Page 15 - NG_AR_2016

The biggest challenge we’re dealing with here in Aniak is the state economy. We are so dependent on one source, and that’s oil. And look what’s happened to oil these last couple years. Everything fell – municipal systems have been cut from the state budget, and that’s how the cities operate. They get most of their money from the state. They get some from the Bureau of Indian A airs, but not that much. The traditional council also gets federal dollars, but that’s shrinking too. Having to rely on handouts like these is like being enslaved.
Both Calista and The Kuskokwim Corporation see the out- migration of shareholders, and they are concerned about it. They want people to move back, but there are no jobs. That’s why Calista and TKC are very supportive of Donlin Gold – because the only time jobs open here is when someone retires at the post o ce or school or if someone dies.
Morgan
When we were growing up we traveled in dog teams. Without your dog team, you couldn’t subsist; you couldn’t live o the land. Nowadays everyone’s starting to realize that getting a paycheck is subsistence – and that there’s no better way to beat welfare than with jobs. Nothing better than a paycheck. Because without it, you cannot subsist.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
THE KUSKOKWIM CORPORATION ANIAK, ALASKA
13
Carl