Newsletter - Page 1

Over the years, CIRI's shareholder relations department has worked hard to find lost shareholders. To date, they have found 46 original shareholders and now have only one left to find. Many of CIRI's lost shareholders were adopted as infants or young children, raised outside of Alaska, and had little or no information about their Alaska Native heritage, family of origin, CIRI, or even the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

In the early 70s, when Alaska Native corporations were being formed and the enrollment process was underway, CIRI board member Gosta Dagg obtained a list of Alaska Natives who had been adopted. He filled out enrollment forms for them and sponsored them as enrollees in Native corporations. Those born in Anchorage were enrolled in CIRI. Over time, this would prove to be a significant link between the adoptees and their past.

According to Charmaine Forbes, former manager of shareholder relations, locating lost shareholders can prove to be a delicate situation. Sometimes adoptees must deal with sensitive issues surrounding their sense of identity. For instance, learning they are of Alaska Native descent if they had no idea they were can have a profound effect on their lives. As a result, the shareholder relations department uses the utmost sensitivity and respect when lost shareholders are located. According to Forbes, "You must deal with and respect the wishes of family and the lost shareholder." Still, according to Forbes and current shareholder relations manager betsy Peratrovich Alexander, it's thrilling to finally find them.

Forbes has been instrumental in finding CIRI's lost shareholders. For Forbes, it became a quest because she felt emotionally vested in finding them. "If it were me out there, I would hope
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Have you ever looked up at a clear night sky full of stars and wondered what it would be like to travel through space or marveled at the technology that enables people to do so? At one point in his life, Adam Flagan never imagined he'd end up working for a contractor to NASA or that he'd have an important role in space travel.

A CIRI shareholder of Yupik and Russian descent, he was raised in the Palmer area by a family who adopted him as well as four other children. While three of his adopted siblings have developmental and physical disabilities, Flagan is proud of his family and feels fortunate to have been raised in such a unique and remarkable environment. His family inspired him to have the confidence, courage, and motivation to go out there and make a difference.

Flagan's favorite high school subjects were math and science. He went on to study engineering at Adams State College in Colorado. He then transferred to Colorado School of Mines, where he excelled academically and was awarded a adam $16,000 CIRI Foundation scholarship. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in engineering with a mechanical specialty. According to Flagan, The CIRI Foundation scholarship was

Adam Flagan

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