Corporations are not tribes

To the editor:

It is my understanding that corporations are legal fiction with no brains or morals. Tribes are families. Corporations have to put money above all else. Sometimes that just equals greed.

My ancestors believed that no one could own land. Humans were put on this Earth to take care of it.

If we did a good job, we would be provided with what we need.

Taking good care of the land didn’t mean cutting down all the trees. They’re here for a reason. We used to cut down or torch the dead trees, but not all of the trees. That doesn’t sound like “forest protection” to me.

Sealaska’s proposal is part of a bigger land selection bill that is very controversial in Southeast Alaska. The part that extends these tribal laws to Native corporate lands makes Sealaska’s bills — S. 881 and H.R. 2099 — even more controversial.

Some Alaska Natives know the difference between our tribal governments and the profit-making corporations created by the land claims act. Congress shouldn’t confuse the two.

Patricia Wade

Palmer