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about the rest of the world moving in on us and sort of develop at our own pace. Of course, that was not to be. I've always thought we did the best we could under the circumstances because we were concerned that if we did not get a settlement that at some point in time we might lose every leverage that we had. If, for instance, President Nixon was able to establish the right-of-way to the pipeline, then we would not have had any leverage at all. On top of that, the political circumstances were that there were a couple of committee chairmen who were convinced that there was no way in the world that they were going to reconstruct the tribal system of the past. There was just no way we were going to run over them, so we worked with the political circumstances that existed. In addition to that, of course, we didn't have any money to stay in court if we wanted to try to ball up the system for one-half century. We could not foresee the future. Most of us didn't have any experience with tribal governments. Our fathers and mothers may have had but we were too young. We were off in school somewhere. Consequently, there was nowhere during that period of time at which we were pushing for the settlement where the idea of reconstructing the reservation system or even the tribal government system arose. Among all of the advocates, I can't remember one who advocated reconstruction of that system until after the Act was passed.

For our purposes we know that the system is totally inadequate insofar as being able to meld within the structures of the Inupiat world. But one idea we tried, for instance, was a merger with our villages. We knew that the system was going to fail for our villages just because of the way it came out-so we had a merger of 10 villages and we tried to create, in effect, a tribal entity within the corporate system. We have a directorship of 23 people where the villages are in total control. We only have one person representing Kotzebue, even though out of a membership of about 5,000 Kotzebue has about half the shareholders. We weighted the Board of Directors in favor of village control and it has been that way even when we were non-profit back in the 1960's. We recognized that we had to make it work and we've tried not to have the corporation function in an alien fashion even though the rules are not exactly traditional. We have accepted the responsibility of trying to make it work. We did give our IRA councils in the villages the veto power over development on any lands which the Village Corporation had such veto power as a result of the Settlement Act.

We work very closely, even though there is a confusion of entities, we try to work very closely between Maniilag, NANA, our borough, and with our village entities. It would be simple if we had an entity that would handle all these troubles. The problems wouldn't go away, they'd still be there, but it would be a lot less confusing. I can't tell you at this moment what kind of an outline of a recommendation I would make for simplifying it. But there's no question that the traditional councils or the tribal council, whatever you want to call them, which had real authority and power to regulate life in the villages in the old days, nowadays we don't have that kind of authority except in some instances where people still respect the authority of the council. But there has been such a profusion of entities that people don't know whom to respect.

Senator MURKOWSKI. Last, you made a very conscious effort in your corporation to foster the identity and culture through retreat type efforts, association with the elders so that they could communicate more readily in an appropriate environment. Has that been relatively successful? It is so important to maintain that culture and identity.

Senator HENSLEY. The difficulty is that most of our institutions have been supplanted in one way or another or weakened over the course of time. The benefit of tribal structures is that a tribal government is an entity that has responsibility over all aspects of life. The difficulty we have is that there is no focal point for the preservation of the Indian or Aleut spirit, language, tradition, values, culture, history, geography-all of that which is meaningful to our people. It has just been blasted away over the course of time. What we've tried to do is without saying who is responsible we've assumed that responsibility in our corporation. We fund the elders to help us in the preservation of the language and traditions and the knowledge of survival skills, but we also work in conjunction with Maniilag and the borough. So, we've all accepted the responsibility. We just travelled for the second time-we did it in the early 1980's-but for the second time we've travelled to meet with all the children, K-12. Usually we break it at the fifth grade, and we meet with them and we have elders, heads of our local institutions-the borough, NANA, Maniilag—and the essence of it is to try to convey to children as well as their parents and grandparents the idea that it is their obligation and responsibility to help preserve their own identity and then it is our job to try to convince the institutions that it is also their job. In spite of the fact that we don't have a single governmental location or focal point, we all assume the responsibility of trying to ensure the survival of the identity and the culture, the language and the history and the way of life. We don't put down the necessity of learning western education because we know that we need that, but we don't feel like we have to sacrifice ourselves in order to do that. That is our goal. It is just that it is very hard because it takes almost all of your energies just in the economic and political arena to try to take care of your peoples' needs and there is hardly enough energy to go around.

