Spring is here and the birds are coming
by Robert Nick
As the days get longer, one gets to thinking of the many subsistence activities of spring and summer, such as jigging for pike.
A number of folks from the village have now gone to “Cukfagtulik”, “a place with a lot of pike,” is the literal translation of the location. It is approximately 90 miles northwest, on the north shore of Aropak Lake. A number of families used to live there, and were referred to as Cukfagtulirmute.
I remember stories of how difficult it was to travel back from their summer fishing activities along the Kuskokwim River below Bethel. Most of them camped at the upper end of Oscarville River.
Every spring they would come through the lakes and the tramway at the east end of long lake, along with their dogs, which help them across the tundra to a lake that starts a narrow creek to a number of small lakes eastward, and finally to the Johnson River which takes them to their fish camps along the Kuskokwim River.
They said it was especially difficult when there was low water in the lakes between Baird Inlet and Aropak Lake.
For those of us that have crossed, or attempted, at low tide, the lake by lonely hill across from the mouth of Johnson River know how hard it is. Many who travel beyond this lake jokingly refer to this lake as “piss me off lake.” And between Baird Inlet and Aropak Lake there are a number of them starting from Kagasaq Lake. However, getting there in the winter is easier.
I remember going there by dog team one spring. My late father had a good dog team then, and returning home from the pike fishing near the Volcano Hills was the fastest I ever traveled by dog team. The snow was hard “qetervagluni”, and smoothed out by the warming sun, all the way from Isviiqniq to Nunapitchuk.
My traveling partner said it took us a little over three hours. The meandering distance we traveled was over one hundred miles. With sno-machines today, they leave in the morning, fish all day and return home that evening.
During the past week, the ptarmigan known in the tundra area, eastward as “qangqiiq”, and westward as “aqesgiq” is seen everywhere, and many are heading westward to acquire a new name. And the migratory birds will probably be arriving very soon, as Easter in the Gregorian and Julian calendars is April 4th this year.
Many church denominations celebrate Easter using the Gregorian calendar, and the Russian Orthodox celebrate it following the Julian calendar, which since March 1, 1901 has been thirteen days behind the Gregorian calendar. I have heard time and again, the ducks usually arrive on or about the Julian calendar Easter Day. So, expect the Pintail, geese and the other early ducks very soon.
And remember, the Fish and Wildlife Service is planning to enforce the duck stamp and hunting license requirement, even for egg hunting. Therefore, all duck hunters and egg hunters will have to acquire a Duck Stamp and have a valid State Hunting License.
If you need more information on this, contact your local tribal office, as they have received information on this by now.
Ducks will be here soon, so find out more about the duck stamp hunting license requirement for all 16 years and older hunters this spring. And you may call Fish & Wildlife and the workers at AVCP, Inc. Natural Resource Department. Wishing all of you hunters good hunting as the birds arrive.
How can
wilderness be preserved?
4-9-10
by Robert Nick
Three months after becoming the 46th President of the United States, Barack Obama signed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 into law. You see, there had been no wilderness designation for quite some time, and pristine lands continued to be encroached by development for none other than economic growth by international business giants.
Much of the land is undisturbed habitat for wildlife and encompasses some of the most vital salmon-spawning streams of the Pacific Salmon. Albeit, diverse interests of Alaska’s indigenous tribesmen, a common purpose and the will to survive have made “subsistence” the fundamental element of existence in this last frontier of America’s Northern Hemisphere.
Truly a frontier state - one of five (Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon) - with the most designated wilderness acreage. The contiguous acreage of the Noatak and Gates of the Arctic Wilderness is 12,743,329 acres, and is the largest wilderness complex in the entire United States.
Why wilderness designation? Wilderness is the highest level of protection on federal land, and it equals permanent protection and can be intact for many generations/centuries to come. Many wilderness areas are remotely situated, however, are not without human visitors - hikers, river-runners, hunters and fishermen. And some just go there to get away from it all and rest and recuperate where there is “quiet”, a trait welcomed by visitors seeking a break from a busy urban life.
Therefore a wilderness designation means visitors will be able to experience it in nearly the same state it has been for centuries. And this is because a wilderness preservation has its own specialized rules. There are no new roads being built. And unlike national forests and other federal lands, new claims for extractive industries such as mining, and logging are forbidden.
The 19th century view of conquering wilderness rather than preserving it has been slowed by conservationist like Theodore Roosevelt. However, by the time he became President of the United States (1901-1909), much of the American wilderness had for the most part been subdued. The idea of protecting pristine wildlands is gaining support.
However, with the many stakeholders of today; competing interests, legislative roadblocks in Congress, and political differences, make designation of new wilderness very slow. Change is inevitable and the idea behind wilderness is to keep it the same, and not have it change.
If we do not do anything now to preserve something, whether it be a salmon habitat, wildlife habitat, or even an economic opportunity, inertia will result in change. History of the western frontier of the United States has proven this to be fact.
To counter change, (one recent illustration is the first wilderness designation in some time), is the 106,000 acre Wild Sky Wilderness in northern Washington State, thanks to the Washington Wilderness Coalition which reached out to the many stakeholders and garnered support from religious leaders, a broad range of businesses, many politicians ranging from local mayors, and city council members to U.S. senators and representatives, environmental groups and Associations.
It took the concerted effort of all these stakeholders almost ten years and they finally got what they wanted in 2008 when Congress enacted Wild Sky Wilderness into law. Further, the newly enacted law, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act, added two million acres to the nation’s wilderness lands, including designating 52 new wilderness areas and adding acreage to 26 existing areas.
Prior to this law, the Wilderness Act of 1964, signed into Law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, had provisions designating federally protected wilderness areas as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Under this law, 756 places in 44 states, including some in Puerto Rico, are now protected wilderness areas.
The best opportunities to do what we love to do are found in land undamaged by road-building or some kind of development. So, getting the opportunity to protect those areas is what we all who love the outdoors should be pleased to be involved in.
In the true wilderness area, there exists a sense of freedom, a sense of self-reliance, a willingness to work darn hard to survive and not complain. And as the greatest frontier storyteller of all...Louis L. L’amour says...it is an “American ideal.”
And I who has traversed the wilds of the Clarence Rhodes Wildlife Refuge in Western Alaska, truly, and unequivocally will say…to hear the bugle call of the bull moose, to hear the thousands of migratory birds calling each other, day and night, is truly musical in the highest sense. And the moments of peace of the wild and high is just tranquil. These moments I experience in the wilds of western Alaska.
Piurci....
Cyber space chat
4-1-10
by Robert Nick
Whatever happened to good old-fashioned conversation?
They say we learn by listening to our parents, elders, and teachers. As a youngster, the rule for me and other adolescents was listening. We were told if we see adults having a conversation, we must stop playing and quietly listen, as more than likely they will be talking about life skills. And most often, they were usually talking about hunting, fishing, the weather, and the land surrounding our villages where game and fish are abundant. They had names for lakes, rivers, and the landmarks in all of the surrounding lands. Almost all of their conversation was people oriented.
The following may make me sound old-fashioned and apocalyptic, nonetheless, I share with you the reader, my thoughts of cyber space chat. What do I mean by cyber space conversation? We e-mail, we text and we talk into our cell phones... but is anybody listening?
Do you sometimes see people sitting, or simply standing and silently staring at the screens of their Smartphones, and with thumbs expertly working their Blackberries? And adults/kids walking around anywhere, talking to their cell phones? But the question is, is anybody listening?
I do believe we are now living within these invisible walls built by i-Pods, cell phones, and Smartphones with an eerie stillness and quiet surrounding us. And the social obligation of yesteryear to be available and to communicate in a public space, practiced since time immemorial is silently fading.
To accentuate this dilemma, we are now enhancing the state of apathy that we are experiencing in society worldwide. Through these hand-held devices, we are rapidly becoming a nation of hermits, with our thumbs feverishly working our Blackberries. The conversation occurring today are threads of short comments on Facebook gossip and short one-liners from our socially networked friends online.
First the television disrupted good old conversation, and now, unprecedented technologies of digital communications of rant and denunciation in anonymous postings online is treading us on a path to losing humane regard.
And we are losing the need to be courteous and to receive courtesy in return. We are becoming so distracted by digital traffic, therefore forgetting the importance of listening, and of the listener.
Do you sometimes see a person typing responses on the i-Phone to one person, while talking to another person on the office phone, or someone sitting nearby? Most often, neither interaction makes much, or any sense. But the bottom line is not that conversation is in decline, but it is changing.
The golden age of talk in the coffee of houses of Europe in the 18th century is credited to helping to sharpen new ideas, and generally welding together a civil society. And in biblical times, St. Peters Square where the old scholars spoke to the young gathered about listening is credited by the great men of those times.
It is this fundamental principle that our ancestors believed in, and therefore the Qasgiq, or the place where the men stayed was the place where day after day, the wise old men taught their offspring. And the wise old ladies taught the young ladies day after day in another sod house where the women and young ladies stayed.
Another trend of recent generations is that we have become a mobile society - meaning that people move a lot these days - therefore widening our connections with other people. And technologies are creating this same widening and weakening. Well, so much cyber space chat... Piurci...
Injury and insult to traditional child protection
3-25-10
by Robert Nick
A centuries old tribal custodian tradition is being ferociously challenged and attacked by the Judicial Branch of State Government. Cultural traditions of indigenous groups pre-date all Parliamentary Law brought on by colonialism. One such tradition of my ancestors is the custody placement of tribal children needing care, or aid.
Long before statehood and colonization of states to form what we now called the United States, which Alaska became a part of in 1959, tribal elders saw to the care of orphans and children without custodian care. Children in need of aid were placed where they will be raised in safe environments, and within the family circle and the community where the child lives.
Traditions such as this are not made on impulse, nor do they follow different ways of other cultures and tribes, but were derived from years of practice amongst tribal communes. You see, tribal traditions are ways, “litanies”, chosen by my ancestors because they work for the good, not the bad that sometimes comes our way because of some western law. They do not involve any paperwork, such as applications, nor consent forms. It was what was for the good of the child in need.
So reverent was this tradition, that tribes sometimes warred over tribal children that were taken by another tribe in another commune.
There is a story of one widower who lived at Kangiracuar, a location about a mile below the mouth of the Pitmiktalik River, below Atmautluak, Alaska. The story goes that this man had a daughter who was taken by the little people, “Ircinrraqs”, who communed underground at Kangikuyugpuk, at the hills about twelve miles northeast.
When the head of the “Ircinrraqs” (probably Chief), was told where the child was taken from, he made them take the young woman back, because he was afraid of what her father would do.
He said to these young Ircinrraq bucks, “This young woman’s father is a very strong ‘Shaman’,” and made them to take her back, or else something bad will happen to them. It is said that there were two “Shamans” living at this location.
Last fall, in euphoria, I shared the Kaltag adoption case victory with the tribal judges of the Nunapitchuk Tribal Court. In its decision, the United States Supreme Court stayed an ageless unwritten law of indigenous natives throughout the entire “Universe”, and put a stop to the State’s nonsense opposition to the placement of a child in need, by the Kaltag Tribal Court.
Why? I do not understand for what purpose, State of Alaska through its Attorney General Dan Sullivan, is still trying to block the right decision in this case, but to continue its attack on “tribal sovereignty”. And to add “Insult to Injury”, the Attorney General has hired outside lawyers to take the appeal to the United States Supreme Court.
In this effort by the State’s Attorney General to reverse the decision of many judges and lower courts, the victim will be a ten year old child who is now living happily with her new adoptive family.
As the highest Judicial decision maker of state government, it is bad policy, especially when this man gives legal advice to the head of the Executive Branch, Governor Sean Parnell.
Another traditional saying of my ancestors, “Do not squabble or fight over children, lest they not live long.” Therefore, as a father of five happy, healthy adults whom my wife and I adopted as babies, I implore Attorney General Dan Sullivan to cease and desist the state’s appeal of a just and fair decision of the United States Supreme Court.
Poverty as defined
by the federal government
3-2-10
by Robert Nick
When one considers the gap between official government statistics and hard reality, none glares more vividly than how the United States federal government defines “poverty”.
