[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14799-14800]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING RICHARD FRANK

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, the front page of this morning's 
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner carries the sad news that Richard Frank, an 
Athabascan elder, died at age 85.
  Richard Frank is an individual of great significance in the history 
of post-statehood Alaska. He was among the first Alaska Native leaders 
to recognize the risk that development of the modern State of Alaska 
posed to the subsistence lifestyle of traditional villages like his 
home village of Minto in Interior Alaska. He was among the first Native 
leaders to organize his people in opposition to State land selections 
that would prejudice the eventual settlement of the aboriginal land 
claims of Alaska Natives. And his leadership, recognized throughout the 
State, is one of the reasons that the Native peoples of Alaska won 
their battle for land claims with passage of the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act of 1971.
  Richard Frank was born on August 27, 1927, in Old Minto. He was 
educated at the village school. Some historians say that the village 
school provided an education up to the third grade. Others say it was 
the fourth. What is undisputed is that Richard Frank possessed a sense 
of adventure and wisdom far beyond his formal education. Growing up 
around the fishing and trapping camps of the Yukon River he gained an 
appreciation of the interdependence between the land and the Native way 
of life. But some would say it was his experience in the Army Air Corps 
during World War II that best prepared him for the leadership role he 
would occupy in the 1960s.
  Richard's wartime experience is chronicled in Fern Chardonnet's book, 
``Alaska at War, 1941-1945.'' She relates that World War II presented 
an extraordinary opportunity for Alaska Natives. Many, for the first 
time, received the same pay and benefits as White workers, and a chance 
to acquire new skills and to build genuine self esteem. Richard Frank 
was a case in point. Upon enlisting he was encouraged to pursue 
specialized training as an aircraft mechanic. At first he said, ``No,'' 
but his commanding officer had confidence in Richard and he agreed to 
pursue the training. Richard relates that the passing score in training 
was 2.5 and he completed the course with a 3.9. He went on to service 
P-47 fighters in the South Pacific.
  Richard regarded himself as lucky. Service in the military showed 
young men from the village that there was another option. After the war 
Richard worked as a mechanic for Wien Alaska Airlines and Boeing, 
though his heart remained in village Alaska.
  The son of a traditional village chief, he found his calling in the 
early 1960s as the battle for Alaska's lands was beginning. The Alaska 
Statehood Act gave the State of Alaska the right to select lands but 
left resolution of Alaska Native land claims for another day.
  One of the areas where State land selections first conflicted with 
Native hunting, fishing, and trapping activities was in the Minto Lakes 
region of Interior Alaska. The State wanted to establish a recreation 
area in 1961 near the Athabascan village of Minto and to construct a 
road so that the region would be more easily accessible to Fairbanks 
residents and visiting sportsmen. In addition, State officials believed 
that the area held potential for future development of oil and other 
resources.
  Learning of these plans of the State, Minto filed a protest with the 
U.S. Interior Department. The people of Minto had filed blanket claims 
to the area in the 1930s, and Richard's father, then Traditional Chief, 
delineated this area as belonging to the Minto people in 1951. Minto 
asked the Federal agency to protect their rights to the region by 
turning down the State's application for the land. Minto's attorney was 
none other than the late Senator Ted Stevens who took up their cause 
pro bono.
  In response to the protest, a meeting of sportsmen, biologists, 
conservationists, and State officials was held in 1963 to discuss the 
proposed road and recreation area.
  Richard argued that State development in the region would ruin the 
subsistence way of life of the Natives and urged that the recreation 
area be established elsewhere, where new hunting pressure would not 
threaten the traditional economy. He said, ``A village is at stake. Ask 
yourself this question, is a recreation area worth the future of a 
village?''
  He also took his cause to the Alaska Conservation Society in 
Anchorage. He told the conservation society members that without the 
use of the lakes, Minto's people would go hungry. Lael Morgan, in her 
landmark book, ``The Life and Times of Howard Rock,'' relates Richard's 
pleas for support. He said, ``Nothing is so sorrowful for a hunter, 
empty handed, to be greeted by hungry children.''
  A 1985 history of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 
characterized Minto's protest as a precursor of events to come. During 
the years that followed, many other Native communities would protest 
actions that threatened their lands. In 1966, Secretary of the Interior 
Stewart Udall gave the land claims movement teeth by initiating a 
freeze on the transfer of lands to the State which were protested by 
the Native people.
  As a well respected Native leader and elder, Richard went on to play 
significant roles in the Tanana Chiefs Conference and the Fairbanks 
Native Association. He served on the Governor's Veterans Advisory 
Committee and founded the Alaska Native Veterans Association. It is 
also appropriate to acknowledge Richard's role as the patriarch of one 
of the truly great Fairbanks families. Richard's wife of 57 years, 
Anna, became the first Native American woman ordained as a priest in 
the Episcopal Church in 1983. Richard was the father of four and was 
blessed with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
  As a significant figure in Alaska's history, Richard was generous to 
collectors of oral history. One of those oral histories was done for 
the Alaska Trappers Association, which notes,

[[Page 14800]]

``Richard freely shares insight into the Native view of the world. He 
takes great pride in their dedication to family. He speaks often of the 
lessons he learned from his elders.''
  Alaska has truly lost a significant figure. If it is any condolence, 
Richard's life experiences were rich, he accomplished a great deal for 
his Native people, and he supported a truly wonderful family. Thanks to 
modern technology, his stories and life experiences will live on for 
eternity.
  On behalf of the Senate I extend condolences to Reverend Anna, 
Richard's family, and the Athabascan people of Interior Alaska who are 
preparing to honor and celebrate Richard's life next week with a 
Memorial Potlatch.

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