Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. (CITC) wishes to offer clarification regarding to Mr. Alvin V. Steik’s comments in a letter to the editor (“Corporations not fulfilling obligations to Alaska Natives”) which published on Jan. 30:
Located in Anchorage, CITC is a tribal nonprofit service organization assisting Alaska Native and American Indian people residing in the Cook Inlet region of southcentral Alaska. As a nonprofit organization, CITC has no shareholders, but our participants work hard each day to realize their full potential. We believe that when we work together, we can help each other develop our strengths and talents, and become successful and self-sufficient individuals, families and communities.
CITC was established in 1983 by Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) — one of 12 Alaska Native Regional Corporations founded under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971. CITC is part of a variety of nonprofit organizations within the CIRI family that provide educational, housing, employment, social and cultural services, recovery services, and child and family services to CIRI shareholders, Alaska Native and American Indian people, and the community at-large.
As one of the nation’s preeminent, culturally responsive social-service organizations, CITC assists more than 10,000 people annually through a breadth of supportive programming — education, employment and training services, workforce development, family preservation, and support for individuals recovering from addiction, substance abuse and/or incarceration.
CITC is built on values rooted in Alaska Native cultures, and the belief that investing in individual human potential builds human capital, and advances the self-determination of Our People. All of our programs are steeped in our deeply held belief that true self-determination is grounded in self-sufficiency and the ability to take responsibility for one’s own life, family and community.
We welcome you to learn more at citci.org.
Tim Blum
Communication Officer
Cook Inlet Tribal Council