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tive Hawaiian assets. But some Native Hawaiians fear that the Akaka Bill will lead to a Hawaiian model reminiscent of Alaska's native corporations. Established in 1971 as means of settling Native Alaskan land claims, the corporations manage huge tracts of "native" land for profit - sometimes to the detriment of subsistence villages and often to the profit of oil companies and of politicians, including Stevens.
Among other allegations, Neubauer and Cooper note that Stevens has a very close relationship with Arctic Slope Regional Corp., the Inupiat "owned" corporation the manages the trust obligations given to it by the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). Arctic Slope is the sole tenant of a building owned by Stevens, paying $6 million a year in rent on a twenty-year lease. Arctic Slope stands to gain immensely if exploration is allowed in the refuge.
"Arctic Slope is no ordinary tenant," claim Neubauer and Cooper. "A $1-billion-a-year business, it is the largest Alaskan-owned company in the state. More important, the company - along with 12 other regional Native corporations - was created through legislation the senator took the lead in drafting. And it has prospered through his continuing efforts in the Senate."
Although Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman John McCain, (R-Ariz.) recently came out in clear opposition to the Akaka/Stevens Bill, Frank Oliveri of the Honolulu Advertiser's Washington Bureau reported on January 12 that there will be hearings early this year and a Senate vote on federal recognition of Native Hawaiians.
"The clarifying comments from McCain's office came after a meeting between McCain and Inouye late Monday (January 10) when the committee chairman's position was discussed," reported Oliveri, who also noted, "Late last year, Inouye and Akaka secured promises from Senator's Frist, Kyl and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., then chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, that the bill would get its day on the Senate floor before Aug. 7, 2005.
Oliveri reported that last October Kyl and Domenici pledged on the Senate floor to, "ensure that the Akaka bill would be considered by this body.... In return, Inouye and Akaka promised not to push for the bill's passage as a rider on a massive spending bill late last year and also to support 32 bills pending in the energy committee. Those bills from Domenici's committee passed by voice vote Oct. 10, 2004."
Senator McCain's deft sidestep on this issue keeps that deal intact.
There seems to be little question about the ties between the two Democratic Senators' allegiance in regards to energy-related bills, specifically any bill to open drilling in the Arctic Refuge, and Republican Stevens' support of the Akaka/ Stevens initiative.
"On Monday, January 10, 2005 the Interior Department began advertising for a program analyst to staff the federal office of Native Hawaiian Relations within the U.S. Interior Department," reported Oliveri. "The office - approved by the Senate last year - is expected to oversee the legal relationship between Native Hawaiians and the U.S. government. The move is an important first step in the recognition process."
The Journal first reported on the relationship between the Alaska native corporations and the Akaka Bill in "Natives, Senators and Oil" by Keala Ann Kelly (HIJ 10/16/03.) That story is archived at www.hawaiiislandjournal.com.
In both the struggle over ANWR and the contest to pass the Akaka bill, those who have been left out of the decision-making process, some believe, are the people who will be most affected.
Although originally opposed to drilling in the Arctic Refuge, Akaka changed his position after a visit to the North Slope where he was given a tour of the area by local corporate leaders in 1995.
"In 1995, I toured Alaska's North Slope, the Prudhoe Bay oil facilities, and the Trans-Alaska pipeline. I met with Barrow and North Slope borough leaders. I toured ANWR and visited the Inupiat Eskimo who live in Kaktovik, the only community in ANWR's Coastal Plain," Akaka explained in an editorial published in a November, 2001, Honolulu Star Bulletin. "The Eskimo I met are subsistence hunters who depend on the land. Sixty percent of their diet comes from caribou, marine mammals, fish and waterfowl. As the inhabitants and stewards of the Coastal Plain for generations, they believe that properly regulated development is compatible with the environment, wildlife and their traditional practices. I respect and trust the mana'o of the Inupiat Eskimo. I support their right to self-determination and their desire to explore economic development on their ancestral lands. The Inupiat, indeed all Alaskan natives, are kindred spirits with Hawaiians. They share a strong and sacred bond to their lands and waters. The values of malama 'aina and malama kai characterize our peoples' relationship with our natural environment, which has shaped the development of both our cultures. This harmony with nature nourishes our native cultures. It shapes who we are as indigenous peoples."
According to many Inupiat community leaders, however, the picture painted for Akaka is not at all an accurate representation of the position of the average Inupiat.
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