Legislature(1995 - 1996)
05/08/1995 10:25 AM Senate RES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SR 4 REINDEER INDUSTRY ACT OF 1937
CHAIRMAN LEMAN called the Senate Resources Committee meeting to
order at 10:25 a.m., and introduced SR 4 as the only order of
business.
SENATOR HALFORD, prime sponsor of SR 4, explained that several
years ago an opinion was requested from the Bureau of Indian
Affairs by Tom Williams, a resident of Alaska, as to whether the
Reindeer Industry Act of 1937 applied to importing Canadian
reindeer into Alaska. The BIA stated that it did not for a number
of reasons. Based on that action, Mr. Williams spent a
considerable amount of money and imported a herd of Canadian
reindeer.
However, there was an appeal back through the BIA process and
finally to a judge. The judge did not give not a written ruling,
but Senator Halford obtained a transcription of the judge's oral
ruling in which the judge said that it was evident to him that the
case raises issues that must be decided by the Ninth Circuit Court.
The judge stated clearly that Alaska is not an equal state, and he
believes the Reindeer Act was and is constitutional. Senator
Halford believes the questions that are open are: if the Reindeer
Act got transferred at the time of statehood, and if the Reindeer
Act applies to reindeer that are not Alaskan reindeer.
Senator Halford said Mr. Williams is now faced with an order that
says he must divest of the reindeer or the federal government will
basically take them. They will take them from an Alaska citizen on
private property in an area of total state land far from any of the
other reindeer activities. He noted Mr. Williams was getting along
very well and being very cooperative in the animal husbandry
issues, disease issues, etc., in dealing with the Seward Peninsula
reindeer herders.
Senator Halford stated he thinks that if the state of Alaska
accepts a federal opinion that the reindeer industry is a racially
defined industry, the state of Alaska then is in a serious problem
in providing land leases, payments, services for any other state
action, because he thinks that gets into a question of
constitutionality with the Alaska Constitution. He introduced SR
4 because he believes Congress can clarify the issue.
Number 122
TOM WILLIAMS, testifying from Eagle River, said the judge ruled,
specifically, that the Native Act and the Alaska Omnibus Act had no
application here. He ruled that the Indian Commerce Clause is
superior to and overrules the Bill of Rights in the U.S.
Constitution and the Statehood Compact with the United States of
America.
Mr. Williams said this is a lot like the subsistence issue, and it
may be that in the end, after state and federal representatives
review these things together, that it should be defined that the
state has the authority under its Constitution and with the equal
footing under this Act to conduct the reindeer industry on lands
distributed by the state and the federal government has the
authority to conduct the reindeer industry on the federal lands.
Otherwise, and under AS 18.80.255, a private citizen can bring a
lawsuit against the state or any political subdivision that refuses
or withholds any state money, services, or lands from a person
because of their race. Under that concept, the state then would
have to deny all state resources to the entire reindeer industry.
Mr. Williams noted that today, on the Seward Peninsula alone, there
are five million acres of state land that are freely made available
to the Natives at no cost to them. That is a breach of both the
Constitution and AS 18.80.255. He said a Native will have to lose
all state funding unless this is modified or agreed upon, then at
least the state can conduct its fairness equal rights on state
land.
Number 200
ROSE ATUK FOSDICK, Director, Kawerak Reindeer Herders Association,
testified from Nome that there was not adequate notice on the
hearing on SR 4, and she requested that more time be given for
public input.
Ms. Fosdick voiced the Kawerak Reindeer Herders Association's
strong opposition to any changes to the Reindeer Industry Act of
1937. They believe changes to the Act would be detrimental to the
economic well being of rural communities where Alaska Native people
reside and also where the majority of the reindeer industry is
located. Reindeer are a trust resource of the Department of
Interior, and they are held in trust for the benefit of Alaska
Native people. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the Bering Straits
Coastal Resource Management Plan, etc., have all expressed support
for reindeer herding in rural Alaska. Also, there is a great deal
of support from communities within the state.
Concluding her testimony, Ms. Fosdick said reindeer herding is a
tradition in Northwest Alaska and it is an important part of the
economy, and their association believes that the Reindeer Industry
Act contains provisions for a self-sustaining economy for Alaska's
Native people.
Number 265
SENATOR HALFORD asked Ms. Fosdick if their position would change or
would it be the same if there were an opinion from the state that
if the Reindeer Industry Act maintained its totally exclusive
jurisdiction, that any state action were illegal under equal
protection and, therefore, there could be no appropriations or
state leases. ROSE FOSDICK answered that their position would be
the same.
TOM WILLIAMS said he agrees with Ms. Fosdick that the trust
resource is held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. That resource is
those animals that the United States purchased in 1937 and their
descendants. Where they disagree is whether they control all the
reindeer as a whole. Where they also disagree is what Ms. Fosdick
calls a change in the Reindeer Industry Act. He said he doesn't
think it is a change; the state has the set of laws. He said what
we are addressing today is a change that did occur by the judge.
Up until the judge ruled and the BIA before him, the United States
had taken the position that he could own reindeer on his private
property that were imported from foreign nations. Therefore, there
was no racial discrimination.
Number 312
SENATOR AL ADAMS said the Reindeer Industry Act of 1937 was
federal legislation that was part of Indian legislation devised by
the Reverend Sheldon Jackson to give Alaska Natives opportunities
to make a living and contribute to themselves. He said that is the
real story here and it should be protected. When you start taking
away perhaps the only way of making a living in rural Alaska, then
you really want to get them on AFDC and other welfare programs, and
that is not correct, he stated.
