In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million.
The Alaska natives who were already living on the land received nothing in
this deal. They weren't consulted, and no treaties were signed.
It was only in the late 1960s, after Alaska became an official state, that
Alaska natives raised the issue about signing treaties. They said they'd never
given up their rightful ownership of the land.
In 1971, a native claims settlement act was hammered out that gave the
Alaska natives title to 44 million acres of land. The deal also gave the natives
cash payments and set up village corporations. This corporate setup was very
different from anything the natives had experienced. And it was different
from any other tribal arrangements in the country.
As it turned out, the act was seriously flawed. Amendments were made to
the act in 1991, but Alaska natives are still fighting for proper representation.
"The goal, of course, is to create a state tribal executive order," explains
Andy Teuber. He is an Alaskan inter-tribal council member and a representative
at the tribal negotiations.
"[The governor] welcomed tribes to develop and negotiate an impromptu deal,"
he says. The tribes were interested in this process. However, problems soon
began to appear. A total of 227 tribes in Alaska wanted representation at
the negotiating table. How could all of their concerns and issues be addressed?
"It became clear that we'd have to have representatives that could cover
a wide area," says Teuber. Instead of representing just his tribe, Teuber
is representing the whole Kodiak region at the discussion table.
This solution brought more problems. "Initially, we were to be a negotiating
team only," he says. But tribes grew concerned that so few people were going
to speak for so many different tribes. "We've now become more of an information
gathering team that can come back and meet and determine what decisions need
to be made."
It will take many meetings and lengthy discussions to make progress in
the negotiations, but Teuber is optimistic. "It's an opportunity to further
the relationship between tribe and state," he explains. "We're trying to move
forward. It will be difficult, but no issues are insurmountable."
In British Columbia, Canada, many native bands are involved in treaty negotiations.
Seeing how native people were treated and how their issues were dealt with
in her hometown, Tracy St. Claire decided early in life that
she wanted to do something to help. She is now operations manager for a treaty
commission.
St. Claire completed an undergraduate and master's degree in native history
and began work at the treaty commission. This commission sets up and facilitates
talks between native groups and the government.
"Our biggest role is to facilitate talks at the negotiating table," explains
Brian Mitchell. He is the communications manager at the treaty commission.
"We look after what's going on at the tables and what's happening behind the
scenes. We encourage processes to continue, and watch and monitor situations
so we can help before talks go off the rails."
St. Claire got involved with this group because she believes in the process
-- treaties must be negotiated in a fair and appropriate manner. "I really
believe that discussion is the most important part of a treaty negotiation,"
she says. "There has to be dialog and figuring out what is happening."
This dialog and going back and forth between groups can be frustrating.
"Negotiating treaties is slow-going," she says. "The length of the process
is the most difficult part of the job and can be frustrating at times."
St. Claire finds many rewards within the treaty negotiations, although
many of the talks are ongoing and it will be years before more treaties are
signed. "A lot of people choose not to see the positive things that are happening
along the way," she says.
"There are tangible changes going on right now," she says. It is because
of this progress that St. Claire finds the energy to continue her work.
"There are changes in the communities with economic initiatives that are
positive," she says. "These are the things that are rewarding and that keep
the drive for the process to keep going."