Babbitt lays out Interior designs

August 19, 1993

Michael Gerhardt
Arctic Sounder

When Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt stepped off the plane in Kotzebue last Friday, NANA Corp. wanted to make sure he knew he was someplace unique.

Waiting in the federal government's hangar were the NANA dancers, ready to perform an Inupiaq welcome dance for Babbitt.

As Babbitt stepped out of the twin-engine Cessna Conquest and onto the tarmac, he first fielded a more-familiar greeting from local politicians, business leaders and government officials before heading into the hangar.

But within five minutes he was participating in an invitational dance, surrounded by local youths in kuspuks.

Less than 24 hours later, the former Arizona governor's plane lifted off from the runway at Red Dog Mine, leaving the NANA region for Fairbanks and other stops throughout Alaska.

During his stay, Babbitt squeezed in a potluck dinner with Interior Department employees, a meeting with NANA officials, a breakfast with community leaders and a trip to Red Dog Mine. He even managed to catch an abbreviated show at the NANA Museum of the Arctic, where he participated in a blanket toss.

Babbitt gave a brief pep-talk to federal employees during the potluck dinner Friday night, telling them to stand proud in the face of the ill-feelings he said they are often confronted with.

Whether meeting with Gov. Walter Hickel, with a group of angry whalers on the North Slope or with those on either end of the development debate in Fairbanks, Babbitt has been faced with Alaskans eager to give advice on federal issues affecting the state. Two-thirds of the state is owned by the federal government.

Babbitt has called federal holdings in Alaska "extraordinary public assets" and acknowledged long-standing disputes over their use.

His visit to Kotzebue, however, featured little of the conflicts and issues that the secretary has been exposed to in other parts of the state.

Many of the development versus conservation issues that the rest of the state is focusing on during Babbitt's visit don't apply in the NANA region.

But the region does have issues affected by the Interior Department. NANA residents who met with the secretary were eager to explain their views, but everyone seemed to be heading in the same direction.

Willie Hensley, NANA's executive vice president, and other NANA officials said they welcomed the opportunity to talk with Babbitt about issues affecting Natives in the NANA region.

Babbitt met with a group of NANA officials in a private meeting early Saturday morning. Hensley said the discussion centered around subsistence, tribal status, and local hire at federal agencies in the region.

"We just wanted to reinforce his understanding of the importance of traditional hunting for the people of Northwest Alaska," Hensley said.

The NANA group told Babbitt they would like to see management of fish given to regional corporations, Hensley said. Babbitt said he would take a new look at the legal and management issues surrounding hunting and fishing, Hensley said.

At the meeting, the corporation's various operations were discussed with Babbitt, with special emphasis on tourism and the Red Dog Mine, according to Hensley.

After the meeting, Babbitt and Ada Deer, his assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, fielded questions at a breakfast with more than a dozen local leaders.

Babbitt said he has "learned a great deal about subsistence issues" and that they needed to be discussed and resolved at the federal level.

"We must revisit those issues and see if we can cast a comprehensive federal policy," Babbitt said. "You are entitled to one."

Babbitt also promised to "go back to Washington and get right on" the issue of appointing federal regional advisory councils, which were mandated under ANSCA to deal with subsistence issues.

"I really wasn't aware of that issue, that it hasn't been done," he said.

When the federal government took over subsistence management on federal lands in 1990, the established state advisory councils were disbanded. The federal government has not yet appointed new councils to replace them.

There is no clear definition of the powers tribal governments hold, Kotzebue IRA General Manager Fred Armstrong reminded Babbitt.

"Self-determination cannot presently be practiced with the limitations that have been placed on us," Armstrong said.

A handful of Alaska villages have begun to assert themselves as sovereign governments, and others have expressed an interest in gaining more recognition from the federal government.

"We've got to get this resolved in the judicial system as fast as possible," he said.

After breakfast and a tour of the museum, Babbitt flew to Red Dog Mine for lunch and a tour, accompanied by NANA officials. Over lunch, Babbitt talked with a group of NANA shareholders who work at the mine.

NANA and Cominco Alaska are partners in the mine operation.

As he prepared to board his plane at the mine for the trip to Fairbanks, Babbitt said the Red Dog operation struck him as a "magnificent effort" at overcoming obstacles such as weather, shipping and location.

Before coming to Kotzebue, Babbitt visited Kaktovik and Prudhoe Bay. He toured the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and Arco Alaska's offshore development at the Kuvlum site with Alaska's governor. Other stops during his stay include Denali National Park, Kodiak, and Dillingham, where he will meet with Alaska Native Federation representatives.

"I'm here as a student," Babbitt said. "I want to see every inch of this state."