In the 1960’s, a Social Security Administration economist named Mollie Orshansky, based on 1955 consumption patterns, used the cost of a bare-bones diet and multiplied it by three - creating the basis for all future poverty benchmarks. At that time, food costs, which were considerably less that today’s prices, accounted for one-third of the average household budget.
And Ms. Orshansky’s calculation then, did not consider other costs, which have dramatically outpaced food prices. Nor did Ms. Orshansky factor in geography.
Therefore realizing these vast disparities, in 1995, the National Academy of Sciences unveiled an alternative poverty measure that considered the costs of food, clothing, and shelter, along with regional differences, income from government benefits, and additional out of pocket medical costs.
These new calculations by the Academy created a lot of speculation in conventional circles. Unfortunately, political pressure in the mid-90’s to reduce the number of people on welfare/federal assistance stalled all efforts to revise the poverty formula.
It was also the thought that any effort to update the half a century old measure to accurately show who is struggling, would drastically increase the number of people deemed to be in, or below the poverty level. And congressional politicians, particularly those running for re-election, do not want to see poverty numbers rise while in office.
Fears of redistribution, with no additional funding for programs, have practically stopped all efforts to revise the poverty formula. And the recession, which we are in, and slowly recovering from, has increased the problems. President Obama’s plan to freeze and cut government spending would cut services to the poor and elderly, even more in the coming years.
The consequence of all of this is placing millions of older Americans with not enough money to put food on the table and pay for rent. However, the government does not count them as poor. Although the financial situation of many elders is dire, according to the federal government, they are not poor.
And that is because their yearly income is more than the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty threshold of $13,014 for two-adult household, and more than the $14,570, for eligibility for assistance programs.
Here in Alaska, the effect is more harsh, especially in remote villages, where all costs are higher than anywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere. Although we are experiencing hard times, harder times are yet to come.
Therefore, let us not forget how are ancestors lived. They did not have much, did not live in plush, state of the art houses, did not have electricity, did not spend time in community halls playing rippies and bingo, but they survived for centuries in the harshest environment in North America. If we live by their teachings, we will persevere...
A champion for Alaska
Native Peoples passes on
2-24-10
by Robert Nick
A champion for the social well-being of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Indigenous natives throughout America and abroad has passed away. Gerald Mohatt, a Psychology Professor of the University of Alaska Fairbanks died on Wednesday, February 17, 2010.
Since 1983, the year he came to Alaska from the Rose Bud Reservation in South Dakota, Mr. Mohatt has worked to improve the lives of Alaska Natives and Indigenous peoples, and everyone in general.
Although I have known this great man through his work for years, I first met him when he came to meet with the joint local councils, as he conscientiously took his passion to helping rural Alaska folks. As I listened to him in that brief meeting, he struck me as a man who truly cared for his fellow man.
You see, after months of discussion whether the Native Village of Nunapitchuk should participate in a rural health research conducted by the Center for Alaska Native Health Research, there was reluctance for approval by local governments. Mr. Mohatt, as Director of CANHR, presented a compassionate and caring presentation that won approval by the joint City and Tribal governments.
Many locals, both young and old, including myself volunteered to participate in the research. And for that I am extremely grateful. For through medication and diet, I am living a healthier life today. I am quite certain that many others who participated are grateful as well.
As a teacher, he saw a need for Alaska natives in work places, so he was instrumental in developing the College of Rural Alaska. It was no surprise that Mr. Mohatt was Dean of the College of Human and Rural Development and College of Rural Alaska. Through these two programs, which he headed, many young Alaskans received needed training and education on Campus and outreach training sessions throughout the State of Alaska.
He was a man who championed for American Indians and Alaska Native people. He devoted his entire life long work to make social life of indigenous natives better and fought for our self determination. He was unselfish, and devoted his work and service to others. Knowing the integrity of the man through his work, he was a great role model for the people he strived to help.
Throughout the years, I have met and spoke with many of our young people, as they follow his footsteps and attended the many programs this giant of a man administered. I am sure many rural teachers and professionals know this man.
Perhaps he is most felt in the field of distance education, which he pioneered. This is now used, not only in the Alaska University system, but in many school districts all across Alaska. In a sense, Mr. Mohatt was the perfector of distance education. Mr. Mohatt will be missed by many a colleague, and will be remembered by many people he has helped, both young and old.
My condolence to his wife Robby, sons Nate and Justin, and granddaughter Esme.
Again, my profound gratitude for works and accomplishments of Gerald Mohatt. May he rest in lasting peace, and May his Memory be Eternal...
Need for ANILCA Title VIII review
12-9-09
by Robert Nick
Federal statutory protections of subsistence have been the good intention of the United States Congress to amend the extinguishment of the aboriginal hunting and fishing rights by the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. And the first effort was done by the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980.
And the way this was done was via Title VIII of ANILCA, commonly known as the rural preference priority for subsistence users on federal lands and reserved navigable waters. Title VIII also said the State can continue to regulate subsistence harvests on all lands and waters, only if it would enact similar state statutes with the same rural priority for subsistence users on state lands.
Although the State made efforts to come into compliance with ANILCA Title VIII, the Alaska Supreme Court ended this in 1989, when it ruled that Title VIII rural subsistence priority violated the Alaska Constitution. Since then, the federal government was required to assume harvest management authority on federal lands and waters.
The irony of this is...the State of Alaska was no longer mandated by this Title VIII of ANILCA.
It was about this time that I became a member of Yukon Kuskokwim Delta Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council, one of ten such councils under the Federal Subsistence Board created by Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt.
At first, the ten Advisory Councils functioned fairly well in making meaningful user friendly regulatory recommendations to the Federal Subsistence Board. The RAC’s, as we are called such, were able to review and make customary and traditional use determination recommendations for harvest regulations to be reviewed by the Federal Subsistence Board - (regional directors) of Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and the Forest Service, and one Alaskan citizen as chairman, appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture.
I want to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude to Mitch Demientieff of Minto, who served as chairman of the Federal Subsistence Board for many years. Mitch passed away on Tuesday, December 1. It is indeed a personal sacrifice to devote many years for the good of the people of Alaska, rural Alaska in particular. I knew Mr. Demientieff for decades and respected his relentless resolve in fighting for the people he loved and worked for. May his Memory be Eternal.
And years of efforts for a state constitutional amendment to allow rural subsistence priority into state law have not succeeded. Although it looked promising to many of us who have sacrificed much of our time voluntarily, for an overall rural subsistence priority as promised by ANICA Title VIII, no headway has been seen in since 1990’s.
And since ANILCA (1980) has no backdrop plan, the State Legislature, anti-subsistence groups and President Bush’s Administration...have literally subverted Title VIII protections.
Therefore, It is imperative that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar exercise his good office to again protect native subsistence needs by an analytical review of what needs to be done for enforcement of Title VIII of ANILCA.
This review needs to happen immediately, and should include consultation with subsistence users, RAC members of FSB, some of which have been serving since Secretary Bruce Babbitt appointed them in 1980.
Since subsistence activity has been practiced since the beginning of time in this world, many native, and non-native leaders are well versed on this issue. The Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture need to reach out to all in this review.
And this congressional legislation was enacted under the plenary power of the United States Congress over Indian affairs, therefore is Indian legislation and needs to be protected from legal and political challenges that have plagued it from the beginning.
Just as the President of the United States can issue an Executive Order, Secretary Salazar needs to issue a Secretarial Order to the Federal Subsistence Board, and the Office of Subsistence Management which were created by that office, and direct them to follow the letter of the Law and to clearly and unequivocally interpret ANILCA Title VIII as Indian Legislation.
Another need for an immediate change is the Federal Subsistence Board regulatory cycle. Under former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt the regulatory cycle was conducted yearly, with annual deadlines for receiving recommendation from the ten RAC’s, other organizations and the public.
The Federal Subsistence Board changed this in 2007 for a biennial cycle...meaning that they will meet every two years. This method meant the FSB dealing with more out of cycle and emergency proposals with no input from the ten RAC’s, other organizations and the public.
Meeting every two years certainly affected the lower Kuskokwim moose hunters this summer big time, so to speak, and will do so again next summer.
How? As you know, the State Board of Game ended the 5-year Moose Moratorium last winter, but since all of the moratorium boundary is within the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta Wildlife Refuge, the Federal Subsistence Board has not lifted the ban since they have not met.
They will consider the moratorium issue at their next meeting in 2010, but due to the regulatory cycle, we who live in lower Kuskokwim will not be allowed to hunt within the boundary until the 2011 hunting season.
Therefore Secretary Salazar needs to see that adequate funding to the Federal Subsistence Board will allow for annual cycle of federal regulations with RAC, and participation of the people most affected by the decision making process. More recommendations to come in the coming weeks.
Piurci…
Dire need for a
Rural Subsistence Priority
12-3-09
by Robert Nick
In a September 5, 2001 publication of The Delta Discovery weekly, I wrote on the dire need of a rural subsistence priority for Alaska’s rural residents who depend on fish and game for survival. And in this short article, I applauded State of Alaska’s highest official, Governor Tony Knowles for his decision not to have the State appeal the Katie John federal court decision to the United States Supreme Court.
For his decision, Governor Knowles stated, “I cannot oppose in court what we know in our hearts to be right.”
Well, we have had three Governors since then, and the sincere understanding and care of one, Tony Knowles, is not what they know in their hearts to be right. And we know, after four decades, the Alaska Legislature’s refusal to understand and recognize the “simplicity” of a need for a “Rural Subsistence Priority” in times of declining resources, salmon in Western Alaska and Norton Sound in particular.
For further understanding, honorable members of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of State government, “Rural Subsistence Priority” simply says that in times when there is less fish and game, we who live in rural communities would be allowed to hunt and fish, albeit, we may not meet amounts necessary for survival (ANS).
Both State and Federal managers know how much we need to survive, as they count all the fish we catch and all the game and migratory birds we harvest, and these are the amounts necessary for survival.
On a blithe note, I am glad for not being asked to count all the blackfish I catch from September to May - for they are too many to count, and counting every one of them little black slippery fish would be a hassle. If I needed to count them, by the time my wife and I finish counting the tub loads of the little slippery fish, we may not be hungry.
In this same article almost a decade ago I stated, “I fear the day when subsistence harvest needs will not be met by many native rural Alaskans.” As I herald(ed) then, I do believe we have reached that time, as many in the Arctic, Yukon, and Kuskokwim fishing districts have not met their subsistence needs for the second year, Lower Yukon communities in particular.
In later articles, I wrote about Title VIII of ANILCA, which became law in 1980. Under this law, the Federal Subsistence Board was created to assure a rural preference on subsistence resources on federal land. This meager effort to make amends to an earlier landmark law (ANCSA), which terminated aboriginal hunting and fishing rights of Alaska Natives, is being eroded by State Government and others, and we the subsistence users of fish and game, are losing the federal trust obligations assured in Title VIII.
In the coming weeks, I will many share many issues that blight our quest for survival practiced since the beginning of time.
Piurci...
Tribal Nations Conference
11-21-09
by Robert Nick
In perhaps the most stalwart expression of commitment, the forty-sixth President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, addressed the largest National Assembly of American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Leaders at the Tribal Nations Conference & Interactive Discussion on November 5, 2009.
It was the first time that a sitting President had an open dialogue with America’s first peoples since 1994, when then President William Clinton met with tribal leaders and issued an Executive Order, directing meaningful consultation and Collaboration between American Indian/Alaska Native Tribes and the federal government agencies.
Only after a year of becoming President, the man who brought hope to the American people, not just the rich and special interest groups, spoke from the heart in these words…
“I know that you may be skeptical that this time will be any different. You have every right to be and nobody would have blamed you if you didn’t come today. But you did. And I know what an extraordinary leap of faith that is on your part. And that is why I want you to know that I’m absolutely committed to moving forward with you and forging a new and better future together. It’s a commitment that’s deeper than our unique nation-to-nation relationship. It’s a commitment to getting this relationship right, so that you can be full partners in the American economy, and so your children and grandchildren can have a equal shot at pursuing the American Dream.”
Indeed this “unique” man of Afro-American descent, whom America elected to be it’s next President, just a year ago is doing an excellent job of addressing the challenges facing us in this, the worst economic downfall (recession) in seventy years.
The Recovery Act is a prime example of the quick action taken, and the economy is already on the rebound, although with years to go to for sustainable economies, and where the domestic gross national product can put people back to work.
