ANB Grand President Emeritus
Explains Tribal Land Title
By William Paul
Grand President Emeritus
Alaska Native Brotherhood
Basically there are no public
lands in Alaska. The legal defini
tion of Indian tribal occupation
first published by the Supreme
Court in 1823 affirmed many times
since (1941) supports my first state
ment.
The opinion in the Juneau Tide
case does not conflict with this. It
rather supports it as follows:
"We do have the issue of occu
pancy of Indian lands which the
Teehitton case in fact recognizes
(p. 279), which may be protected
against intrusion by third parties
and which may be terminated only
by the government. This right of
occupancy was first recognized in
the case of Johnson v.$. McIntosh
U823) 8 Wheats. 21 U. S. 543 and
has been followed by the Supreme
Court and other courts ever since.
It is their right which was specifi
cally preserved in the “Miller" case.
Gov* Presents . , .
Continued from Page 1)
storm of criticism was raised when
- the Bureau announced it had re
ceived planning money for a school
to be located at Fairbanks to be
operated in conjunction with the
University of Alaska.
A meeting was held in Washington
with Philleo Nash, BIA commis
sioner. Dr. Charles Ray. head of the
Education Department at the Uni
versity of Alaska. Robert L. Ben
nett, area director of the BIA, Rob
ert Isaac, then acting State Commis
sioner of Education, and Hugh J.
Wade, Secretary of State.
It was agreed that the governor
Would draw up a program of future
school expansion and that any BIA
construction would be fitted into
the over-all plan.
The plan has now been submitted
fo Udall for his comments before
being finally agreed upon.
The advisory committee, made
lip of Ray, Bennett, Isaac. Wade,
and Hunt Greuning, of the state
Board of Education, had 4 formal
meetings and many informal meet
ings. The report was 22 pages long
and contained many appendixes.
One of the first recommendations
in the report, according to Bennett
at the recent Tanana Indian Con
ference, is for the transfer of the
remaining four BIA schools in the
Anchorage area over to the state.
(also see Cramer v.s. U.S.A. 261
U. S. 219: U.S.A. v.s. Santa Fe R.R.
Co. 314 U. S. 339 also known as the
Walapai Case.)
This is the legal definition of In
dian Tribal occupation published
first in 1823.
“Indian possession or occupation
was considered with reference to
their habits and modes of life; their
hunting grounds were as much in
their actual possession as the clear
ed fields of the Whites: and their
rights to its exclusive enjoyment
in their own way and for their
own purposes were as much re
spected until they abandoned them,
made a cession to the government,
or an authorized sale to indivi
dends.”
“ ... It is enough to consider it
as a settled principle, that their
right of occupancy is considered as
sacred as the fee-simple of the
Whites.”
The limited definition of the
word 'occupancy” that defeated
the plaintiffs in the Juneau Tide
case was due to the fact that the
Indians did not base their claim
tribally.
The legal ownership of land by
Indian tribes runs on forever until
legally extinguished and these are
the marks of extinguishment:
1. A law expressed as clearly
to manifest an intention to in
clude them (Cherokee v. Georgia
5 Pet 1: Elk v. Wilkins 112 U. S.
94: Walapai case 314 U. S. 339.)
2. A law which when executed
destroys the Indian’s occupation
(The Rampart Dam).
3. A patent from the TT. S.
e.g. homestead, mining claims, al
though even in such cases the In
dian’s ownership continues (Cra
mer v. U.S.A. 261 U. S. 219).
4. Abandonment. This is hard
to prove by circumstantial evi
dence.
Tanana Elects
Grant President
Richard Grant was recently
elected president of the village
council at Tanana.
Other council members elected
were: Steve Matthews. Arland Dick,
Harly Peters, and the Rev. Tom
Cleveland.
I love flattery. I think it's good
for me, too — much better than
I whiskey and not so hard on the
liver.—Joyce Carey
Education...
(Continued from page 1)
obtain the best possible education
and training, he stressed.
Bennett pointed out the problem
was not peculiar to the native peo
ple of Alaska, but was faced all
over the world.
"Coal miners in Pennsylvania
can't sell coal any more and have
to be trained to do something else.
People in foreign countries who
haven’t been trained to do anything
are being trained for jobs," he said.
“The reason new governments in
Africa and other places aren’t work
ing is because they don’t have
trained people.”
The area director emphasized
that the requirements for jobs were
going to increase. “The standards
will never go back,” he said.
While it is true that many native
people may get jobs operating ma
chines without a high school educa
tion, it is equally true that agencies
for reasons of safety and other fac
tors are making a high school ed
ucation a requirement for a job.”
“Unless you as leaders., face up to
what is really facing you, unless
you make sure your children are
prepared through education and
training, your young people are
going to be in the same position you
are in now, in 20 years they will be
sitting right here wondering why
they are so far behind and wonder
ing why they are having such a dif
ficult time.”
He stressed the BIA and other
agencies were willing to help.
“There is no reason why a na
tive high school graduate in the
state of Alaska should not be in
college today because of lack of
money.”
“That is the one thing we can
get money from Congress for—that
is, for college training for native
students. I know the non-native
people of Alaska would like to have
that kind of assurance for their
children. They don’t have it; but
you do.”
“We in the Bureau of Indian Af
fairs stand ready to help you, stand
ready to educate your children,
stand ready to help by bringing
community education into your vil
lages; to help you meet the prob
lems and owning the land and kill
ing the game will not meet these.”
