Opinion

Kevin Allis: Unfair attack against Alaska Native corporations

Thursday, March 22, 2012

"Throughout the course of history, Indian country has been the victim of unwarranted and harmful attacks from the outside. That is why it is so troubling when our own communities are wrongfully attacked from other factions from within Indian Country.

It is even more troublesome when the weapons used to mount such attacks are formed from inaccurate information. On March 14, a column by Harold Monteau was published in IndianCountryTodayMediaNetwork.com that unjustly accused members of the Native American Contractors Association (NACA), specifically its Alaska Native Corporation members (“ANCs”), of not adequately supporting RES2012. The fact is that NACA, and all of its members, are proud and excited to be part of the RES conference each and every year.

More specifically, the column contains the statement, “There was an absence of Alaska Native Corporation exhibitors.” Sadly, had the author walked the entire exhibition floor, he would have seen dozens of booths belonging to ANCs. Although correctly identifying two NACA members (Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and Chugach Alaska Corporation), it’s hard to fathom how the author could have missed the very large booths of Sealaska Corporation, NANA Development Corporation, and Bering Straits Native Corporation, just to name a few."

Get the Story:
Kevin Allis: NACA’s Response to Harold Monteau’s March 14 Column (Indian Country Today 3/22)