And for the American Indians and Alaska Natives, the indigenous inhabitants of America, President Barack Obama’s Stimulus Bill allocated over three billion dollars to address the dire needs of Indian communities across America. And we who are gracious/humble folk, who for too long have been neglected, what with a history of broken promises and treaties violated by the United States government, have been deprived and left alone and ignored to live in third world conditions.
And here in Alaska, a land abundant in fishery and animal resources, rich in fossil fuels, rich in minerals… we who live in remote rural communities, literally struggle and strive just to survive.
Again, the words of United States President Barack Obama...
“And I want to be clear about this: Today’s summit is not lip service. We’re not going to go through the motions and pay tribute to one another, and then furl up the flags and go our separate ways. Today’s sessions are part of a lasting conversation that’s crucial to our shared future.”
The major highlight of the session with the President, was the signing of the presidential memorandum, which directs every cabinet agency to provide him within 90 days a detailed plan on how the Executive Order issued by President William F. Clinton will be fully implemented and how the tribal consultation and collaboration which is still not occurring except for a few agencies will be improved.
This is a good plan, as the degree of the many issues is such that only by including us in the development of the implementation plans of services, can we successfully address the needs of the American people, Americans Indians and Alaska Natives in particular, who have suffered centuries of deprivation.
Therefore I strongly urge tribal leaders to stand up to this opportunity to be heard, and after hearing President Obama speak, I unequivocally assure you, we will be heard.
The ravages that we have suffered: diseases, hunger, ills of drug and alcohol abuse, unsafe drinking water sources, poor sanitation, lack of adequate/accessible health care, and absolute lack of health insurance are just a few that I name.
Perhaps another drastically needed change is the No-Child-Left Behind education law, which President George Bush called the cornerstone of his administration. This ill-advised and poorly crafted education reform law needs immediate changes as our beautiful young children who deserve the best educational opportunity, what with technology assisted accelerated learning today, are dropping out of school all across America, rural districts in particular.
A well-rounded education will prepare our future generations for jobs, which in turn provides for sustainable economies, and above all will allow our descendants to realize the American Dream of a good home, employment, and safe communities.
Finally, my fellow tribal leaders, let us lead in earnest, by love to our fellowman, assuring safety in our homes, allow our community members to live not in fear, but in harmony with our neighbors.
Piurci...
The need to hunt
and fish for survival
An elder once told me that if we think back in time, we will remember our past, especially what our parents told us. And they taught us well…in particular...how to survive in the harsh environment in the rural country of Alaska.
I say “country”, for the American Heritage Dictionary of the English language, says, “a rural area”, “the land of a person’s birth or citizenship or which a person owes allegiance”, “a large tract of land distinguishable by culture”. And I say a land where a way of life is distinguished by hunting and fishing.
As a youngster in the early forties, my role models were the hunters and fishers that provided well for their families. I used to daydream of being able to hunt and fish like my late father and my uncles Nick Chris, Nicholai Berlin, Wassillie Berlin and many other great hunters of that time. And there were many stories of “nukalpiaqs”, great hunters and fishermen.
When someone came home from a hunting trip, my cousin and I used to visit their house to see what they caught, and I use to inquire where the man hunted so that I would know where to hunt when I grow up. I used to hear stories of great hunters like Napokaq’, Paulaq’, Guyaq’, Tankiulria’, Takuqaculi’, and many others. For when someone caught big game somewhere in the delta, we heard about it. Thinking back, these men endured a very harsh environment in their quest to provide for their wives and children and they shared to those in need.
And the season of fall was and still is a busy time for those of us that live in the tundra wetlands. It was a time when the men would set up a fish fence (capiluteng) in front of the village. That location was usually in front of my parents and the Chaliak’s home, so I used to sit on the beach for hours, near our house, watching the dipnetters as they loaded their boats with whitefish using a dip net (qaluq).
As his boat filled up, one would go back ashore and allow the next person to tie up and catch his load. Everybody would be allowed to fish, as word would go through the entire village that the whitefish have hit the fish fence.
When my late father came on shore with his boatload, the entire family would help unload the fish and my late mother and my late aunt Eliza would immediately start dressing the fish, cutting some to be hung and dried and preparing the rest to be buried underground for fermenting the meat (qassayaaq), and placing rest in grass baskets (kalngaq), or blazo boxes if one had some. These latter fish were eaten frozen later in the winter.
I would sit next to my mother and watch her work on the fish, because once in a while she would give me fresh fish eggs, which I would gulp down to my hungry stomach as I would have fasted, waiting for this tasty caviar (unsalted and fresh). I used to (and still do) like eating raw white fish and pike eggs, and raw pike, dunking each piece in seal oil.
As a very young hunter (about age 8 or so), using a canoe my late father made for me, when hunting for ducks, I would only bring a small jar of seal oil and salt and catch a pike for a quick meal when hungry.
I share this to exemplify a way of life in these rural communities, a truly subsistence way of life that transcends all means of survival. Albeit we live in times today that have changed with the advent of what we term as western civilization, nonetheless, our traditions and cultures are inherent practices in these pristine rural lands since times beyond memory.
Our subsistence way of life in essence, is a basic human right, a moral human right. Therefore, intrinsically hunting and fishing is our “ABORIGINAL RIGHT” that should never, ever be taken away by the government of the land. Furthermore, the most universally read book (The Bible) in all nations/countries of the Universe, in all spoken languages of these nations tells us... “And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.”
The lesson of the beginning of time further states… “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground.” In our lands we, the fishers and hunters toil in our hunting and fishing, sometimes losing our lives in the effort, and shall do so until we return to the ground, for out of it we were taken and to it we shall return.
Piurci... Next week, changing times?
Waqaa readers of Real News
10-15-09
by Robert Nick
Waqaa! It has been almost five months since my last article, so with this short refresher, I hope to write weekly on the many issues facing our lives wherever we reside in Alaska, and the Yukon and Kuskokwim Delta in particularly.
My last article was this past spring when everyone was preparing for the short summer season. With all of the subsistence activities, the months seemed to fly by. In fact, fall is here and winter is right around the corner.
It has been a good harvest season with the many fruits that grow on the tundra and my wife, children, grandchildren and I spent many a day picking them one by one. Our long time berry patches provided well and a good nutritional dessert will be eaten with many a meal this winter.
And with the good return of the Kuskokwim salmon (king, chum, red, silver), families who reside along the Kuskokwim River were able to reach amounts necessary for subsistence (ANS) during the long winter months that are fast approaching.
From times beyond memory, we who live in the Y/K delta villages rely on subsistence caught salmon for survival. Unlike many of us in the Kuskokwim area, many of our friends and relatives living along the Yukon River were not able to reach their subsistence needs this summer. It has been an inherent custom of our ancestors to share with those in need, especially elders, widows and orphans.
As I said, fall is here and it is the time when Alaskans are preparing for beginning of the holiday season, Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is also the time when all Alaskans receive a Permanent Fund Dividend check. Therefore, if anyone knows an elder, a widow and orphans, whether it is a family member or not - in these times where simply surviving is tough, please, let us think of them during the holiday season, and take time to share/donate.
As I have said numerously in previous articles, the gratitude of an elder, widow, and children and those in need has many rewards. Our elders are the very people who worked all their lives and paved the way for us in this world.
And let us take time to remember those who will be left alone to fend for themselves for the holidays, and families who need to feed and clothe their loved ones in the long cold and dark winter months that will be upon us shortly.
Furthermore, let us remember the only (local/near) senior center in Bethel, Alaska and know that the senior center can provide nutritious home-delivered meals for our elders living there. The senior center is funded by grants and donations, and costs go up in the long winter months as well.
Finally, if families will remember the young at heart and our own relatives and others in need and give from the heart, any amount will help.
Piurci...
Abundant harvest of God’s gifts for our sustenance
6-24-09
by Robert Nick
Back about three months ago (March), when the Bering Sea gulls were flown asunder by the hurricane force southwest winds blowing inland, and started flying around in blinding snow blizzards of the western wetland tundra all the way to Russian Mission, I heard village elders say there will be many salmon migrating up the Kuskokwim River this summer.
True to their traditional knowledge, there is an abundant run up the Kuskokwim River this spring, albeit, less than some good years of salmon returns.
Although my family had a late start this spring, due to time spent in early June at our camp near Baird Inlet, we have reached our Chinook harvest goal earlier than usual. A week of hard work and very little sleep has paid off again for me, as I always make my first drift just as the outgoing current of Johnson River area of the Kuskokwim River slows down...as the Bering Sea waters start flowing up the Kuskokwim River (ebb tide, or ulqaarr’).
Early Wednesday morning about 5:00 am, as my grandson and I were waiting for ebb tide at the beach across from buoy no. 54 below the mouth of the Johnson River, we spied many, many small salmon. And this is what I see every year at the same area. I do believe that this area where the Kuskokwim River widens is the upper end of the estuary where small salmon fry prepare for their long journey downriver.
The smallest were about a half inch long and some were even 2 to 3 inches long. By the silvery sides and fins that glowed with the morning sunlight, I know they were salmon, most likely on the journey out to the Bering Sea.
As I stated in an earlier article, these salmon fry spend their first months traveling down their home river, then moving to a brackish estuary where they transform their body chemistry so that they can survive the salinity of the marine environment of the Bering Sea.
My grandson marveled at spying such small fish just about a few inches below the surface. If we remained motionless, there would be all sizes, darting around below us, and at the slightest movement of the boat they would dart away.
Therefore starting from the mouth of Johnson River, downward to the Bering Sea, any pollutant or fuel spill would be disastrous to these small salmon fry even before their journey to the sea.
In a few days, the drying salmon would be smoked in the smoke house which is the literal translation of the Yup’ik word “puyurcivik” or puyurkuvik”, depending on which village you are from.
My family is not done with our fishing yet. Sometime this week when the drying racks become empty, more than likely, my son will be fishing for the chums and reds. These will also be cut and dried. Of course, I have some Chinook heads underground also (tepeq). And another hole in the ground is waiting for chum salmon heads also.
And I am seeing the white salmonberry flowers everywhere, so we should have plenty of salmon berries.
And the “Ikiituqs, Quagciqs, and Angukat” are ripe and ready for picking. My wife and I are already eating them. In fact, we started eating nature’s plants while at our camp in early June. An elder friend once told my wife and I to always eat these plants when they grow. He said they are good for our health.
Piurci...
Migration of Chinook Salmon
5-19-09
by Robert Nick
After roaming the marine environment of the Bering Sea from age six months to seven years, Chinook salmon will return to their natal streams in the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers.
These Chinook salmon will be making their pilgrimage, so to speak, and at the very place where they were born seven years earlier, will spawn and die. These salmon carcasses are then eaten by aquatic insects and freshwater crustaceans in the headwaters of the tributaries of the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers. These aquatic insects/crustaceans then feed the very young salmon (fry), till they start eating their mothers carcasses for the rich proteins needed for the long journey down from their freshwater spawning habitats, its home river, to the two great rivers that meander inland from the Bering Sea.
Once they reach the salty estuary, currents are met by ocean tidewaters, they change their body chemistry in order to survive the marine environment throughout the next seven years at sea.
The Bering Sea, their home for the next seven years, is one of a few bodies of water on this earth that provides food for the long journey of these salmon that will be in our rivers in a few short weeks. And colder deep Bering Sea waters create a surfacing effect where waters rich in nutrients rise to the surface where sunlight produces plankton growth.
Every spring, the melting ice pack leaves in its place this plankton bounty that nourishes salmon, pollock, halibut, king crab, marine mammals, and 80% of the seabird population. Fattened in these rich plankton pastures, the salmon make their journey from the Bering Sea without eating anything until they reach their spawning habitat.
To our families in the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers, these salmon provide the means of our survival from generation to generation. During the last decade, much effort has been done to sustain the once abundant fish, even by much sacrifice by the very people that depend on it for survival in this land we call home. Regardless of these re-building efforts, the salmon are returning in less numbers these days.
Some believe the problem is by-catch on the Bering Sea, where the pollock fishery - the largest in the world - harvest over one hundred million tons annually. Over one hundred twenty one thousand Chinook salmon were caught in 2007 alone. These fish are dead by the time the nets are pulled, so per requirement, they were thrown overboard.