Senator MURKOWSKI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you again Senator Hensley. It is good to see you.

Our next witness is Beverly Hugo.

STATEMENT OF BEVERLY HUGO, HEALTH EDUCATOR, BARROW,

AK

Mrs. HUGO. Good afternoon Senator Inouye and Senator Murkowski. My name is Beverly Hugo and I am here as a concerned wife and mother and health care provider. I am also a health education specialist in our school district in Barrow, Alaska.

What I would try to convey is what future does my son, John, have? He was born of Inupiat Eskimo descent March 7th in Fairbanks Memorial Hospital to my husband, Patrick, and I. He's the youngest of four children. He's two months old. The more I learn about things that are affecting us now and how we may be affected

in the future, the more concerned I become, not only for our children but for all children.

This concern for all is where our Inupiat responsibility comes in. I, as an Inupiat, have a responsibility for my tribe. What role do we as Inupiat parents have in decision-making that affects our children's lives in the areas of education, health, economics, and the environment. The management or direction taken in these areas impacts directly on us as individuals and as a society.

As a wife and a mother and a health care provider, my frustrations and concerns for the well-being of my son, John, and all indigenous children is equalled only by myself-determination to be involved to whatever extent possible in the decision-making that affects us presently and in the future.

I have a lot of questions. Where should we be now or need to be in the future in education? In education, we seem to be doing well in the elementary education, but we're losing in the high school and the middle school. Long ago it was a landmark for a child to turn five years old—a landmark-but presently the landmark is becoming a young adult or an adolescent because we are losing our young people to alcohol and substance drug abuse and domestic violence because they have no self-worth or they don't feel they are worthy. I don't know all the answers, but I would like to stress some of my concerns.

We need to encourage higher education. At this level the North Slope has a real poor track record of successfully completing any higher educational program. In order for us to get ahead, I think we need our own people to become professionals and to run the management.

My specialty is in health and I speak for health careers. We seem to have too little. I am one of a kind from the North Slope. There are others who are trying to follow the model that I have tread. We have some students at the University of Washington that were community health aides, like I was for many years. They are becoming mid-level health care professionals, physicians assistants. We need that, we need our own people to be providers in their own setting, in their own environment. There are no language barriers, we speak the same language as our people, and I think that's important. Native health care providers tend to go back where they came from. They have a responsibility for their tribe so they want to provide good care for their people. This is where we need to spend our money. There has been a bridge program to the University of Alaska in Fairbanks last summer which enhances community health aides to have access. I really supported that. It was through seed money but apparently someone felt that it was not that important, so there is no money for that program this year. But we're trying other avenues through the Health Careers Opportunity Program and we have had a proposal to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks for a three-year grant that we've proposed. I've worked closely with Dr. Nice and his wife trying to implement that. When you are bi-cultural, bi-lingual you have to decode lots of things and you have two identities and it is frustrating. I think that's where we lack success. We become discouraged or we feel like we don't have the urban adaptations that we also need to succeed. The bridge program was like an enhance

ment to introduce you so there wouldn't be such a cultural shock. Those are the types of things that I would encourage you to support. We have plans for 15 students in the 3 years from the high schools of Alaska to promote access as physicians assistants, as ancillary care providers such as lab technicians and x-ray technicians. We need those types of people. There are other aspects of the health care system we need but in order to improve it we have to have our own people. We have too many turn overs from transplanted people who come to Alaska. They are not culturally sensitive, they don't like the environment, they are miserable people, and miserable people are not happy and they start to resent the situation. We don't need that. I really think that most of them tend to be that way-they come and they go. We have this health care system that just suffers. It is not adequate. It could be a good health care system if we had our own people determine and practice and provide the care that is needed.

