465 



liberation of this issue that the TUngit people officially welcome 

 you to the Tongass. 



I speak to you today as the representative of the Southeast 

 Alaska Native Land Acquisition Coalition. My testimony will be a 

 departure from that you have heard previously and from testimony 

 which will follow. 



I am from the community of Haines, Alaska, and was originally 

 enrolled under the terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 

 Act of 1971 as a Haines village enrollee. 



The Tongass is home to us, is where we are born. It is where we 

 bury our loved ones. It is where we raise our children, and it is 

 where our grandchildren will live. 



For some, the Tongass has become a battleground where outside 

 competing interests vie for control. To others, it is simply a scenic 

 landscape to be viewed from the decks of a tour vessel or from the 

 pages of a visitor's photo album. However, for us, from Fort Ton- 

 gass to Chilkat, we know this land as Tlingit Aani, "Human land," 

 our land. 



Our stake in the Tongass issue is appropriate because we hold 

 valid, existing claims to land entitlements fashioned by ANCSA. 

 However, the fulfillment of those entitlements remains incomplete. 



Our membership of claimants from the five communities of 

 Wrangell, Petersburg, Ketchikan, Tenakee and Haines each have 

 factual, logical and valid claims for the reconveyance of five town- 

 ships of land from the Tongass. 



We contend that these communities should be treated fairly and 

 equitably along with the other village corporations under the origi- 

 nal guidelines for village enrollees that Congress itself approved. 



We have waited nearly 20 years for the promise of reconveyance 

 to become a reality. We have a strong conviction that the Tongass 

 legislation before you will provide the appropriate vehicle to re- 

 solve these claims, and we hope Congress will provide that legisla- 

 tive solution. We firmly believe that our claims should now be 

 acted upon through negotiation. 



We believe that reconveyance of our entitlements will bolster 

 and secure important subsistence and cultural values while, at the 

 same time, creating balanced economic opportunities for all of our 

 region's residents. 



However, we wish to state clearly our acute awareness of the 

 great complexities in the Tongass debate. We fully understand that 

 all interested parties, including this Coalition, will have to negoti- 

 ate a solution acceptable in view of the checkerboard of competing 

 interests at this table today. 



The Coalition strongly supports the existence of viable timber in- 

 dustry in the Southeast, and we recognize that logging plays a 

 major role in providing jobs and income to residents throughout 

 the region. At the same time, we insist that our home-based indus- 

 tries accept full responsibility for the impact of their operations on 

 the environment. 



First, we ask that this committee recognize the issue of land enti- 

 tlements which has been raised and determine the potential for 

 discussing the issue in future deliberations. 



Second, we ask that Congress open a viable and structured dia- 

 logue for discussions of this issue. 