Another reason may be the hatcheries that produce five billion hatchery smolt that are released every year in the Bering Sea... Japan, Russia, Korea, and Alaska. Some scientist think the Bering Sea has maxed out, especially with that many extra hatchery fish to feed.
And finally, warming of ocean temperatures that have been rising in the last decade may have an effect on the numbers of returning salmon. Some believe it is natural oscillation, which is the variation between alternate extremes.
Healing by sharing our grief
4-29-09
by Robert Nick
One of the many wonderful things a lifelong educator and mentor of Native American youngsters did, was helping troubled youngsters who were struggling in school and who have actually dropped out of school. He welcomes all who come to his Native Doors Networking Center, which he operates with other caring educators in San Jose, California.
With his friendliness and positive attitude, this native educator who grew up in the Hoopa Indian Reservation in northern California, personifies the center’s essence: a no pressure, welcoming environment where kids can find the amount of help and guidance they desire.
A lifetime of teaching and mentoring has taught this wonder worker that kids don’t always want to learn the way you’d expect. So, at the center, realizing that sometimes a youngster’s needs have nothing to do with books, this educator got one grieving teenager who had lost a child to start writing poetry.
This enabled the teenager to get out feelings that she had never expressed. And by simply getting her feelings out by writing them on paper, she was able to overcome her grief and continue her schooling and graduate from High School.
And this is the inherent traditional teaching of our forefathers throughout time. As the art of writing was non-existent in earlier days, they told us to share our grief and troubling thoughts with a friend or someone whom we trust. By doing this, we free our minds of pain, anxiety and worry: and thus feel the spirit of peace, love and joy instead.
And we who have a lifetime of experiences are not listening to our younger folk and passing on the many good practices in addressing the pressures of life in this twenty first century, so that our future generations may live peacefully, harmoniously with others, and be good citizens of society.
Just as the young teenager who was grieving, was able overcome her troubles by simply writing her feelings on paper, all of us... young and old can also overcome our troubles by sharing our grief, anxieties, etc.
The pressures of everyday life today demand more guidance than ever before, so my friends, as I said in one of my many articles on this very topic... when all else fails... let us go ask grandpa and grandma for they know best.
We are what our
thoughts make us to be
4-22-09
by Robert Nick
During Second Century A.D., the great philosopher Marcus Aurelius, who ruled the Roman Empire (160-180 A.D.) said eight words that can determine man’s destiny. These eight words are: “Our life is what our thoughts make it.”
Indeed, if we think happy thoughts, we will be happy. If we think miserable thoughts, we will be miserable. If we think sickly thoughts, we will likely be ill. If we think fear thoughts, we will be fearful. If we think failure, we will surely fail. And if we wallow in self-pity, everyone will want to keep away from us.
So, let us at all times assume a positive attitude instead of a negative attitude.
Since life is not so simple, especially these days, we need to be concerned about daily problems, but not worried. By being concerned, we realize what our problems are and we take steps to meet them. But if we worry about our problems, we harass ourselves to feel anxious, distressed and troubled... as if going around in maddening futile circles.
The power of our mental attitude is incredible! The following is a one of the most astounding stories in the annals of America. It is about a frail, homeless, destitute woman who had as much influence on the thinking of the world than any other woman who ever walked this planet we call earth.
Shortly after the Civil War ended on a cold fall night, this woman knocked on the door of “Mother” Webster living in Amesbury, Massachusetts. This woman when asked said she seeking a home where she could think and work out a great problem that absorbed her day and night.
Well, “Mother” Webster welcomed her into her house as she lived all alone, until her son moved back and kicked the woman out into the rain. After standing, shivering in the rain for a few minutes, she started down the road looking for shelter.
This woman is now known to millions of her devoted followers as Mary Baker Eddy - the founder of Christian Science. This woman who had known little in life except sickness, sorrow, and tragedy because of her own ill health, had been interested in what she called “the science of mind healing.”
Walking downtown in Lynn, Massachusetts one cold day, she fell on icy pavement and was knocked unconscious. Her spinal injuries were so serious that her doctor said she would die, but if she miraculously lived, she would never ever walk again.
As she lay on her deathbed, Mary Baker Eddy opened her Bible and was led by divine guidance to read these words from Saint Matthew: “And, behold, they brought to him a sick man of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee... Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house.”
And these words of Jesus, Mary Baker Eddy declared, produced within her such a strength, such a faith, such a surge of healing power that she “immediately got out of bed and walked.”
That experience, she said, “was the falling apple that led her to the discovery of how to be well herself, and how to make others so.” And through this experience, Mary Baker Eddy declared, “I gained the scientific certainty that all causation was Mind, and every effect a mental phenomenon.”
The season of spring has sprung
4-14-09
by Robert Nick
The long cold grip of the north is again waning as minutes are added to daylight and the sun arches higher as it passes from the east to the west.
Soon this sun will bring warmth to our homes and our hearts. And what some refer to as spring fever, will be forgotten and replaced with racing thoughts of the wonders of the two seasons - spring and summer. Even my grandkids are already talking about spring camp and hunting and fishing.
Already as I write this, I hear a nukalpiaq has caught a swan in Quinhagak. Soon our skies will be dotted with waterfowl returning again to Western Alaska to nest and bear their offspring for mankind to harvest for survival.
Already I am thinking of the beautiful acrobatic racy blue and white swallows who will be my neighbors for three months. These birds arrive mid-May and depart on or about July 18th yearly. They can be your neighbors too! Just build them a house and place it near your house and sure as day, they will dwell there, although for a short while.
And the ptarmigans are passing in flocks, flying just above the ground in a beeline due west. Of course they land here and there and hunters are again able to bring home fresh bird meat to the dinner table. Some will be dried.
Just the other day, I was able to spy a beaver that had just bored a hole in the snow and was gathering what alder there was above the snow and taking each piece down to it’s winter house (inglu). It was interesting to watch the ingenuity of the beaver, as the twigs were so small and short. Before long he was carrying up to three or four at a time.
Since it was not far from the village, I returned and picked up my grandson Kenyon and went back to the location. The beaver was still gathering willows and alder. We parked in the lake and watched the beaver for a long time, as he was not leaving his hole very far.
As we sat on the sno-go and watched, flocks of ptarmigan would pass us flying westward, and Kenyon would exclaim, “WOW, lets hunt them.”
Finally the beaver ventured far from his hole and we went to it, and Kenyon got his first beaver this spring. He will be catching more this spring, and many ducks also.
Spring has Sprung...
Honorable Senator Mark Begich ably
representing Alaska in Congress
4-9-09
by Robert Nick
Did not Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain introduce his Vice Presidential running mate - a nationally unknown Sarah Palin - as Alaska’s Reformist Governor? Did not Governor Sarah Palin ask the no. 3 in rank in US governance, and the longest standing Senator of Congress, Ted Stevens to step down? Did not Sarah Palin earn her dubious distinction as a reformist Governor by successfully going after State legislators of her own Party to exit the Chambers of the Alaska State Legislature in shame?
These she did in two short years as Governor of Alaska. And now, she wants an impeccable, legally elected, energetic, hard working, eager young Honorable Senator Mark Begich to step down? Is not Mark Begich the son of Congressman Nick Begich, who disappeared in 1972 while campaigning for a third term as Alaska’s U.S. Congressman?
Yes, Mark Begich was 9 years old when his father tragically vanished along with another Congressman from the lower 48, somewhere along the Alaska seacoast.
I stand and applaud the courage of Alaska’s young Senator Mark Begich just as I did when I introduced him to the full house in the BRHS gymnasium at the opening of the Cama-i Dance Festival in early 2008, as a Senatorial Candidate for the United States Congress representing our great State.
Just as our new President Barack Obama stated throughout his campaign, Mark’s words that evening inspired the voters that effectively elected him. He did not make a lengthy oration, but the message was clear... “It is time for change in national politics.”
Is this not what made history and changed grand old Party Politics, when America voted for Barack Obama as the President of the United States? You bet your Nike Tennis shoes that is what Alaska voters did when Mark Begich won the General Election in November.
Senator Begich ran a clean campaign and won! He does not need to step down/resign, as Governor Palin and her State Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich has publicly stated. He has no unethical charges/questions to fight in the courts, nor out of them. He has no charges of fraud, nor any wrong-doing what-so-ever. And he has done a superb job so far.
He supported and voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Stimulus Bill) that we have been hearing about day after day since President Obama signed it into Law on February 17, 2009.
Thank you Senator Begich, and do not fret nor worry... you were elected by the citizens that have faith in your ability to honorably represent our State for the next six years, and beyond.
I would add a few comments regarding the Stimulus Bill, an economic enhancement bill aimed to put people to work, so that we may survive the collapse of our economy in America and abroad. It is an 871 billion dollar program aimed at putting money into the hands of American families so that we may survive the recession, which is expected to recover slowly.
Here in Alaska, almost a billion dollars is coming to help in housing, education (Title 1... etc.), public safety, children’s and senior services, un-employment, Health, transportation, weatherization and alternative energy programs that could reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, tribal services, and so forth.
Although most of the funds will be infused into federal and state programs already providing services, our Senator Mark Begich is working hard to have some of the stimulus funds to funnel down to tribes, cities, and other entities providing much needed services.
AVCP, Inc. just concluded a two day special convention on March 31, where tribes that were able to travel to Bethel, heard from Mark Begich’s representative Suzanne Fleek, Senator Lisa Murkowski’s representative Bob Walsh, and Congressman Don Young’s representative Chad Padgett. It was a very informative two days for those of us that were there.
This stimulus program has a lot of strings attached, such as compliance requirements, even weekly reports tribes and agencies must do on how we are spending the money - if we get some of the funds. Timelines for tribal, city (shovel ready) project applications are probably the most critical. Some of the deadlines for project applications have already passed and many of the summer project application need to done immediately as these funds must be 90% committed by the end of this fiscal year (September 30, 2009), must be fifty percent expended by September 30, 2010, and 100% expended by September 30, 2011. So tribes and cities that have projects that can put people to work starting this summer need to get busy now and submit their applications, or we will be left out.
I am pleased to report that AVCP Regional Housing Authority has forseen this and through our preparation, will be receiving $6.7 million and are also submitting competitive applications for another $12 plus million which we hope to get for our Fiscal Year 09 summer projects. Therefore, the housing authority will have a busy construction summer as a result of President Obama’s Stimulus funding.
It is my hope that tribes and cities may be able to receive some of the much needed short term assistance. Tribes, you need to get busy, as this is a one time infusion of funds.
Finally, I am happy to report that the Alaska Federation of Natives is working hard to get technical amendments to this ARRA, so that more funds can trickle down to our communities, in addition to the current amounts.
Piurci...
Only thing to fear is fear itself
4-1-09
by Robert Nick
When the economy plunged in 1929 and the aftermath - the great depression era following - brought turmoil and hardship to millions of working Americans of the Industrial Revolution. Millions of the working folks were suddenly unable to bring home the bacon, so to speak. Instead, they were staying home worrying about survival. Business folks were suddenly in fear of losing their amassed riches and many became literally ill with worry.
Like President Barack Obama today, President Franklin D. Roosevelt at that period of U.S. governance, inherited an enormous challenge: to bring relief to suffering millions of Americans as a result of the recession. One of the outcomes of this era was the crushing of confidence of millions of families whose life savings were lost in the carnage.
Of course, Alaska was a Territory then and the Industrial Revolution had not hit our state yet. None-the-less, I would like to share a few thoughts of the current state of our economy... In fact, the world economy.
Since September 2008, when bad mortgages toppled some of the biggest players in Wall Street, the United States economy has moved with incredible speed into its worst crisis since 1933. Just as it did then, our economy is frozen by uncertainty, massive layoffs are occurring, and trillions of life savings of our retired elders are gone (lost).
To fear is human, therefore, man tends to have emotional conflicts and worry during times of uncertainty, waning faith in the market and in our market-driven economy. Why am I talking about this? Even the smallest community in our state is now in the web of the world of business; with our village and regional corporations doing business nationally and internationally.
So, let us talk about fear and its ills... Fear causes worry. And worry makes us tense and nervous and actually changes the gastric juices in our stomach and often leads to ulcers. How do I know? I was a businessman too at one time and had ulcers for years. The great Nobel Prize winner in medicine, Dr. Alexis Carrel, once said, “Businessmen who do not know how to fight worry die young.”