As for health, my son, John, had a good beginning because of my background as a health care provider. I value good prenatal care. Through the prenatal care, I had to have specialized care, obstetrical care that wasn't available in my community, but I felt it so important to have a healthy outcome that I take my time, my family sacrificed time and effort and money to buy an expensive ticket from Barrow to Fairbanks-$500 round trip-and I did that three times throughout my pregnancy just to monitor and make sure I will have a good outcome because prenatal care is so important. These specialized services are not available in Barrow. We have many general practice physicians that deliver babies and over 100 babies are delivered each year, but I have had difficulty with my other pregnancies so I couldn't deliver there, it was too risky.

In my efforts to be a role model, how can I possible reach beyond acute care services to model a preventive health care, to use the knowledge I gained while earning my education as a physicians assistant. This continued dependency on a hospital based service encourages a belief of sickness rather than wellness. The current status continues as a daily crisis management. There isn't proper health planning with short or long-term goals that have been developed with participation of the indigenous people who would like to be involved. They would very much like to be involved but are kept out by paternalistic structure, because most of our administrators are not Native, they are from Tennessee, they are from Colorado, and they don't understand where we're coming from or what we're trying to convey to them.

So what are the future expectations for John and the other indigenous children? What assurance is there that Indian health service eligibility criteria will be maintained for John and the other children? Will they have access to care? John was born after ANSCA and although I have enrolled my other children in the Native village of Barrow, I don't have that assurance. I would like some answers, some assurance. What assurance can you give me?

Economics is an integral part that leads to development of a productive and an independent person. What is John's economic future? Presently there aren't enough jobs now for people who are unskilled and are uneducated. No education or jobs means Medicaid dependent or welfare dependent, which is no answer to becom

ing a self-sufficient individual. If there aren't enough jobs now and the peoples' self-worth decreases, domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse, and suicide occurs. What economic opportunity will John have in 18 years from now? These are concerns that I have. Consider the environmental concerns for my son and the other children. Currently an indigenous man is serving a jail sentence imposed upon him for exercising his aboriginal rights in trying to provide sustenance for his family according to the values of our Inupiat culture. These recognized values are respect for nature, domestic skills, sharing and cooperation, hard work, family roles, and responsibility to the tribe and respect for the elderly. How can these values be wrong? They are in essence our spiritual survival and our well-being in a harmonious environment. When this harmony is disrupted by paternalistic outside forces, this threatens to destroy the very heart of our existence. How can my son, John, grow up to be a successful hunter and a provider so that his life expresses the values of his culture?

În closing, trying to find right words to express our concerns without appearing racial, biased, malicious, or jealous is very frustrating. This is my life as an Inupiat-responsible to all other Inupiat for the survival of our culture spirit, our values, and our traditions. I retain and teach and live the Inupiat way. What can I as an individual do to make these things better? Is it necessary that the Inupiat values be less than the western values?

Like I said before, the landmark years ago was to become 5 years old. Now, it is the landmark to survive through adolescence. The time of suicide, alcohol, and drug abuse is rampant. We seem to be overwhelmed. The answers lie within us as parents and members of our community. When young people have needs that reach beyond the family unit, what do we as a community have to offer? What is the responsibility of the community to the youth? How do you as a person contribute to your community?

This presentation is not statistically focused. We know all too well that statistics are numbers with tears removed. But for those of us who experience the lifestyle as it is today, statistics represent tears spent because of the numbers of people we know who have suffered. What are my expectations? What direction will the future take?

It is my intention with this time spent with the Members of the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs to convey the frustrations and fears felt on the personal level so that there is an understanding of how it is with us. It is an effort to convey these things because it means I take the risk for revealing myself and my feelings to you from a personal and professional perspective. Wording has been thoughtfully selected to avoid the appearance of racial biases and prejudice. It is not my intent to harm others because I know too well how it feels to try to work and live in such an atmosphere. I've accepted the personal and professional risks of making myself vulnerable and open to you today so you may realize how many years it has taken me to be able to face you today and let these things be heard. Along with the risks, I openly accept a responsibility to communicate with others who are actively involved in decision-making affecting the self-determination of each of us. To those who remain passive and have not come to the point of ver

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