Alaska Natives told congressional leaders nearly 30 years ago that they wanted to control their own destiny. Among the many people who articulated this sentiment was Eklutna's George Ondola. Testifying in 1968, he urged a congressional committee to see what could be done "for the Natives to determine their own destiny, so that we can live our own life as first-class citizens of the United States of America."

The result of such testimony and a lot of hard work by many different people was the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Rather than setting up a paternalistic, government-controlled federal system, the act created Native corporations.

As we look toward a new millenium, it's a good time to take stock of where Alaska Natives stand today and how well the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act has been implemented. Although a recent state legislative audit report has raised some questions about Native corporation performance, it would be well to consider where Alaska Natives stood 30 years ago compared to today.

When ANCSA was signed on Dec. 18, 1971, Alaska Natives played virtually no role in the Alaska economy. The average age at death was less than 35 years; the infant mortality rate was more than twice the national average. Tuberculosis preyed on Natives at 20 times the rate for the rest of the United States. Whatever the yardstick - health, education, housing - the situation was deplorable.

I can't tell you today that all those problems have been solved. I wish I could. But I can tell you that things have changed a great deal - and many of the improvements today are directly attributable to Alaska Native corporations and the role they play in Alaska's economy.

CIRI has earned $50.2 million in net profits last year, its sixth straight increase since 1992's figure of $23.4 million. Arctic Slope Regional Corp., Sealaska Corp., Doyon Ltd., NANA Regional Corp. and many other Native corporations also are turning in strong economic performances year in and year out. Our corporations have become some of Alaska's most significant businesses.

Many Alaska Natives, like myself, have been given the opportunity to assume leadership positions because of the education we received as a result of Native corporation-funded scholarships. The CIRI Foundation has awarded grants and scholarships to more than 1,500 students.

Native corporation employment programs place thousands of Alaska Natives in jobs. These programs prepare our young people for futures within our corporations and outside of them.

Statewide, Native corporations have taken leadership positions in a number of beneficial developments. One that we can all take tremendous pride in is the Alaska Native Heritage Center. It's a premier tourist attraction that eventually will draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to our state, and it's also a place Alaska Natives can call home. It's a place that truly honors our many and diverse cultures.

In the meantime, I don't need to remind you that there are some major problems for Native people. My good friend Byron Mallott, executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., recently wrote that as an Alaska Native, he has come to the point of despair as he looks at what is happening right now in Alaska.

I don't pretend to have all the answers to such pressing problems as the need for jobs and economic development in our small rural communities, but today Alaska Natives have a place at the table where these issues will be discussed, unlike 30 years ago. And it is my role in a Native corporation that has put me there. Like many others, we have a chance to play our part in seeking solutions to our problems, and we will seize that opportunity.

Byron has called ANCSA an "unfinished vision." I agree with him. We're still writing the book on where it will go. One of the act's advantages is that we, as Alaska Native people, have shaped it ourselves and changed it to meet our shareholder needs, and we plan to continue to do so as the need arises.

The audit report that was quite critical of Native corporations was issued recently by a state legislative committee at the request of the same group of individuals who have attacked us in a number of other forums and arenas over a long period of time. I question the sincerity of some of these people, because some of these legislators are the same people who have declared war on rural Alaska.

As pointed out by Alaska's Commissioner of Commerce and Economic Development, the legislative report is seriously flawed, especially when it raises a question about Native corporation management's responsiveness to shareholders. If Native corporations were just like other corporations - with stock that could be sold on the open market - it is the executives who could benefit the most from selling out. We have seen this nationally and even in Alaska quite recently. It's one thing you won't see, however, from Native corporations. Unless a majority of shareholders vote to fundamentally change our structure, our stock can't be sold. Without the approval of shareholders, we can't sell the company.