And so does workers of all trades and housewives too. Worry causes many ills also; heart problems, high blood pressure, rheumatism, colds, thyroid problems, and diabetes, etc.
A famous specialist, Dr. Israel Bram, who had been treating these types of ills caused by anxiety/worry, advised the following: The most relaxing recreating forces are a healthy religion, sleep, music and laughter.
“Have faith in God - learn to sleep well - love good music - see the funny side of life - and health and happiness will be yours.”
Again the words of the famed Nobel Prize winner in medicine Dr. Alexis Carrel, “Those who keep the peace of their inner selves in the midst of the tumult of the modern city are immune from nervous diseases.”
And our ancestors practiced this self-evident or accepted principle since time immemorial, especially during periods of famine and severe hardship. And they tell us... in periods of hardship... be happy always.
Finally, in the words of Yup’ik Traditional Healer Rita Blumenstein... “Cleans our minds of anxieties/worries that cause us needless sufferings of the mind and body.”
The passing of a wise
and trusted counselor
3-26-09
by Robert Nick
Throughout time, man is guided by a mentor... a wise and trusted counselor. And our ancestors practiced this in raising their young, even to adulthood. And this traditional teaching they did by word of mouth using litanies of time tested best practices.
I had a few of these counselors throughout my years... even to this day. Although they pass on, their teachings live on to guide me as I traverse this land in search of food for my family. The recent passing of one such person prompts me to share with you a few thoughts of his guidance that made me a better person, sharing my harvest from the land and waters of Western Alaska.
My meeting of this man is a story in itself, so I am going to share with you that moment. The year was sometime in the late 50’s and I was at Niuget, a place where my grandpa Atsaq raised his four sons and one daughter.
The location is at upper Kialiq River, where it is becomes Katakerun. Since my late father was unable to travel to take his mink traps out from a fall hunt, I went with his hunting partner, using what I remember to be his best dog team. My late father’s hunting partner had six of his dogs that winter, so the thirteen dogs we used were a team at one time.
After arriving at camp, we had a cold lunch at the small sod house, since there was no wood. After a quick lunch, we decided to get alder wood for the stove and were hitching a 13 dog team when I started hearing what I thought was an airplane. Each time it got louder, I would look over the sky, but no airplane to be seen.
Just as our thirteen dog team was all hitched, the sound got louder and lo and behold, something came into view downriver traveling fairly fast. At first, I did not know what it was, and the man with me exclaimed “Cauga?! (What is it?).”
Well, it came up the river and reached us and stopped. Well, you can guess... Yes, it was a sno-machine (my first sighting). And it was pulling a flat sled with 2 passengers in it. The owner/driver of my very first sighting of a sno-go was Peter Aluska.
When the man with me asked Peter where they came from, he said they left Qinaruuq at noon and it was three in the afternoon, so my partner was amazed that they had traveled that far in three hours. My partner said, “Anglilli cukallinivaa.” I will always remember what Peter said as he looked at our dogs jumping up and down, raring to go.
“Elpetek taugaam nukalpiarutek. Ayakpakayakuvtek cukanruciqelliniutek.” Sure enough, when my partner and I took off with the 13 dog team, as I stood on the runners at the back of the sled, I did every acrobatic skill I had to keep our sled from tipping over.
Ever since that day, every time Peter and I saw each other we called each other “Nukalpiaq”.
After Peter moved his family to Bethel, I sometimes would bring some blackfish down to a friend and would tell him to share with Peter. And I would tell my friend to tell Peter that I got the blackfish that morning from Qinaruuq, knowing that he would laugh because it is so far away. Qinaruuq is a tributary of Qalvinraaq, a river along the eastern side of Nelson Island hills.
Although my friend and mentor Peter is no longer with us, his many years of counseling and teaching will live on, not only with me but with the many, many lives he touched by his witty goodness and friendship.
May he rest in Peace and Goodness of the Lord which he served till his passing. Fare-well my friend...
The joy of sharing and giving
3-18-09
by Robert Nick
A very long time ago - about 330 B.C., famed Greek Philosopher Aristotle described the ideal man as the most worthy of being happy. “The ideal man,” said Aristotle, “takes joy in doing favor for others.”
And our forefathers somehow knew this and found happiness by sharing and giving for the inner joy of giving with no thought of gratitude or ingratitude. It is natural for people to forget to be grateful; so, if we go around expecting gratitude, we are headed straight for a lot of heartaches.
Remember, Christ helped ten lepers in one afternoon and only one stopped to thank him. If nine of these healed lepers ran away without any thanks, why should we expect more thanks for our small favors than was given Jesus Christ?
For centuries our ancestors experienced hardship with food shortage and cold sod shelters about this time of the year. And they say that when earthern people get so lawless and carefree, the Spirit of the Universe punishes them by famine. And they further say that this occurs about the fourth generation after the last major famine.
My late uncle, before he passed away told me that my children will be the fourth generation descendants of my great-grandparents that experienced the last major famine (arnacaluq). It is said that the pain of hunger is the most excruciating pain experienced by man. And one survivor of the last major one - about four hundred years ago said, “ I want to die before the next famine occurs.”
Throughout the winter, I hear an elder here and there say that if it were not for the government aid, we would be hungry today. And we are experiencing shortage of food; so, if we have enough for our own households, let us share and give to others for the joy of giving and sharing, asking for none in return. The joy of giving and sharing which kept our forefathers happy will surely enrich and bestow happiness on us too.
Many a time, an elder would simply say “thank you” if he or she can. For sometimes they would say that they were so overcome with gratitude that they were unable to utter words of thanks.
When I was a young boy my late parents would invite others to share our meals and thinking back, I remember the folks they invited did not have much at home. So let us, as our parents did, invite others to eat with us. And I will always remember my childhood when we went into a home, a lady in the house would feed us a small meal. Now I know that this brought joy to them.
Hope is the
foundation of prosperity
3-6-09
by Robert Nick
In 1787, shortly after members of the Constitutional Convention had completed their secret work in Philadelphia, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin what was made at that meeting. Mr. Franklin responded, “A Republic, Madam, if you can keep it.”
It is important for all of us to understand that political rights were granted under the Constitution and were meant to be used. People need to be involved in making our neighborhood a better place, support education, fair housing, good medical care, and even run for office. Such a man ran for Presidency of these United States.
In the most astonishing presidential victory, in almost two and a half centuries since the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Barack Obama, an African-American became the 44th President of the United States of America. And his election by the largest margin after Abraham Lincoln, the Sixteenth President (1861-65) of the United States, is lighting the hope of making a better Union for many Americans who suffer injustice, poverty and despair. And in 1865, the year President Lincoln was shot and killed, he abolished slavery in America, and freed all African Immigrants.
What is it that made the 2008 election the most memorable, although a scant three months past? It is the Spirit of Hope in a republic which the framers of the Constitution hoped would be kept intact by the citizenry so that all would live in peace and prosperity.
During the Great Depression of the early 30’s, there was no activism. The people had been living high off the hog. It was a period of free market, just as it was today. In 1929, suddenly nobody was working, just as it is happening across the country this day. People did not know what to do then, and they cried to the 32nd President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and asked for the government to help them out. The free market collapsed just as it is happening today. The skilled workers of the industrial revolution were suddenly unemployed, and for retired Elders, their pensions were suddenly gone. And the hope and the American Dream was suddenly replaced by despair.
This is a time for activism. So long as we have hope and become active helping others, we will overcome the depression.
And my friends, that is what Barack Obama instilled in the hearts of thousands across the United Sates of America. The spirit of hope again activated young Americans of all races as it did in the mid-sixties with the enactment of the Office of Economic Opportunity by the 36th President Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-69).
The belief of tens of thousands of the younger generation, a multi-racial citizenry that crossed class lines-who stormed the country and helped spread this optimism to others once again changed the status quo of Washington D.C. government and renewed a democratic Republic. And many who remembered the past once again saw that change requires hard work and a steady commitment to the republic - just as it did in the 30’s and 60’s.
The overwhelming support of Barack Obama shows that when people present themselves honestly, with wisdom and passion, they will be judged on their merits.
Against all odds, fears, and elitism that had divided the nation for centuries - suddenly Americans believed that Barack Obama, a brilliant, tenacious tactician with passion and love for the poor, was the man to lead the Nation to rise above its past.
In the short time (a month and week) after taking office, President Barack Obama has enlightened hope in Americans, with well thought out, forthright plans to bring prosperity back to the thousands of suddenly unemployed workers, for the thousands of our distinguished Elders across America whose retirement accounts (three trillion dollars) were suddenly gone, restored health care to our children, brought hope to thousands of homeless due to home mortgage collapse, and many more hardships brought on by the current recession.
President Obama has come forth with his plans to improve healthcare, education, housing, and poverty across America.
Over two centuries ago (223 years), Benjamin Franklin stated... “Activism keeps a Republic strong.” Therefore, Americans can give President Barack Obama active engagement and support on the issues he will be wrestling with in the white house.
The Spirit of Hope brought by the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s shall endure. Hope shall never die as long as we respectfully stand tall.
Piurci.
One day at a time
12-11-08
by Robert Nick
Many centuries ago, a poor penniless man wandered amongst people that were having a hard time surviving in a country where plants and nature’s food sources were scarce due to a changing climate.
One day this calm man, a philosopher so to speak, spoke to a gathering around him on a hill. On this day, this gentle man gave perhaps the most important speech throughout mankind, then, now and to the future. In his speech that day, he uttered the following words that have been heard countless times across the centuries since. These words are… “Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
This man named Jesus said these words. The word “thought” commonly used then to mean anxiety, is now accurately stated in modern versions of the Bible. The words of Jesus in modern day translation tells us “Have no anxiety for the tomorrow.”
What then does the word anxiety mean? The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language says it means “A state of uneasiness: Apprehension: Worry.”
Three centuries later another Philosopher named Thomas Carlyle wrote 21 words in a book he wrote that are similar to the words of Jesus. These words are… “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”
So true are the words of these brilliant men of times passed, if one is to live without worry in this modern day era. You see, our minds today are dogged by worry. Worried about what happened yesterday. Worried about what is going to happen tomorrow. You see, the burden of tomorrow in addition to that of yesterday, carried on your shoulders today is what causes anxiety and makes the strongest falter.
Mental distress follows the steps of a man who is anxious about the future. So live this day and do today’s work to the best of your ability with enthusiasm and superb intelligence.
Just as we begin our day with the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” This universal prayer only asks for today’s bread. Likewise, let us live our lives one day at a time… for today, shutting the doors of the yesterdays and the tomorrows. By doing this we are safe from worry. And remember the blessed Psalm of King David “This is the day the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
You see, all of us in a given second of one day are living at a juncture of two eternities, the vast past and the future that is slipping on to recorded time. So we simply cannot live in either of those two eternities… not for one second. And by doing so, we can despoil our minds and our bodies. So we need to live the only life we can possibly live… from morning until bedtime.
Just as the great Poet Robert Louis Stevenson tells us, “Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall. Anyone can do his work, however hard, for one day. Anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, till the sun goes down. And this is all that life really means.”
One Day At A Time...
Piuraqegtaarci...
Bethel Search & Rescue Fundraiser
12-4-08
by Robert Nick
One traditional custom and healing practice of our ancestors is through connecting with others by participating in community gatherings and, or activities. Such a gathering occurred on Friday and Saturday evenings of the long Thanksgiving weekend... November 28 & 29th.
This 14th Annual Social gathering was a fiddle dance sponsored by the Bethel Search and Rescue members as a fundraiser for the volunteer group. In the November 5 edition of The Delta Discovery I wrote that, with the high price of gasoline it may be harder to conduct searches this winter and believe me, there will be searches again during the long winter months, as has happened every winter and even summer.
I attended both of these sessions and enjoyed listening to the talented musicians from Emmonak (Emmo-5) and Bethel (Willie John’s band). Not having attended one before, it was very entertaining to watch young and old as they did many variations of steps in tune to the melody of the music. I sometimes laughed as I watched my Iluqs and Nuliacungaqs as they became 2-steppers, many steppers, twisters and wully-bullers in tune with the music. Both evenings were very enjoyable and I am sure everyone had a good time.
