March 2007

This is the time of year when we watch the snow start to melt and can feel the oncoming breakup, signaling life to spring into action. After a successful planning session in Seattle at the end of February I feel that The Aleut Corporation is in a similar situation. Many great ideas were discussed and approved so we’re ready to move forward with another great year.

First of all, the board approved a general policy for an internship program that will be the beginning of a much broader shareholder leadership development program. We are planning to begin the internship program this fall with one individual who is in college, technical, or graduate school. Individuals interested in participating will need to signify on their Fall Aleut Foundation application. My staff and I are still in the development stages of the overall leadership program, so look for more information in the upcoming newsletters.

It’s hard to think of events in October when we are still waiting for spring to begin, but it’s never too early to start planning. The board approved a plan to bring more shareholders to attend the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, which will be in Fairbanks this year. TAC will be sponsoring two college students, three elders, three youths (one more elder and youth than last year), and two shareholders from outside Anchorage to attend the AFN Convention. Interested shareholders and descendants should contact The Aleut Foundation for more information.

The TAC board of directors has authorized a donation of $65,000 towards the Aleut Language program at A/PIA. Shareholders at the last annual meeting emphasized the importance of keeping our language and culture a priority, and The Aleut Corporation feels this program is a step in the right direction towards this goal. We hope and encourage all shareholders and descendants to take advantage of this program and utilize the opportunity to keep Unangam Tunuu around for generations.

We will also begin a series of educational booklets to address some of the recurring questions from shareholders compiled from the last surveys. Each booklet will have a comment section. Your input is important and we look forward to hearing from you on each issue.

Last but not least, I am working on scheduling my village visits for the year. Last year was a great learning experience for me, so this season I feel better prepared to plan in advance for our shareholder informational meetings. Our tentative schedule for the informational meetings is as follows:

St. George May 7th
St. Paul May 9th
Unalaska June 6th
Nikolski June 7th
Atka June 8th
Akutan June 9th
Sand Point August 20th
False Pass August 21st
Nelson Lagoon August 21st
King Cove August 21st

Please mark your calendars, and know that these dates are tentative and subject to change due to weather. We would like to encourage more shareholders to participate in the informational meetings. The Aleut Foundation’s Executive Director Leatha Merculieff will be traveling with me as well to offer information on the services that TAF provides. We will also be drawing one shareholder’s name that attends these meetings to win one round trip ticket to attend the 35th Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Anchorage on October 20th. We hope to see you there!

Thomas Mack
President