Senator Adams pointed out that the rural Natives, mainly the
Eskimos, don't have the same opportunities that they would have in
some of the other areas of the state. He believes that if changes
were made to the Reindeer Industry Act, the people who this program
was set up for would lose their livelihood.
Senator Adams stated his strong opposition to SR 4 and urged that
it be held in committee.
Number 375
SENATOR LEMAN said he supports the existing reindeer industry by
Natives and he wants it to be an economic way of life for those
people. However, he asked Senator Adams if he was saying that
competition is so severe that it causes them not to be able to
compete. SENATOR ADAMS responded that it is not severe, but he
pointed out that the Native herders are not on equal footing with
Mr. Williams: they don't have slaughter houses, they don't have
road systems, they don't have water and sewer to do these things;
they do it right on the tundra. He suggested that if Mr. Williams
wants to do this, he should do it in Anaktuvak Pass, or on the
Deering Range, or on the Candle Range. He added that it would
probably be easier to just say that the federal law and the
Reindeer Industry Act of 1937 prohibits anybody else but Alaska
Natives to be able to reindeer herd, and to just leave competition
out of the discussion.
Number 400
SENATOR HALFORD commented that there are a number of
interpretations of the 1937 Act that could protect the trust
reindeer, and there are a lot of ways that this judge could have
left in place protection for the Seward Peninsula and the
traditional reindeer ranges and still have gone along with what
they told Mr. Williams when he asked them if it was legal to import
reindeer from somewhere else. He said he would like to see the
narrowest reading of the exemption that is fair to a person that
acted based on a request to the federal government of what their
laws were and acted in compliance with all state laws.
Number 435
SANDRA TAHBONE, testifying from Nome, stated her opposition to SR
4 and her concurrence with the testimony of Rose Fosdick and
Senator Adams.
Ms. Tahbone said the bottom line is that the resolution does not
speak to the actual issue, which is money. She said if there was
no money in reindeer, Mr. Williams would not be sitting in Wasilla
right now.
Ms. Tahbone requested that the Senate not pass SR 4.
Number 450
SENATOR LEMAN asked Ms. Tahbone if she was concerned about Mr.
Williams' competition and if his competition drives down the market
price for meat and horns from reindeer. SANDRA TAHBONE answered
that it is not the competition, it is money. Mr. Williams wants to
get into the industry to make money. The industry right now is
developing and the reindeer herders have not really had the
opportunity to fully make it a self-sustaining industry. She
believes that whenever there is an opportunity for a money making
enterprise, Native people have been manipulated on the industry.
Number 465
TOM WILLIAMS stated his business poses little competition to the
Native herders because he always charges a minimum of 50 percent
higher than they do for antler sales. He also has expenses such as
property taxes, personal property taxes on the reindeer themselves,
etc., which are expenses the Native people don't have to pay.
Number 507
SENATOR LINCOLN said she thinks the resolution is putting the cart
before the horse. She questioned why, if there is an appeal
process going through the Ninth Circuit Court, the legislature is
imposing upon what is felt to be the court's decision by requesting
Congress to clarify the Reindeer Industry Act of 1937. She
cautioned that the legislature will end up in a legal battle if it
is not careful. She urged that Senator Halford wait until after
the Ninth Circuit Court makes it decision, and if that decision is
not favorable to his constituents, to then bring the issue back
before the legislature for discussion.
SENATOR HALFORD pointed out that in 1986 and again in 1989 the
BIA's opinion to Mr. Williams was that there was nothing in the
1937 Reindeer Act that prohibited a non-Native, such as Mr.
Williams, from importing live reindeer from outside of the state of
Alaska and raising them within the state of Alaska as either a
hobby or a business. He said Mr. Williams made a large investment
in purchasing 200 reindeer that the federal government can't really
take away from him until they pay for them so they are stuck in
their own act, but the state of Alaska is sitting here with a lot
of actions that are unconstitutional under our Alaska Constitution.
TAPE 95-59, SIDE B
Number 001
Senator Halford further stated that he wouldn't be opposed to
narrowing the resolution to say that the 1937 Act does not apply to
restrict non-Native ownership of imported reindeer, because that is
probably the narrowest exemption that doesn't affect at all of the
pre-1937 reindeer. The goal is to give the guy a chance to survive
where he, who is a practicing attorney, has to hire attorneys and
can't seem to get anywhere economically.
Number 025
SENATOR TAYLOR spoke to his frustrations with the discussion on
racism. He said when we continue to perpetuate that form of
patronizing racism, it is a mistake that violates the integrity of
the U.S. Constitution and every single thing that that Constitution
stands for.
Number 100
SENATOR LINCOLN moved that SR 4 be held in committee until the
Ninth Circuit Court makes its decision. SENATOR TAYLOR objected.
The roll was taken with the following result: Senators Hoffman and
Lincoln voted "Yea" and Senators Taylor, Halford, Frank and Leman
voted "Nay." The motion failed.
Number 115
SENATOR HALFORD said he was trying to find the narrowest exemption
that has the least impact. He then moved to amend the "Be it
Resolved" clause to say that the Reindeer Industry Act of 1937 does
not apply to restrict non-Native ownership of imported reindeer in
the state of Alaska. SENATOR LINCOLN objected. SENATOR HALFORD
withdrew his amendment.
Number 144
SENATOR HALFORD moved that SR 4 be passed out of committee with
individual recommendations. SENATOR LINCOLN objected. The roll
was taken with the following result: Senators Frank, Halford,
Taylor, and Leman voted "Yea" and Senators Lincoln and Hoffman
voted "Nay." SENATOR LEMAN stated the motion carried.
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