Calista Corporation (pronounced ) is one of thirteen
Alaska Native Regional Corporations
The Alaska Native Regional Corporations were established in 1971 when the United States Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) which settled land and financial claims made by the Alaska Natives and provided for the establi ...
created under the
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing i ...
of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. Calista was incorporated in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
on June 12, 1972. Although the Calista region is in western Alaska, Calista Corporation is headquartered in
Anchorage
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
. Calista is a for-profit corporation with 34,500
Alaska Native
Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...
shareholders primarily of
Yup'ik
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...
descent.
The name Calista (''worker'') is a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsCentral Alaskan Yup'ik words ''cali-'', meaning "to work," and ''-ista'', meaning someone or something which does. The Yup'ik language does not have a word for "corporation".
As part of ANCSA, Calista received patent for from the federal government as well as approximately $80 million, making it the second largest corporation established under ANCSA. The Calista region covers Alaska's
Bethel
Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...
and Kusilvak census areas and includes 56 villages.
Shareholders
Currently, Calista has over 34,500 shareholders, almost all of whom are
Central Alaskan Yup'ik people
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...
, Cup'ik or
Athabaskan
Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific C ...
, and most of whom still speak the
Yup'ik
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...
subsistence
A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence econo ...
lifestyle of hunting, fishing, and gathering. At incorporation, Calista Corporation enrolled 13,303
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...
, each of whom received 100 shares of Calista stock. The total number of shareholders continues to grow due to open enrollment for descendants of original shareholders.
As an ANCSA corporation, Calista Corporation has no publicly traded stock and its shares cannot legally be sold. In 2017, after a historic vote by our Shareholders, Calista Corporation joined a small but growing number of ANCSA corporations that have opened enrollment to the descendants of its original Shareholders.
Lands
Calista Corporation owns about 6.5 million acres (26,00 km2) in southwestern Alaska on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and the
Kuskokwim Mountains
The Kuskokwim Mountains is a range of mountains in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States, west of the Alaska Range and southeast of the Yukon River. The Kuskokwim Mountains begin in the interior west of Fairbanks. The mountain range ...
. Most of this land is split estate where the village corporation owns the surface estate and Calista owns the subsurface. The region's 56 villages selected the bulk of these lands near their villages based primarily on subsistence needs. Calista's entitlement also includes 264,000 acres of fee estate lands where Calista owns both surface and subsurface rights. Much of the fee estate entitlement is prospective for precious metal mineral resources.
Because of to the importance of the land to the traditional
subsistence
A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence econo ...
economies of the region's
Yup'ik
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...
, Cup'ik, and Athabaskan residents, including the bulk of Calista's shareholders, Calista concentrated most of its land selections under
ANCSA
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing i ...
in areas surrounding the region's 56 villages.
In a land exchange with the federal government, finalized in 2001, some of Calista's surface land parcels and a portion of its subsurface estate were incorporated into the
Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge
The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge covering about in southwestern Alaska. It is the second-largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, only slightly smaller than the Arctic National Wildlife R ...
, while preserving subsistence hunting and fishing rights.
Calista is land owner to subsurface rights from
ANCSA
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing i ...
, and holds title to the large Donlin Creek gold deposit, which is leased to
Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold Corporation is a mining company that produces gold and copper with 16 operating sites in 13 countries. It is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has mining operations in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Democrati ...
and
NovaGold Resources
NOVAGOLD is a Canadian company that is pursuing the development of the Donlin Gold mine in Alaska. Headquartered in Vancouver, the company is listed on the NYSE American and the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company was founded in Dartmouth, Nova S ...
.
Business enterprises
Key Calista businesses include oil well services, telecommunication and VoIP services, secure data hosting, cybersecurity, business services, equipment leasing, computer consulting, real estate, environmental consulting, construction, marketing and advertising.
Under federal law, Calista Corporation and some its majority-owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partnerships are deemed to be "minority and economically disadvantaged business enterprise (43 USC 1626(e)).
Wholly owned subsidiaries
Calista Corporation's 30-plus subsidiaries involved in federal contracting, construction, engineering, oilfield services, equipment, real estate, and other services are organized in four holding lines:
Bektuq Holding, LLC
* Nordic-Calista, LLC
* E3 Alaska, LLC
* Qangan Lands, LLC
Bilista Holding, LLC
* Brice Inc.
* Brice Civil Constructors Inc.
* Brice Builders, LLC
* Brice Environmental
* Brice Engineering, LLC
* Brice Equipment
* Brice Marine
* Brice Solutions, LLC
* Browns Hill Quarry
* STG, Inc.
* STG Pacific, LLC
* Yukon Equipment, LLC
* Tunista Construction, LLC
Ena Holding, LLC
* Aulukista, LLC
* Calista Real Estate, LLC
* Tunista, Inc.
Yulista Holding, LLC
* Yulista Aviation, Inc.
* Yulista Integrated Solutions, LLC
* Y-Tech Services, Inc.
* Yulista Tactical Services, LLC
* Yulista Support Services, LLC
* Tunista Services, LLC
* Tunista Logistics Solutions, LLC
* Chiulista Services, Inc.
* Troy7
Joint Ventures
Calista owns joint ventures in:
* Delta EMI, LLC (25% owner of Delta Constructors, LLC)
* Redstone Defense Systems (51% owned by Yulista Aviation)
* Defense Systems and Solutions (51% owned by Yulista Integrated Solutions)