAITZE INDIAN TRIBE, KENAI Chairperson SWAN. On behalf of the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, I thank you for holding these hearings. I am glad to have the opportunity to be here today. My testimony is not very long. The AFN report on the Status of Alaskan Natives is, indeed, a clear statement of the cultural and economic problems affecting us all today. Testimony by our Native leaders on March 3rd and on this day leaves little more to be said. We just need to get on with the work. We have many competent Native people to carry on this work and I wish only to add a cautionary thought to the recommendations. Of the five central themes cited in AFN's report, the loss of local Native control and responsibility is most crucial. I would ask all of you who work with our tribes and corporations to remember that when we delegate others the job of deciding solutions to our problems, then we must often deal with their perceptions. Too often, then, in signing the resolution giving others this authority, we sign away our responsibility. To those charged with making and implementing decisions for the lives of Alaska Natives, knowing and understanding your own motivations is vital. Alaska's tribal governments and corporations must find and make clear paths on which to walk together in strength. Events of the past weeks again prove that we are the only ones who can make a difference in our lives. In closing, Mr. Chairman, I offer this short poem in knowledge of what has gone before and in the hope that each Alaskan village and tribe will decide its own priorities and destiny. The title of the poem is "Dena'ina Found and Lost." Dena'ina is the name of my tribe, an Athabascan Tribe. They found our land and used its riches, now there is not enough for them and none at all for us. They found our land and filled our spaces, now there is not enough room for them and none at all for us. They found our words and changed their meanings, now even that is not enough for them, and what is left of us? Thank you Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. I thank you very much. I shall make certain that members of the committee look at your testimony very carefully, especially your poem. I think it says a lot. Our next witness is the vice president of the Ninilchik Traditional Council, Virginia Kvasnikoff. STATEMENT OF VIRGINIA KVASNIKOFF, VICE PRESIDENT, Ms. KVASNIKOFF. Thank you Senator Inouye for allowing me to testify today. I testified last year at your hearing when you were here the last one at 11 p.m. Do you remember? Honorable Senators Frank Murkowski and Stevens, good afternoon. My testimony is going to be very simple and it is in response to the status report also. These status reports are very scary to me. I don't like seeing these things. I think from my standpoint as a adult to read these things and of our young people what it must mean to them to read this stuff. My response is what is happening to a proud people? Some are dying and some are living. Weighing the statistics that those are surveying, but according to statistics, we are doomed. But I look around me and not all of us are raised by alcoholics. We were raised by hard working, God fearing people. The 638 amendment passed for Native people to take control of their lives. Some have successfully done just that and some haven't but are still trying. The Native students of Alaska are 75 percent of the national average in academic skills. But the rural schools have fewer dropouts than the urban areas. Arriving at percentages are somewhat of a mystery. Is it absenteeism, incompetent teachers, language barriers, parenting skills, or different standards in communities, or a combination of all? If we fall short, what can be done to remedy it? Students of Alaska are leaders of tomorrow. Think of yourself in their shoes. They went to school for 12 years and then they go to another school and they are not up to the standard. They have to go to school some more just to learn enough to be where they're supposed to be, which should have been taught in the first place. It is a bad situation. Then he reads the paper and watches the news and finds out that the young people are taking their lives and this is another cause of depression. The media plays on the bad things that happen to the people and there is very little written about the good things. Couldn't some of the good things be emphasized? A lot of Native people and Native leaders are pretty prominent and doing quite well in our government and are respected and influential. It seems like some of that could be put into print and give people a little encouragement that they are doing something good. Then there are the standards. We are judged by standards. You know the village standards are different. You go into urban villages and they have different standards than rural villages. So students coming from villages going to an urban standard represents a drastic change. Couldn't our standards be modified so that we can accept standards from both worlds? Also, our standards even in the villages are changing due to the influx of people, more restrictions on hunting and fishing, and our lifestyles are changing. Our diet and our hunting fishing take a lot of time and effort and it is a family affair. In village life, it riddles everything involved. I don't know how to change these things. Maybe someone else has the answer. It is ironic that some of the things that were introduced to our culture-like the alcohol and the drugs and the sugar that they traded to the Indians and Natives for their goods and lands and whatever they could get-now they have decided that those things are no good for us. But it was good for us when they could get things they wanted. Another thing that they are talking about is parenting skills. There are so many teenage pregnancies. How could you teach parenting skills to a child? Some of the elders' teachings are not acceptable in the modern culture. And the divorces and the separations that all disrupts all the family members. The children are left or go to different homes. I think they are harming our values, our families are suffering. I think more emphasis should be put on the hard work it takes to keep a family together and not just take the easy way out. That's all I have to say. I thank you honorable Senator Inouye for listening to my testimony. [Prepared statement of Ms. Kvasnikoff appears in the appendix.] The CHAIRMAN. I agree with you that the report is a frightening document and no one would want to read those statistics. The only way that we can face up to these facts would be to read the report. I also concur with you that all too often our media would emphasize the negative and very seldom touch upon the positive aspects of life. The committee, you may be interested to know, has just started a project to document the successes in Indian Country so that people in Indian Country can see that there are many great success stories throughout Indian Country. When that is finished we will give you a copy. Senator STEVENS. Mr. Chairman, you might be interested to know that I was in Kotzebue last night—and you would be interested in this, too, Ms. Kvasnikoff-and of the graduating class in Kotzebue of 30 students, 14 students were Honor Roll and 7 of them were National Honor Students-almost half on the Honor Roll and one-quarter in the top 1 percent of the Nation. There is great progress being made, I think. In trying to recognize what you're saying and what the Chairman is saying, we should find the role models for these young people and make sure they understand that education and progress and accomplishment are possible. Although we need the other statistics, too. We've got to have those to convince people we need help. The CHAIRMAN. Our next panel consists of Mr. John Juliussen of Seldovia Native Association; Derenty Tabios, Executive Director of the North Pacific Rim of Anchorage; Mr. Nick Peterson, mayor, city of Akhiok; Ms. Nina Olson, Kodiak Area Native Association; Ms. Mary Ann Mills, Sovereign Indigenous Women of the Arctic, Sterling, AK. STATEMENT OF JOHN JULIUSSEN, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Mr. JULIUSSEN. Chairman Inouye, Senators Murkowski and Stevens, welcome to Alaska. My name is John Juliussen and I am a member of the Board of Directors of the Seldovia Native Association. I am here to support the passage of S. 611. As you know, the proposed changes to the Indian Health Service eligibility regulations have a massive impact on Alaska. The |