top of page
Tikigaq Story: About
2019.04.14 Point Hope-107.jpg

Paglalikun.Welcome

shutterstock_56025076.jpg

Our Roots

The Inupiat people inhabit the oldest continuously settled Native American site on the continent. Specifically, the Tikigagmuit (Tikigaq people) reside in the village of Point Hope, Alaska which is located 330 miles southwest of Barrow, above the Arctic Circle and approximately 720 air miles northwest of Anchorage on a spit of land jutting into the Chukchi Sea in Northwest Alaska. This highly favorable site has abundant resources and has enabled the Tikigagmuit to retain a strong traditional cultural presence.

 

It is reportedly the oldest continuously inhabited village on the North American continent with over 2,500 years of recorded history. The spit of land jutting into the Chukchi Sea resembles an index finger and Tikigaq means index finger in the Inupiaq language.

Our Roots

Village Life

Point Hope is a subsistence village dependent upon fishing, gathering and hunting of marine mammals for food. The subsistence activities throughout the year revolve around whales, other marine mammals and land mammals. The bowhead whale is at the center of the Inupiat culture; whaling crews hunt the bowhead in the spring and whaling captains hold positions of respect in the village. Subsistence activities vary from preparation for whale hunting, to sharing the whale when caught during Nalukataq (a summer festivity in which successful whaling crews share the whale with the community). The residents of Point Hope proudly celebrate their traditional past and embrace their promising future; this is demonstrated through the Tikigaq Mission Statement and overall philosophy of the corporation’s subsidiaries.

Language 

Inupiaq is the plural word for Northern Eskimos. Inupiaq is the singular word for an Eskimo person of this region and the name of the language spoken by the people. For Inupiaq, language is intrinsic to their culture and traditions. The Inupiaq language consists of Inuit-Inupiat families of languages spoken from Siberia (Yupik) to Greenland (Inupiaq). Many dialects are understandable to speakers of neighboring dialects. The Inuit language family is a sub-family of the Eskimo-Aleut language family. In Alaska, a linguistic division depends on whether the speakers consider themselves Inuit or Yuit (Inupiat or Yupik). The geographic linguistic and cultural boundary seems to occur close to the Yukon River.

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA)

Because of Alaska’s indigenous population, land ownership has always been a historically contentious issue for the state. The longstanding debate over Native claims to Alaska land came to a head in 1968 when enormous oil reserves were discovered in Prudhoe Bay. It was broadly acknowledged that transporting the oil across 700 miles of traditional Native lands to the ice-free port of Valdez would require an immediate decision on the question of what land belonged to the state and federal government and what land belonged to the Alaska Natives.

 

Addressing the issue once and for all, Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971. The first thing the new law did was create 12 Alaska Native Regional Corporations (a 13th would be added later) and over 200 village corporations. The second thing the law did was transfer the title of over 44 million acres of Alaska land to these regional and village corporations to be divided up proportionally along with nearly $1 billion dollars in cash. In short, Native land claims were nullified, and instead, the Government put land and money into the hands of Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) whose Shareholders were Alaska Natives.

 

This solution was designed to address the land claims disputes that had plagued the state for years, but it was also designed to serve as a solution to the economic problems faced by Native peoples. By assigning land and money to each ANC, and by making Alaska Natives Shareholders of those companies, the federal government hoped to give Alaska Natives a self-sufficient way of providing for the economic viability of their people.


In 1971Tikigaq Corporation was formed as one of the many village corporations called for by ANCSA. Tikigaq has more than 1400 Shareholders, and its mission is to support those Shareholders both financially and culturally through the pursuit of business opportunities.

Effective Leadership

We know that effective and capable leadership is required to inspire employees to create quality products, services and solutions that meet the expectations of our customers. Our leadership team cultivates the company’s success with their direction, expertise, and experience.

Board of Directors

The Tikigaq Corporation Board of Directors plays an integral role in strategic planning and growth initiatives. They represent the wide-ranging diversity of our company and contribute considerable time, effort, and energy to furthering our mission and improving the wellbeing of our Shareholders.

Tikigaq-27 Sayers.jpg

Sayers Tuzroyluk, Sr.

Chairman

Tikigaq-10 Ryan.jpg

Ryan J.C. Rock

President

Tikigaq-13 Elmer.jpg

Elmer Frankson

Vice- Chairman

no-image-icon-hi.png

Director

Village Life
Language
ANCSA
Effective Leadership

Operational Management

Tikigaq-10 Ryan.jpg

Ryan J.C. Rock

President and CEO

john witte_edited_edited_edited_edited.j

John Witte

Acting COO - Senior Strategist

Martie.png

 Martie Vlcek
   Chief Financial Officer 

David Rickards - Portrait.jpg

David Rickards

Contracts Compliance

Christina Darley.jpg

Christina Johnson 

Human Resources 

no-image-icon-hi.png

Health, Safety, Environment  

no-image-icon-hi.png

Information Technology

james%2520pic_edited_edited.jpg

James Daniel IV

General Manager

Construction 

SJMATNEY.jpg

Stephen Matney, PMP

General Manager,

Environmental

Kelly Safford.jpg

Kelly Safford
Controller

no-image-icon-hi.png

 Yuliya Jordan

Assistant Controller 

Tikigaq-26 Tina.jpg

Christina N. Tippin

Treasurer

5737 8x10.jpg

Hazel Oktollik

Corporate Secretary

no-image-icon-hi.png

Director

Our People

Tikigaq-33 Steve.jpg

Alzred Steve Oomittuk

Director

Tikigaq-35 Robert.jpg

Robert Omnik

Director

At Tikigaq, it’s our people that shape our future. We come from a variety of backgrounds, beliefs, skills, and abilities.  Nevertheless, we’re united by a culture that embraces and embodies our core values… evident in our actions every day. Our employees consistently delivery results every day. These people bring their technical knowledge, numerous years of expertise and experience, and resourcefulness to the delivery of our specialized construction, environmental, operations, maintenance and support services.

Shareholder Program

Tikigaq’s commitment to our Iñupiat shareholders extends beyond the typical financial relationship. We strive to complement their lives with occupational and educational opportunities as well as social and cultural preservation programs. Our profits provide services and support across a wide range of programs.

Diverse Portfolio of Operating Companies

Tikigaq supports a diverse portfolio of operating companies with one strategic goal: enabling superior outcomes for our customers’ missions.  Together with its operating companies, Tikigaq represents an uncommonly broad array of focused services, technologies, specialized talents, and proven program success at some of the most visible and challenging implementations across all of government and industry.

 

Tikigaq is an enterprise with 40 years of commercial and federal contracting experience and almost 400 employees supporting more than 1,900 Iñupiaq shareholders in the Arctic Slope region of Alaska.  Tikigaq Corporate provides the backbone infrastructure to support 6 socio-economically disadvantaged small businesses (SDBs) with mature business processes and shared back-office support services. We leverage this infrastructure and the shared experiences of our operating companies’ personnel to bring world-class solutions to our customers worldwide.

Tikigaq Companies 

  • Tikigaq Construction, LLC

  • Tikigaq Constructors, LLC

  • Agviq Environmental Services, LLC

  • Agviq, LLC

  • Tikigaq Federal Services, LLC

  • Tikigaq Conam, LLC

bottom of page