Mayor Mark Begich remarks
Alaska Federation of Natives Annual Convention
9:40 a.m.; Oct. 20, 2005; Carlson Center, Fairbanks

Thank you for that introduction.

Thanks also to Co-Chairs - Senator Albert Kookesh and Tim Towarak; to President Julie Kitka, and to the entire AFN board for the continued leadership that you do every day on the important issues to Alaska Natives throughout our great state.

And a special thank you to the elders for allowing me to be here, but also sharing their wisdom and knowledge with us throughout the morning already and through the Youth & Elders Conference.

I saw a couple of the phrases they used which we can learn a great deal from: “Working together” and “respecting one another.” I thank the elders for those words of wisdom.

I’m truly honored to share the stage this morning with the mayors of this great area. Mayor Whitaker and Mayor Thompson and I have a great rivalry, just because we’re Anchorage and Fairbanks. But it really is good to be here in this warm welcome.

As cities, we’re like brothers in a big family and you always kind of compete in a positive way. But when the important issues come about, we truly stick together.

But I do have to say I left 54 degree weather in Anchorage this morning with sunny skies and green grass. I had to find my winter jacket to come to Fairbanks and be here this morning.
 
Truly, we are a big family. We agree that what’s important is bringing Alaskans together.

Let me say it very clearly as the leader of Alaska’s largest city. We have an obligation to work hand in hand with rural Alaska to reach the greatest potential of this great state, not only for this generation, but for the multiple generations to come.

We welcome rural Alaska in Anchorage. In fact, we need you and we are doing all we can to make Anchorage the best possible center for commerce and medical care for our rural neighbors.

The success of Anchorage is truly dependent on the success of rural Alaska. We are equal partners in making sure our state reaches its full potential.

Next year we will be breaking ground on a new convention center in downtown Anchorage that we believe will be the pride of Alaska. And yes, it will easily accommodate conventions the size of AFN, and larger.

At the same time, we are growing our museum, in large part to be a better place to showcase Alaska Native art from the Smithsonian, which has been in storage for years. Not only for Alaskans to enjoy, but the thousands and thousands of visitors who come to our great city to see what Alaska is all about.

We are redeveloping downtown to make the city friendlier and safer to pedestrians. We are working hard to prevent crime and aggressively fighting crime, making our city safer for all Alaskans. We are working hard to earn your visits to Anchorage.

As mayor, I speak for the vast majority of our residents in saying you are a welcome and a valued part of our community. Yes, you can guess that I’m making my pitch to earn the opportunity to host AFN once again.

I come from a generation born and raised in this state. I come with a different attitude. Improving relations between urban and rural Alaska has long been a mission of my family that goes back decades.  And just as in our family, that tradition and that mission passes on to my generation and the future generations.

Earlier this month we marked the second annual Mayor’s Diversity Week, where we celebrated Anchorage’s diversity, that we are very proud of. We are proud of the 96 languages spoken in our schools, with a significant number of the languages Alaska Native languages.

We are proud that over 30,000 people with Native ancestry live in Anchorage.

From the time I worked in the legislature, Sen. Al Adams always reminded me Anchorage is Alaska’s largest native village by population. And we recognize that.

We will not stand for a divide between urban and rural, or between Native and white. To do so would be to divide against ourselves. That is why Anchorage is proud to stand with rural Alaska - politically and economically.

Rural Alaska has many challenges. I understand the energy crisis facing villages across Alaska. We support your efforts to keep homes warm and businesses healthy with full funding of PCE, and energy programs that create sustainable lifestyles within rural communities.

In a family that comes from education, I understand the true value of education and I understand the importance of education in the Native culture and the need to equitably fund every school in Alaska. We support your efforts to get the funding your children need, and I commend you for picking education as one of your main themes for this conference.

As mayors, we understand that too many villages are eliminating essential services – or even shutting the doors – because of lack of assistance from state government. We support sharing Alaska’s enormous wealth with every community in this state.

It’s appalling to me to be from one of the richest states in the country, with the greatest natural resources you can imagine. And to be one of the only states in the country that does not share that wealth directly with villages, cities, and communities in the form of a revenue sharing program.

I understand the need for unique justice systems in rural Alaska. As someone who was a founder and an assistant in expanding the youth court systems in Alaska which were modeled after tribal courts, elder panels, and other traditional ways of rural Alaska. How to create good justice systems that create better people once they come through the justice system.

And I commend you for that example that we have learned from and share that with the people of Anchorage.

We are brothers and sisters.  To the people of the Golden Heart City, and to the people of Bethel, Barrow and Kake and Kwethluk and many others communities represented here.

We are all Alaskans working together as you heard elders say, putting aside our differences, focused as a family, we as Alaskans can accomplish a great deal and reach the optimum level of opportunity for this generation and the next generation.

Congratulations on your convention here in Fairbanks, and best wishes for successful work. Thank you.

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