“The greatest thing that has hap
pened to you is the native young
people graduated form high school
and universities and the more that
graduate from high schools and uni
versities the closer you are going
to come to solving your problems,”
he concluded.
INTENT LISTENERS—Delegates are shown Intently listening at the Tanana Indian Conference held
{ *»wU rowt Percy Herbert, Fkrt Yukon; Fnnklin bMtba Sr., Kai.
Foreign Fishing Vessels, Zookeeper
But No Whales. Bears at Gamhell
By Clarence Irrigoo
Cambell Correspondent
Once again, Bering Sea animals
and sea bottom food attracted peo
ple from many parts of the world
this spring. One housewife com
mented after hearing too much
about Japanese vessels fishing and
crabbing in our Alaskan waters, "I
thought the islands of Japan were
surrounded by water. How come
they fish in our waters? Where are
their own fish and crabs?"
Suppose Bering Sea was under the
control of some foreign govern
ment, say for instance, Soviet Rus
sia, and we wanted fish and crab,
would we be permitted to do that
even under the treaty of interna
tional fisheries laws? Maybe not.
Our fishing vessels and aircraft
would be unsafe.
Big Attraction
Here, walrus is again a big at
Savoonga Busy
Walius Hunting
By John Kulowlyl
Savoonga Correspondent
I am sorry to send you news so
late from Savoonga. Anyway, here
is some.
I have been very busy this month.
I did some hunting. The other day
I went out with a boat owner and
he shot two walrus. We have about
20 skin boat crews hunting walrus
this spring. From May 3-9 there was
20 walrus shot by the hunters.
The weather has been cold and
there is lots ot snow that is not
melted.
Last month we held an election
for the village council. That took
time and it was one of the reasons
why 1 hadn't sent you news. The
people reelected some council mem
bers and elected new ones. The fol
lowing are the men elected:
John Kulowiyi, Prsident; Clar
ence Waghiyi, Vice President; Pat
rick Gologergen, Secretary; Hogarth
Kingeekuk, Treasurer; Morris Tool
ie, Member; Bryan Rookok, Mem
ber; Elmer Wongittilin, Member;
and Chester Noongwook, Member.
Kingeekuk and Toolie were re
elected and the rest are new mem
bers.
The following were elected to the
welfare committee:
Edward Goiogergen, chairman:
Jacob Seppilu, Secretary; Floyd
Kingeekuk, Member; Jackson Mo
kiyok, Member: Ora Gologergen,
Member; and Ruth Miklahok, Mem
ber.
I have been very busy ever since
I was elected Village President; not
only me but the other councilmen
have been very busy with me. [
We had three visitors in this vil
lage and they went out for dogteam
rides about five miles out. They had
come from the mainland to Gam
bell and had come here. We also
had visitors from Anchorage and
Juneau this month. The man from
Anchorage is George S. Wilson. Su
pervisor and Finance Specialist for
native stores. Man from Juneau
is Don Burrus, AN AC manager.
Some of our students have come
back from school and some are on
the way. They are Arnold G., Carl
P., Truman K„ Esther P.. and some
their names I can’t remember.
Gambell whalers lost two bow
head whales this spring. It seems
that we are not going to have muk
tuk this year.
Our school teachers are leaving
soon, probably in June. They are,
Mr .and Mrs. Fred Goranson and
their son, Rolf. We don't know yet
who will replace them.
Our missionary is leaving also.
Their names are. Rev. and Mrs. Art
Frenches and their two nice daugh
ters. They will leave sometime in
August.
We will miss all the white people
this summer. The only white people
we will have will be the contrac
tors who will be working on our
traction. It seems even more so this
year. Dr. Carlton Ray is here again
from New York Aquarium to “bring
’em back alive.” He wants two or
three year-old walrus. So far he
has been unsuccessful. He did put
one to sleep and a boat was towing
the walrus enclosed in a net. Some
how, the walrus wriggled itself out
of the net and escaped while no
one was aware of it! Several baby
walrus are again in an improvised
walrus corral from which Dr. Ray
will pick few strong and healthy
ones.
One or more young oogruks were
put to sleep while swimming in the
water but they were not captured.
They failed to surface. They pos
sibly died under the water and
drowned.
No Whales
No whales were taken this spring.
A boat struck one but lost it with
ropes and sealskin floats. The bomb
did not go off. Few whales were
sighted. Weather was the main fac
tor in not taking and hunting of
whales. Weather always seem to be
bad when whales are running.
Net Anymore
Some years back, shortly after
World War-11,'a bear or two would
be shot and killed in spring, some*
times in winter. For many years
now we have not even seen bear
tracks on the snow or on the ice.
Where did the few bears that used
to come near St. Lawrence Islacnd
go to? They haven’t gone any place.
The baars are killed by white
hunters up north. Mark this: 58
polar bears were killed by some rich
people from the south 48 states.
These are the hunters our state
game officials should keep an eye
on instead of the Eskimos.
Legislation...
(Continued from Page 3)
changes are as a result of external
or outside forces.
“The first change which came
about and resulted in your first
meeting was the statehood bill
which gives the state right to select
certain lands subject to the rights
of the native people which so far
have not been defined by Cong
ress,” he added.
Bennett then went on to point out
that the State Division of Lands
was interested in working with
villages in planning the use of land
around villages and that the vil
lages could sit down and plan land
use with the State Division of Lands
without jeopardizing basic land
rights.
“When you plan with the state you
do so with the condition that you
are still reserving whatever rights
you have to the land as established
by Congress and the courts."
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