Native business enriches southeast: diverse range of economic development.

• Author: Swagel, Will
• Position: ALASKA NATIVE BUSINESS

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With more than a million hairs per square inch, sea otter fur is one of the warmest and most luxurious natural materials in the world. Lust for the fur sparked the Russian colonization of maritime Alaska from the Aleutian Islands to the islands of the Southeast panhandle. Overharvest led to the decline of the charismatic sea mammal, and in modern times hunting sea otter was banned.

Hunting sea otter is still banned--with an exception. Alaska Natives are allowed to harvest the fur, make it into traditional items, and sell them. Robert Miller of Sitka, a member of the Kiksadi clan of Tlingits, spends hours each week on a specialty sewing machine fashioning gloves, hats, pillows, and blankets that he sells through his company Sea Fur Sewing (seafursewing, com). A small pillow might cost $200 and a five-foot by seven-foot blanket fetches $7,000. Dallas Seavey was wearing a pair of Miller's sea otter mittens when he crossed the finish line in Nome in March, winning the 2016 Iditarod.

On the other side of the world, Nisga'a Data Systems supplies state-of-the-art information technology to customers in Kuwait and has done work on Navy ships. Nisga'a--which means a water bird in Tlingit--is a subsidiary of Juneau's urban Native corporation Goldbelt, Inc. One of more than a dozen subsidiaries owned by Goldbelt, Nisga'a was established to take advantage of the Small Business Administration's 8(a) program. This program sets aside a portion of federal contracts that can be bid on only by minority-owned firms to help them get established.

The range of businesses owned and operated by Alaska Natives runs the gamut between Miller's one-man shop in Sitka making traditional items and Goldbelt's employees deployed all over the world delivering the latest in computer hardware and software.

Sewing Heirlooms

Dallas Seavey wasn't the only one in the Iditarod wearing garments by Sea Fur Sewing. Further back on the trail, mushers Lance Mackey and DeeDee Jonrowe wore Sea Fur's garments. Miller says Mackey is one of his biggest supporters.

Miller says he is following in the footsteps of his Tlingit grandmother.

"She sewed and sold seal skin and sea lion moccasins to tourists back in the day," he says.

Miller's "day job" is as a biologist for the USDA Forest Service.

He does most of the marketing for Sea Fur products on social media and now has more than ten thousand likes on Facebook. He says he has plans to use more conventional advertising for this Christmas season. Miller started his business slowly at first--tanning his own pelts, for instance, to cut costs. But then, he got a boost from a program of Haa Aani LLC (Our...