Not only did 11 of the 12 Native Alaska Tribes vote to grant road access to the Pebble mine on their land, they ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNED for allowing the access AND for granting permission for the mine to be built.
For some reason the NRDC and other anti-Pebble opponents fail to mention that 11 of the 12 tribes are FOR THE PEBBLE MINE! Instead, they say that all the tribes are against it.
Opponents use lies, instead of truth. That tells you what type of people they are.
As for the one tribe that is opposed to the Pebble mine:
Knowledge is Power
To start off, it is instructive to see
what is happening with the
Bristol Bay Native Corporation
The Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) is the only one of the 12 Native Corporations that is against the Pebble mine. The elected leaders of the BBNC are virulent antagonists of the Pebble mine, but it is the Alaskan Natives of the area that are the true people in charge of the corporation, through their privately owned shares of corporation stock.
Last year Pebble Limited Partnership created an {advisory board} and asked people to join it, including Pebble opponents. So that Pebble could interact directly with them, listen to their concerns, and work with them in resolving them.
One of BBNC's board members announced that she was going to talk to the Pebble Partnership. She said that she was not for the Pebble mine at this time, but that it would only be fair to the people in her jurisdiction to find out what Pebble had in mind for the mine, and see if it would actually harm the Bristol Bay area.
BBNC's management were furious. They ostracized her. They got her neighbors to lecture her. They did this non-stop, and she finally resigned.
However, this made other members furious at the BBNC management. Two board members stepped forward and said that they were going to take her place, and talk to the Pebble Partnership, and that nobody was going to intimidate them into resigning.
In addition to that, Abe Williams, a BBNC shareholder, and fourth-generation Bristol Bay fisherman, wrote an {opinions piece:}
"Bristol Bay Native Corp. needs to rethink the region’s needs and it's opposition to Pebble."
In it, he said what he found concerning, was "the recent censorship and bullying towards one of its own board members. They took this action not because someone changed their opposition to Pebble, but for accepting a seat on an advisory panel to have the option for meaningful engagement and understanding of the project by those who promote it."
"I have watched our leaders' performance for some time and wanted to raise my concerns in a forum where they could be heard, and I am not alone in expecting more from our leaders."
"We need to include open minded review of the Pebble Partnership's plan for a mine site near Iliamna, the infrastructure to support it, and possible benefits for the area."
"Over the recent years the BBNC leadership has deeply rooted itself into its opposition of the Pebble project, to the point they have taken a negative aim not only at shareholders who support more of
an open-minded approach. Bristol Bay Native Corporation needs to rethink the region’s needs and its opposition to Pebble."
"The question I want to pose to our leaders is what do you fear from discussion and conversation? This is how we learn and how we stay informed. To do less than this, in my opinion, is a severe dereliction of stewardship and leadership."
"Perhaps it's time to review our corporation's election processes to ensure equal opportunity is afforded to all possible candidates. I personally think we should have greater regional representation on our board so that more perspectives make their way into the board room when decisions are being made. I also think we should consider the concept of reasonable term limits so that we attract a broader range of people to help our corporation."
Opposition is building within the BBNC to its stand against the Pebble mine