I commend all the volunteers that I observed both evenings. It takes a lot of effort to put together a gathering of this magnitude. And this show of self-sacrifice is for a worthy cause. To enable more volunteers to search for someone who is lost out there, and in many cases all alone, not knowing where he is.
You see, when one loses sense of location (uivqerrluni) you don’t have any idea where you are and where you are going - you are lost. I have done it a time or two myself. Fortunately in earlier times, my late father had a dog team leader that always remembered trails. So in those times, the dogs took me home. With this particular leader, when I lost track of direction in a snow blizzard, I no longer said the turn command words (Gee & Haw), knowing that she would follow an old trail home.
Today, we have snowmachines and they go fast, so one can travel far in a very short time. So snowmachiners should stop as soon as they are lost. It is even possible to get lost in a truck these days, as has happened near Nunapitchuk a few years ago.
I am sure that the proceeds of the fundraiser will be put to good use as gasoline that would be purchased would enable many more volunteers to travel far and wide in search of another life out there somewhere. In the many years I have participated, I have been a member of searchers finding the lost traveler.
The most memorable to me is probably the most extensive search that was done a number of years ago for one of the Samuelson boys. In this search, a friend of mine and I followed his tracks for two days and were joined by volunteers from other villages on the third, and fifth day of the search. Seven of us, after sending the other twenty or so members back to Nunapitchuk, went north to the Yukon River. Just as dusk was turning into night, we found him about eight miles southwest of Devil’s Elbow.
I will always remember that night, how bitterly cold it was as we kept a huge bonfire going in front of where Sam was sitting on my snowmachine. In the search team that night there were two health aides, a fire chief, a Lay Pastor, our Tribal Chief and two volunteers, that I have had accompany me in many previous searches.
As the rest of the searchers were gathered at the National Guard Armory at Nunapitchuk, we relayed word to them through Earl Samuelson above us in a State Trooper plane that we had found Sam and he was okay. I will always remember the four hours that seven of us comforted, warmed, and kept his hopes up that he will again see his family that day. I am sure that the other six men that were with me remember that day as well.
Another that comes to mind is the time that my Iluq from Kwethluk and I found two hunters from Bethel who had run out of gas way back in the Kilbuck Mountains. How we happened to locate these men in the midst of the mountains is incredible. You see, this trip I took was unplanned.
I woke up one morning with an urge to travel to the Kilbuck Mountains. So I called my Iluq and told him I would like to go the mountains in search of caribou. I went to Kwethluk that afternoon and he and I went to the mountains early the next morning.
It was by late afternoon we found Big Bruce on top of a mountain near the Saw Tooth Mountains, way back in the range. He told us that his partner was further back over yet another mountain somewhere. After warming and feeding him, we gassed up his sno-go and had him backtrack with our trail to his camp, which we had passed earlier in the day.
After we had him point out the general direction where his friend might be, we went over one mountain and at the eastern base of the second mountain we found his friend and took him back to their camp where Bruce already had a very warm tent.
After a cup of hot coffee, my Iluq and I traveled back to Kwethluk, getting there in the wee hours of the morning. After a brief rest, I traveled back to Nunapitchuk loaded with a caribou - one of the two the lost hunters gave me. To me, this was one of the most incredible rescues I participated in.
I do declare that in both of these times, the temperature must have been minus 60, or colder. At the Yukon tree line, where we found Sam, it was minus 80, because I checked with Pete Garrison of the National Weather Service the next day.
So, as I stated earlier with the high price of fuel, we will need all the help we can get and any donations will make search efforts more successful. Thank you to all of you that came to the fundraiser and made your donations.
And to the many organizations in the region and the State, any monetary donations will be helpful in future search efforts. As lack of gasoline is perhaps one thing that prevents some, although willing, to volunteer.
Piurci…
Subsistence…a year round activity
11-20-08
by Robert Nick
On my last boat trip up the Johnson River, the first ten to fifteen miles had a beaver house at every bend and this river meanders like crazy with nary a straight stretch longer 3000 feet or so. And with every beaver house, the alder pile in front revealed days of working like a beaver…24/7.
In the more swifty currents, the alder pile would first go away towards deeper water and stretch downward. These mud dome dens with plenty of food gathered, and somehow anchored to the bottom would have six beavers living together. Like a friend from McGrath once told me jokingly, the big beaver houses have two poppas, two mommas, and two little ones.
Of course, we have a Yup’ik name for them. The poppa beavers are “Ucingluuq”, the two mommas are “Nukaq”, and the two little ones are “Aqsatuyagaaq”.
Although my trip took me up the river about 50 to 60 miles, there were less further up.
As I had told my grandson about all the beavers everywhere, and he had seen them. He said to me recently, “Uppi, let’s go catch them.” I had told him that a man had once told me that beaver are about the easiest to catch. So on my recent trip to Bethel, I bought me beaver snares.
This past Saturday he wanted to go hunting, so we departed northward with the usual gear I carry when traveling: an ice pick, a round and square tip shovel, a tarp, an axe, my 12 gauge shotgun, his 410 gauge shotgun, a blackfish trap and some beaver snares.
After setting my blackfish trap at the usual spot at a tributary of Aglumaakaq, now a landlocked river, we started checking out likely spots for ptarmigan. After catching a few, we spot checked a few nearby beaver houses, but did not set the snares as I needed to travel in another direction to check one of my blackfish traps near the village after we get home.
As Kenyon seemed anxious to return home with his daily harvest of Ptarmigan, we headed back at dusk as we were still some distance away from the village.
We plan to go back to the beaver houses Tuesday afternoon to set the snares. I had checked these houses before freeze-up to see how the beaver will be swimming from their den, around their food pile and to that location where they will be coming out in seven months. We, again have a Yup’ik name for this spot along the riverbank, “Isritii”.
And it apparently is the chore of the little ones to swim to this spot nonstop to keep it open throughout the long winter months. An elder once told me that if I know where this is and if I set a beaver snare there, I should make a smaller loop, because only the little ones go there.
I once set a snare in one of these locations with a normal, larger loop but each time I checked it, my loop would be crimped. The same elder told me to make the loop smaller, so I can catch the little one that night.
Although not doubtful of the elder, and not claiming to be like Thomas in the Bible, I checked the snare the very next day. Lo and behold, I caught a little beaver at the “Isritii”.
These things I will tell my grandson when we set the snares next Tuesday. Of course, he will want to bring along his trusty 410 gauge shotgun. This same gun he used when he and I went duck hunting up the Johnson River, up Akuliqutaq River all the way to its headwater lake a couple months ago. Yes, I do bring my 12 gauge along, but just for show these days.
Finally, while I was attending the AFN Convention last month, 8 year old Kenyon (the same grandson) made himself a mini-blackfish trap. The trap looks exactly like the ones I make, but about three times smaller.
Upon my return he wanted to set it, so when I checked my trap, he tied it to the stick that holds my trap and sank his down on top of mine. Each time I check mine, he would pull his up and catch somewhere between 5 to 10 blackfish.
As friends sometimes call me Blackfish Bob, I guess he can be Blackfish Kenyon in time.
Piurci...
Survival in changing times
11-12-08
by Robert Nick
Now that elections have passed, you would think the news media would ease up on coverage of the National elections, but this election is a historic event and may be in the news for some time to come.
Never had I thought an African American would ever become a President of the United States, but it has happened.
And I do believe the electorate of America has made the right choice in these very troubling times. And above all, the people have spoken loudly that change must occur, so that just 2% of the Americans do not benefit (the rich) alone, as per the last eight years of national governance, while the rest of the American people struggle to exist.
The GOP policy of privatizing government/programs has always failed with the troubled economy of nations throughout mankind.
And the so-called economic melt-down will probably be one of the most challenging times in the nation’s history. President-Elect Barack Obama is the right choice to address the challenges of these troubling times of our great nation.
The great depression period of earlier times will more than likely be over-shadowed... for nations are so intrinsically connected economically... if the current trend continues and edges towards an economic downfall.
When we, the first peoples of nations strive to protect the subsistence resources of the lands we occupy, we do so not for complete independence and self-government, but to survive in the harsh environment of the land we call home.
The inherent knowledge of our forefathers, which we call unwritten laws of survival, are taught from a very young age to adulthood. Just as the modern day school teaches employable skills needed for progress in these changing times, we must continue to teach traditions and cultures of survival in our homelands.
In rural Alaska, subsistence hunting and fishing will always sustain the need to survive. We, who are dependent on fish and game must persevere in our fight for a rural subsistence priority in times of declining populations of these renewable food sources.
As we began the new season of the yearly cycle, let us be thankful for all that we gathered in preparation for the next seven cold months we call winter.
Piurci...
Travel Safely and Dress Warm
11-5-08
by Robert Nick
The early freeze-up of our waterways caught many of us flatfooted and the warming temperatures are now making surface travel by snowmobile unsafe, as the ice which was not thick enough yet is now thawing. Therefore, travelers need to be very cautious and test ice thickness when crossing or traveling on the river.
This is done with an ice-pick which our elders tell us to bring along wherever and however we go this time of the year. And when traveling anywhere, we need to tell someone at home where we plan to go. As those that were here before have been able to name many locations surrounding our villages.
Just about every notable location, hill, river and lake has a name. For us that travel far and wide, we camp in places such as Miami Beach, Jerusul’laq, Kitngigtaleq (a place with boot heel), and many names that make us laugh, such as…Piss Me Off Lake, 8 Lake and Puck Ball.
And if anyone traveling gets wet we are told that dry grass, which is not totally covered by snow yet can keep us warm. Until traveling is safe, we really should not be going anywhere.
There are marked trails between villages, so we should follow them when traveling to other villages. Although it is not very cold yet, we need to dress warm when traveling. I still see young folks traveling with tennis shoes, which will not keep their feet warm.
There is some travel to nearby villages by snowmobile by local school sports teams, and the school district has a survival dress code that must be followed.
Throughout the past few days Peter Atchak, President of the Volunteer Search and Rescue Team in Bethel has been announcing travel advisories. Please follow them, as we who participate in searches are volunteers. Sometimes search efforts take us many days and weeks. Many of the volunteers take time off from work to participate.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Peter Atchak, and Earl Samuelson for the air support he gives to the ground teams, and the many volunteers that unselfishly give their time in search efforts. And I thank the Bethel SAR volunteers - too many for me to name, and the village search and rescue volunteers that always come forth whenever there is a search and rescue need.
And I thank the Alaska State Troopers Bethel Detachment for their support in providing gas and oil for search teams. With the high price of gas, search teams are going to need more help with fuel and as many of our volunteer teams are using their own gas, it may be harder to get folks to volunteer this winter.
Being volunteers, we sign a sheet which indemnifies the State Department of Public Safety from any claims of damage to our snowmachines and accidental death while participating in searches. So, let us thank these folks that volunteer their time in search of another life somewhere out there. In almost all searches, we have no idea where and which direction the person was traveling. Again, always tell someone where you are going. Travel safely and dress warm. Piurci…
Exercise your right and vote on November 4
10-21-08
by Robert Nick
In two weeks, we will be going to the polls to vote for candidates, who when elected to both the State Legislature and the United States Congress, and even the Office of President of these United States will work for the good of all.
The State Legislature and United States Congress are the supreme governments that enact laws that empower local governmental entities with plenary powers needed to govern.
The elected members of these local governments have now been elected and have organized to function for the health and safety of all the people in their communities.
Who are these local governments?
From Pugent Sound northward, there are 229 federally recognized tribes, some of which are governed by tribal governments, while others have state chartered municipal governments known as cities.
Some of these communities have both tribal and city governments as my village of Nunapitchuk does. Some have state chartered borough governments. Well, so much for local governments...
I would like to share a few of my own personal thoughts on the issues facing us today, and some of the people that want to be elected to State/National office. I would like to begin by talking about a few of the pressing issues that face us wherever we live.
As we, the family are experiencing, the cost of energy is by far the most challenging issue facing us today. The cost of heating fuel is almost $9 a gallon in some communities, and listen to this... $10.99 a gallon for gasoline in one village near Kotzebue.
An elder from one of the local villages called me just a couple days ago and told me that he bought 10 gallons of stove oil and paid almost $90.
