Tied to the land and to the state's economy: Alaska Native corporations usher in a new era for all Alaskans.

• Author: Bohi, Heidi
• Position: 50th Statehood Anniversary Special Section

Byron Mallott, Sheri Buretta, Janie Leask, Carl Marrs--when it comes to Alaska Natives who have contributed to developing Alaska's economy, at one point in their careers these four have been ranked as some of the most influential and powerful Alaska Natives since statehood, each in their own way taking responsibility for advancing both their people and all Alaskans. As is common in the Alaska Native culture, when asked why they think their peers may have distinguished them from others, they modestly say they do not know.

Mallott quite possibly speaks for the others when he says, "All I try to do is make it better." What drives him fundamentally, he explains, dates back to his upbringing in the village of Yakutat and things he saw that shaped his life. His mother Emma was Tlingit, and when she was in the village, he remembers her eating seagull eggs and wild celery dipped in seal oil, happy and laughing. When she was with non-Natives, she was quiet and would whisper, and when she had to travel by steamship to Juneau she would cry because she knew she was going to a place where people did not respect her and she would have to deal with overt and vicious racism. She would drink to make the pain go away and when she came home, he says, it would take her a long time to recover again.

"When I began to put it all together as an individual and to look at my own life, I told myself, 'Mom, I am going to make it better, I am going to make it better,'" Mallott says of his unending drive and dedication to make wherever he is a better place.

Mallott and the others featured here each describe their own reasons, based on personal experiences as Alaska Natives and leaders in the business community, for working to implement practical, finding applicable ways to make life in Alaska better, while celebrating the successes after 50 years of statehood.

BYRON MALLOTT

Byron Mallott is thinking about statehood. Regarded as one of the state's greatest Alaska Native leaders, he says he works hard to be positive when discussing the state's evolution and the advancement of Alaska Natives. But if you take into consideration where village Alaska is today, both economically and socially, compared to urban areas such as Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau, he's bothered.

"At a time of celebration, when you look back and ponder what you have achieved, you need to also look back and consider those things that you could have done differently and what you may be able to do in the future, and the future of village Alaska is certainly one of those things. In 50 years, we haven't really done what someone looking at this dispassionately would have said is anywhere near possible of being accomplished given a different set of priorities. To look at village Alaska and see that it is like a Third World country suggests to me we need to reshape our priorities for the next 50 years. When I celebrate statehood, I think of these things."

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Born and raised in Yakutat, now at 65, the context from which he speaks is considerable. Today, he is a senior fellow at the Alaska Native Policy Center and a director for Sealaska Corp. and the Alaska Air Group, Native American Bank and the National Museum of American Indians. In various capacities, he has served every governor since statehood, including being the first commissioner for the Department of Community and Regional Affairs under Gov. William Egan. He was executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. from 1995-2000, during which time dividend checks increased from $990 to $1,770. He was also appointed to the Fund's board of Trustees in 1982 by Governor Jay Hammond, served a total of eight years as a trustee under three successive governors, and chaired the corporation for three terms. From 1972-1992 he was director, chairman, and president and CEO of Sealaska Corp...