Land claims at the grass roots: 1966 letters and village newsletters

NANA
Box 33
Kotzebue
November 28, 1966

Mr. Robert Newlin
Noorvik, Alaska

Dear Robert:

The third general meeting of the Northwest Alaska Native Association will be held December 2‑4: We can pay the fare of two men if the council pays one way for one man. In other words, we'll get one man down and two up if the council pays the other man's way down.

The meetings will begin at the BIA school on Friday the 2nd at 3:00 p.m.

We hope each village will prepare a short report about village conditions which can be given at the conference.

We will complete the by‑laws with the help of Herbert Soll, a lawyer from Anchorage. We will also have a new election of officers and discuss the land claim again.

Please get in touch with the councils and see who they have selected to represent Noorvik. We are hoping the council presidents will be able to attend‑if not, any other two men selected will be quite all right.

Weather permitting, we hope to see you at 3:00 p.m. Friday.

Sincerely,
(letter is signed“Willie”)
Rep. Willie Hensley
Director, NANA

Elsewhere on Alaskool - items mentioning Robert Newlin:
: "NANA, ASNA May Merge" - Tundra Times, September 2, 1966
"Northwest Native Assn. Holds Kotzebue Meet" - Tundra Times, November 11, 1970
"Inupiaq Values Interviews" - High School Inupiat Ilitqusiat project

On Alaskool by Willie Hensley:
"What Rights to Land Have the Alaska Natives?: The Primary Issue" - May 1966
Testimony at pre-ANCSA hearings - October 1969
Speech - "Why the Natives of Alaska Have a Land Claim" - November 1969
Bilingual Conference Speech - February, 1981
"The Founding and Formation of the Northwest Alaska Native Association" - March, 2000