As we in the villages know real well, the cost of everything is rising exponentially with the rising cost of heating fuel, gasoline for both land and air transportation. And as everyone in the region knows, air transportation and shipping by air is becoming unaffordable.
And with the high price of gasoline, travel by land and water - our only other means - by snowmachine and automobile on our ice-roads is going to be extremely costly for the next 7 months.
Although we got, and are receiving energy assistance now, it is temporary. Therefore, our region is fortunate to have Bob Herron as our only candidate for House District 38 in the General Election on November 4, 2008, just two weeks away.
In my political astuteness, in one half of a Century (100 years), State House District 38 and Senate District M are about to be represented by two very keen and capable persons in history. Not-with-standing the fact that western Alaska has been represented by many outstanding, hard-working representative such our very own Martin B. Moore of Emmonak, the late George Hohman and many more.
There is a phrase I like to occasionally say, “A Family That Works Together, Sweats Together And Accomplishes much.” Indeed, Bob and Lyman are about to become a team in the State Capital Building, and believe me, they will accomplish much to improve life in our great State of Alaska.
I would like to quote Bob’s Position Statement…
“Our strength in western Alaska comes from the land and its people. We have a tremendous resource with the tribal entities in our communities, and the State of Alaska must recognize and utilize this important form of local authority. The best government is the government that is closest to the people, and I will continue to listen and learn from our community leaders.”
Bob Herron’s Position Statement continues...
“Without a doubt, the number one issue facing all of us in western Alaska is the high cost of fuel products, and the rising costs lead to higher transportation costs that ultimately increases our cost of all consumable products. Alaska has the wealth and capacity to help its citizens through a short-term solution with direct payments of energy dividends to the people. We must also seek a long-term solution by investing in viable, alternative energy infrastructures to create energy independence and economic opportunities for our region.
Bob Herron’s Policy Statement continues....
“There are three basic public services in western Alaska that improve our quality of life: health care, education and social services. I will work with Senator Hoffman and the other legislators to see that necessary funding to our region is continued in these three areas. Raising healthy, educated and self-confident children build better families and communities.”
That is why I am helping Bob Herron to make sure he represents western Alaska in the Alaska State Legislature. And I urge to you all to vote for him as I am on November 4, 2008.
Finally, on the National front, after listening to the non-stop campaign for the office of the President of the United States, I am voting for the Barack Obama/Joe Biden ticket.
PIURCI...
Lead by the example of our elders
10-15-08
by Robert Nick
The need of social order of members/residents of communal settlements, in our case our villages, is a must throughout the history of mankind. As one reads the history books, it is clear that when nations lose some means of social order of its people, they collapse.
And when governments of nations cease to function for the welfare and safety of all those residents they are empowered to protect, the harmony of the families/people in those nations is disrupted.
In the aboriginal history of our native homeland, the council of Elder/Elders kept social order through wise guidance based on the inherent knowledge of our ancestors passed down by word of mouth throughout history.
In December of 2002, I expounded on a 1994 report entitled, “The Joint Federal State Commission on Policies and Programs Affecting Alaska Natives.” Following are a few excerpts of the report...
“Whatever words are chosen to depict the situation of Alaska’s Native people, there can be little doubt that an entire population is at risk: At risk of becoming permanently imprisoned in America’s underclass, mired in both physical and spiritual poverty that accompany such social standing. At risk of leading lives generation-to-generation characterized by violence, alcohol abuse and cycles of personal and social destruction. At risk of losing irretrievable, cultural strengths and attributes essential for the building of a new and workable social order. At risk, inevitably or permanently losing our capacity to self-govern... the capacity to make considered and appropriate decisions about how life in Native communities should be lived.”
In the same article I quoted what a tribal leader/elder said in 1985...
“We need to carry on until the next generation takes over. Let us try hard to make ourselves good examples for those who are to follow us over the next 100 years. Indeed, we hope and pray that the next generation will carry on more successfully, for they will be more educated than we are today. We ourselves have tried hard with our limited education.”
Many rural Alaskan communities have now chosen their local government members. I congratulate those chosen leaders, and like the longtime elder/leader said in 1985, let us try our best as we exercise our fiduciary duties and be good examples for those who are to follow us.
And let us strive for harmony amongst all of our village members. And above all, let us heed the instruction of our elders. Let us strive for the safety and welfare of our children, our elders and all families. The unity, cultural strengths and other attributes, fundamentally essential for the building of workable social order enjoyed by our ancestors, if lost shall never be recovered, or retrieved. Along with this loss… our identity as Eskimos, Athabascans, Aleuts, Tsimpshians, Haidas and Tlingits will fade away. Piurci...
Using woodstoves for heat
9-17-08
by Robert Nick
As the fall season approaches, we all need to start thinking about the long winter months ahead of us.
Besides the harvest of subsistence foods throughout the summer, logs were also gathered for the wood stove, which until the mid twentieth century were the only source of heat for our homes.
I remember going with my father, gathering logs near Tuluksak, which he tied together in a triangular shape with the longest at the outside. Once all tied together, he would use smaller knotty dry spruce to make wedges, place shorter logs crossways and put more logs on top.
Once all the logs have been tied securely, we would start pushing the log raft downriver. Although gasoline was cheap then, my father would sometimes stop the motor, and we would drift downriver.
At this time we would be at fish camp and just before the start of school in mid to late August, our parents would load all that needed to be transported back to the village and we would all get on our log rafts and make our trip back to village. This was done by many families in the tundra villages.
Prior to the outboards, families from the tundra villages would only go with the incoming tide when traveling back to the village with their log rafts. Upon arriving in the village, the men would help each other and roll, pull the logs onto the shore. And throughout the winter, we cut the logs with long handsaws, as there were no chain saws then.
As it use to snow a lot then, we sometimes would shovel the snowed in logs and somehow move them on top and start cutting and splitting the logs near our houses. This I did many a time, starting right after school until dark. As our fathers hunted a lot, many of us young boys did this daily.
In addition to the logs our fathers would gather alder, they had to go about twenty miles bydog-team. As I got older, I too went on Saturday or when school was out.
With the high price of fuel today we can still gather wood to help reduce what is going to be a very high cost of heating our homes this winter. With our snowmachines and chainsaws, we would not work as hard as our parents did.
Very shortly, we will be receiving heating assistance ($1200) for everyone who received a 2007 PFD. I would urge all who can to use this for fuel oil and electricity. We will also receive $2,069 (PFD) in addition to the energy rebate. Please use this free money wisely.
Piurci...
What next in State Government?
9-4-08
by Robert Nick
The excellency of being the number two leader (Vice President) of these United States has enticed Alaska’s number one leader (Governor) to vacate that office after less than two years of service to the people of our great state.
Just as we woke at 5:00 AM on September 11, 2001 and stared at the TV in disbelief... silently watching the burning of the World Trade Center, the attack on the Pentagon Building, and the aborted attack on the White House, we again woke up on 8-29-08 and stared at the TV in total awe and watched an exhilarated Sarah Palin being introduced by Presidential hopeful John McCain as his Vice Presidential running mate.
One of her first excited words was the theme of Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, “Change”. I had thought that the McCain ticket was to continue the Grand Old Party (GOP) ideals and George Bush policies. And I had hoped that a Democratic President if elected, would change the Republican agenda, which McCain would implement if elected. Well, so much for national politics.
What is going to happen here in Alaska??? Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell whom Governor Palin has been campaigning for, may be a viable candidate for the lone seat on the United States House of Representative. Absentee ballots will determine, as the votes on the Republican ticket for the Congressional Representative seat are very close.
So, if Lt. Governor is elected that seat, than the Attorney General would be our Governor, until someone (who?) is elected by a special election. Who then is the Attorney General?
I have heard that the man’s name is Talis Colberg, a lawyer who practiced law, I believe in the Mat-Su Valley where Sarah Palin was Mayor. Talis Colberg has never held public office, has never been elected for public office, and may be heading the Administrative Branch of State Government, although for a short term.
If one views Sarah Palin’s national aspirations with no national nor international experience, than Mr. Colberg would exercise leadership with “0” public government experience.
At a period of time for triad fiduciary exercise of the State of Alaska’s three branches of government... what with AGIA, the energy crisis, and for meeting the many needs of Alaskans, we need a Governor who understands Alaska’s myriad cultures and the unique governance exercised by Alaska’s indigenous first peoples.
Since the discovery of oil in Prudhoe Bay and the oil lease sales in 1969, when Alaska’s government could no longer say that it does not have the money to take care of Alaska’s needs - for it became nearly a billion dollars richer overnight - the state of Alaska has never been richer. The Permanent Fund is growing a mind boggling $billion dollars a month and is now in excess of $41 billion dollars. Alaska could no longer say it does not have the funds for services.
I am hopeful that the coming legislative sessions would address the many needs of all Alaskans, rural Alaskans in particular.
I urge local governments and regional organizations to assess their needs and develop plans and proposals to the next session of the state legislature, which convenes in January 2009. Knowing how time flies these days, it will be very shortly...
Piurci.
Warming may cause
drying of rivers and lakes
8-29-08
by Robert Nick
After looking down at Cook Inlet every summer for more than four decades, the last approach to Ted Stevens International Airport revealed a sand island right in the middle of the channel, just west of Fire Island. It probably appears more often in very low tides, but it did seem out of place for me… seeing it for the first time.
I did tell a friend that travels to Anchorage more often than I, but he had not seen it before. This, along with the very low waters in western Alaska got me wondering if this is one outcome of global warming we hear about these days.
It does seem logical that warmer temperatures would result in lower water columns. Considering this… many rivers, even the Yukon and Kuskokwim, may end up with headwaters and tributaries drying up.
In the wetlands, this would also cause lakes to dry up. Without snow/ice thaws, the continuous flow of water would slow down and eventually cease. This would not be good for many reasons, salmon spawning tributaries drying up, and wildlife habitats changing and edging northward, requiring subsistence hunting and fishing further away from customary and traditional areas.
There has been many scientific notations on causes of climate change, and one that stands out is the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere caused by the industrial revolution of the twentieth century.
Well, so much for climate change…
One the four seasons experienced by Alaskans, Fall… is rapidly approaching. One of many worries of how we are to face the coming winter months, is keeping our homes warm and lighting our homes at night. Two facts facing us is the high cost of heating fuel and electricity.
As we now know, the Alaska legislature has addressed the energy crisis with short term assistance, which will be helpful to all of us. The resource rebate of $1200 for every Alaskan who received a dividend check in 2007, and the increase to PCE, and weatherization of homes should be a big help this winter.
We hear in the news media that the PFD checks due to distributed starting as early as September should be about $2000. I would like to encourage all to use these funds wisely. One excellent idea from a gentleman… is depositing the resource checks in a bank and using a debit card to purchase heating fuel and gasoline only.
Some folks are talking about buying woodstoves to help heat their homes. Our parents did this prior to oil stoves. We still have a need to store up food for the long winter months, and with the tall grass we see everywhere, it may be a long cold winter.
Piurci…
Salmonberries aplenty
8-24-08
by Robert Nick
When one travels the wetlands of western Alaska... tundra sloughs and lakes, in search of fish and game, salmonberries, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, and the tasty low bush red berries, the vast and magnificent panorama lies for miles with occasional rolling hills banking the rivers and lakes.
Such is the scene, and with the many days of rains during the prime growing period, freshness of all living plants and greenery brings about freshness to the air one breathes. No wonder our ancestors taught us to revere the land that brings about these wonders of the universe that feeds mankind throughout the world.
During the past few days and weeks, my wife and I, our children and grandchildren were out there with others that we see walking the tundra, mostly bent over, picking berries.
In an earlier article, I had said that the berries were not to be seen, but with the rains and the sunlight that gradually enriched their growth, they are out there, everywhere.
And as you read this, one can still pick them as they are now 100% ripe and very tasty. Of course, in the colder climate west and north, they are not quite ripe for picking according to friends that live in those regions. But they certainly will be picking them soon.
A friend from Scammon Bay told me on Wednesday… they are picking them now. So, there is akutaq aplenty in western Alaska communities.
We certainly have been blessed with these natural plants and fruits, but we need to go out and get them.
Due to some meetings I must attend for the improvement of living in this harsh land we call home, I took advantage of a prior week and picked for six days straight, sometimes picking for almost twelve hours. In some of the trips, the grandkids went along and picked.
