Calista Corporation (pronounced [tʃɑlɪstɑ])[1] is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. Calista was incorporated in Alaska on June 12, 1972.[2] Although the Calista region is in western Alaska, Calista Corporation is headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. Calista is a for-profit corporation with 34,500 Alaska Native shareholders primarily of Yup'ik descent.[3]
The name Calista (worker) is a portmanteau of the Central 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 4,997,263 acres (20,223.21 km2) 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 and Kusilvak census areas and includes 56 villages.
Calista Corporation owns about 6.5 million acres (26,00 km2) in southwestern Alaska on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and the Kuskokwim Mountains.[5] 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 264,000264,000 acres (1,070 km2) 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.[6]
Because of the importance of the land to the traditional subsistence economies of the region's Yup'ik, Cup'ik, and Athabaskan residents, including the bulk of Calista's shareholders, Calista concentrated most of its land selections under ANCSA 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, while preserving subsistence hunting and fishing rights.
Calista is land owner to subsurface rights from ANCSA, and holds title to the large Donlin Creek gold deposit, which is leased to Barrick Gold and NovaGold Resources.[7][8]
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.[9]
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[s]" (43 USC 1626(e)).[10]
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:[11]
Bektuq Holding, LLC
Calista Brice, LLC
Ena Holding, LLC
Yulista Holding, LLC
Calista owns joint ventures in:[12]