One of my grandsons filled the bottom of his small bucket and told us that he “muiriq”. Even two year old Kentrell was wandering amidst pebbles of berries, picking the biggest and ripest. Of course, he stopped from time to time to eat a ripe berry.
The salmonberry patches that my wife and I pick again provided aplenty. So, there will be akutaq aplenty this winter.
Throughout the years, I sometimes eat at a “Nuliacungaq’s” house, and when I ask for “Akutaq” they never have any. So, if my “nuliacungaq’s” happen to eat at my house… ask for “akutaq” and you may have one with berries that I picked. Of course, there are still blueberries, blackberries and cranberries to pick when ripe.
Perhaps, the best part of all these outings, is the stress of everyday life that is mitigated (made less harsh), just by being out there in the wild (uninhabited and uncultivated region).
As my family knows, I spent a lot time in the wild as returning from these outings usually brings good healthy feelings and clearer thinking. So, the next time you feel stressed and sickly, spend time with Mother Nature and you will feel better.
Since many of you will be berry picking soon, I wish you a strong back and that you find tundra pebbled with these tasty berries.
Piurci...
Another school year is about to begin
8-14-08
by Robert Nick
As you read this, another school year is about to begin. And many familiar faces are again arriving at the Bethel airport and catching village bound flights as LKSD schools are about to open doors for another nine months of school for K-12 students.
The district’s new Site Administrators arrived prior to last weekend and had their in-service training from Monday to Wednesday and were joined by returning Site Administrators on Thursday and Friday of last week. All of the district’s 350 plus teachers will be arriving this week as schools in all 25 sites need to begin starting Monday, the 18th... and no later than Wednesday the 20th.
First of all, I would to express hearty congratulations to Gary Baldwin, the new Superintendent of the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD). Gary began his employment with LKSD 29 years ago, then hired by the very man he is replacing, William Ferguson. Back then, William (Bill) Ferguson was Assistant Superintendent of Education for LKSD.
Gary began his employment as Principal Teacher at Akiachak. Akiachak and the Yupiit School District sites were part of LKSD at that time. Mr. Baldwin has since been teacher, site administrator, and Assistant Superintendent. So, he embarks on his new role as the educational leader of the LKSD with clear knowledge of our district - inside and out, so to speak.
I feel positive that his many years as Director of Personnel has aligned him well with the certified and classified staff of the Lower Kuskokwim School District. None-the-less, the support that we all can give him will all the more make for successful implementation of the mission of LKSD.
Parents of the district, I would like you to support your children’s education, as the well rounded curriculum of the district schools can prepare your child(ren) for life in the 21st century and beyond. The team of educational leaders with the support of your district school board, has done well in developing this course of study for your child, to become responsible citizens, wherever they choose to live.
How can you help? Make sure they get enough rest by going to bed early and prepare them for school early. Many of our schools feed them breakfast, so we don’t even have to feed them before they go to the school.
Make sure they attend school everyday and help them with their homework, for they do bring them home everyday. Ask them to return home right after school, so they may help out at home and do their homework early.
High School students, do the best you can to learn and finish at least high school. Not all of you will go to college. Some of you will learn trades that can be a means of supporting your families in later life. You have a splendid opportunity as Yuut Elinaurviat is nearing completion and will become the place to go to learn the skills for the many jobs in health care and building trades.
Again... welcome back Site Administrators and teachers for another successful school year.
Piurci...
Special session of the legislature
7-30-08
by Robert Nick
The special session of the Alaska State Legislature certainly is not experiencing a hum-drum airing. What with the Governor encountering untenable situations with her actions regarding the head of one of the more important departments of the State’s Administrative Branch, the Department of Public Safety.
It has been established for years that public health and public safety are high priority and key departments serving the citizens of Alaska. As the head of the Administrative Branch (Governor), one of three branches, the other two being the Judicial Branch, and the Legislative Branch (the Legislature), Sarah Palin needs the prayers and support of all Alaskans in her resolution of the situation in the Department of Public Safety. I wish her wise guidance in the days ahead.
As for the special session of the legislature, Saturday marked the eighteenth day, and in this day, both the Senate and House Finance Committee’s held hearings on Governor Palin’s short term (immediate) energy assistance proposals. The House Finance Committee held a hearing on HB4003, the energy relief bill... an $800 million Resource Rebate Proposal, along with the 9.6 million increase to the Power Cost Equalization program.
The major component of this bill is the $1200 rebate to all Alaskans that got a Permanent Fund Dividend check. This was proposed by Governor Sarah Palin. In addition to energy relief bill, HB4004 also aired discussion by members of the committee. The House Finance Committee also held a public hearing on these two bills due to be taken up sometime soon.
The Senate Finance Committee also held a committee review of Senate Bill 4005, the PCE increase for the remainder of the Fiscal year and the next fiscal year. This Senate version also had home heating assistance addition, supplementing the LIHEAP Program, a totally federally funded program.
Both the increase to PCE, and the addition to LIHEAP have proposed funding of $75 million each. If this home heating assistance is approved and funded, it would no longer be only for low-income families, as the income guideline would be increased to 250% of the Poverty. An example given... a family of three could have an annual income of $90 thousand and still be able to get home heating assistance.
These Senate and House versions still need further refining for final approval by both chambers. Also discussed at the Senate Finance, was HB152, the Alaska Home Heating Assistance bill already passed by the legislature. This was passed by the regular session and will now be implemented. This is the Alaska Heating Assistance Program (AHAP), and according to DHSS, eligibility requirements for this program may be eased to assist more Alaskans as we face this energy crisis.
It is hoped that these would be in place before the cold winter months rapidly approaching as the fall is almost upon us already.
A recent survey of heating fuel and gasoline costs on western Alaska villages shows that home heating is now nearing $10.00 a gallon. And it will rise higher before winter. Many of our homes use about 2 drums per month in the winter... imagine at $10.00 a gallon... it will be over a $1,000.00 per month just to heat our homes. Many of us are now paying $150 to over $200 a month for electricity. Energywise, we are in for a very, very hard time.
How about gasoline? I was told by a friend from one of the villages last Thursday that he need to add gas to his four wheeler, so he got 2.1 gallons and paid over $20.00 for it.
Therefore, I urge tribal and city leaders to send letters, resolutions, and e-mails to their Legislators to pass the energy relief bills immediately… with expedited implementation mandates.
Our state government has realized unprecedented revenue from oil exploitation - “Billions of Dollars”, and it is only fair to share the wealth with Alaska’s Citizens…
PIURCI...
Swallows have departed
7-23-08
by Robert Nick
July 18, 2008 dawned quietly throughout the village of Nunapicuar (Nunapitchuk). The usual chirping and aerobatic flying of the swallows was gone, as the swallows that reared their young in the village have begun their journey south.
This day was true for their departure, as an elder that spent many a day with my family had told us that this is the day that they depart. Therefore in this beautiful day that the Lord hath made, my wife went out early and came back in and told me, “The swallows are gone!” And I told her… Yes, I know… for I had missed them as I went out at dawn, three hours earlier.
The evening of the seventeenth had been a special evening for us, for the young swallows were chirping and flying around us, sometimes landing just a few feet away from us as we sat and enjoyed the evening near our fish racks. Sometimes they made me laugh, for they were almost crashing into me as I stood watching their newly learned aerobatics. These were young swallows that had spent the last few days, way up in the sky, flying gracefully this way and that.
Now, as I think back to that evening, through their chirping, they may have been telling my wife and I they are leaving us this night. And sure enough they did. Since then other flocks have been flying by, possibly on their journey south from the north. For the next few days they will be seen at the bluffs along the rivers, with their hastily made cliff shelters.
As a young boy, as my father and his brothers and sister, along with their children spent summers at fishcamp above Oscarville, my cousins and I would sit on the sandbar in front and watch these birds as they fly almost on the surface of the water, but never touching it. One of my older cousins once told us that swallows fly that way when there is a lot fish in the river. Throughout the years, I have noticed that to be the case, as there is a certain time in summer that they fly that way. And that is when there is an abundance of fish in the river.
These graceful birds have gone south and we will not see them until they return mid-May 2009.
Piurci…
Where are the berries?
7-16-08
by Robert Nick
On the way home Saturday from checking a whitefish net, I made a couple stops to check on the growth of salmon berries, but did not eat any (yet). Not quite ready for picking, but I have been telling my wife that we will probably start spending time with mother nature very soon, as sure as day they are out there on the tundra.
We may have to wander here and there for them, as the spring chill has lingered and may have hindered the early growth of the berries. Just as heat and drought prevent abundant growth of farmed fruits in the south, chill does the same here in our homelands.
As my family was traveling back from camping near Baird Inlet in early June, we missed the first bloom of the salmon berries. The tundra is usually pebbled with white dots (first bloom of the salmon berries), but not this time. As my wife and I were having dinner upon arriving home, she said, “The salmon berry flowers are gone!”
But I did start seeing them mid to late June. The rains and humid weather in late June was good for the growth of wild plants, and we had many wild celery (ikiituq) snacks. They too were stinted in growth.
An excellent meal supplement this spring was cooked “allngiguaq”, which I call wild asparagus. The grandkids started asking for sourdock (quagciq) akutaq, so we had it the other day.
These spring wild plants along with the berries are good for the health. I will always remember an elder’s comment years ago as we ate ikiituq one evening. He said to my wife and I, these wild plants that you gather are good for your health, so harvest them when they are edible.
Not-with-standing the lingering chill this summer, it was good for cutting and drying fish, as the flies that usually buzz around our hanging racks were/are gone. Most of us are now smoking our dried salmon and whitefish.
It was another bountiful harvest for families along the Kuskokwim River. Even the whitefish are in the tundra lakes in abundance. As our ancestors taught us, let us gather and harvest for the long winter months ahead of us.
Piurci...
A tribute to Mr. Education
7-9-08
by Robert Nick
As you read this short tribute to a man who had dedicated his entire forty year career to educating the region’s children, I wonder if a day will pass in this education giant’s life when he will wake up at his usual 4:00 am call to duty, and not think of teaching/education.
Throughout his many years as the Superintendent of the Lower Kuskokwim School District, many of his e-mails to his team of able educators and his Board of Directors were sent sometime between 4 to 6 am. I once asked his son if his dad ever takes a break from his work to sleep, I got this answer. “If dad is still awake at 9:00 pm, he is up late, and if he sleeps until 6:00 am, he slept in.”
Mr. William Ferguson and his wife Cauline first came to Alaska as young educators and did their first year as the Bureau of Indian Affairs school teachers at Kasigluk, now referred to as Akiuk School. At this time I had been a member and Chair of the BIA Bethel Agency Advisory Board for a number of years, and visited him at Kasigluk.
Both Bill and his wife were fresh out of college and were in a new world at Kasigluk, and embarked almost a lifetime of work at this small Yup’ik community in Western Alaska.
Traditionally in the early days, the first three decades, the Bureau hired married couples to teach in Alaska’s remote villages. Due to isolation in these school sites, lack of adequate (with water & sewer) housing, there were not many young single teachers in villages at that time. And the BIA had a two year turn around where moving back is paid by the Bureau.
As the Chairman of the Bethel Agency Advisory Board, I too, took my role seriously and visited many young new teachers in nearby villages with the thought of orienting them to the new realm of society they were entering.
With this thought, I visited Bill and his wife in the winter of 1968 at their new home in Kasigluk. As they welcomed me to their living quarters, the first thing I noticed was a stuffed Ptarmigan at a lamp desk and had this thought, “Why, these folks had stuffed and displayed my favorite winter food, instead of eating the delicious bird.” I am sure now, that this couple has had many delicious meals with this winter bird.
I enjoined an evening of sharing the way we live, our traditions and culture, which at that time were continually taught by our elders.
Well... Bill and his wife Cauline lived and taught at Kasigluk for the next 28 years. Does this not epitomize the dedication and commitment of this man, whom I feel fortunate to have befriended four decades ago? Mr. Ferguson, whom I tacitly refer to as the Superman of Education, spent a decade as Superintendent of the Lower Kuskokwim School District, the largest of the State’s 23 Rural Education Attendance Area school districts. LKSD is 22,000 square miles, is about the size of State of Virginia with about 3,900 K-12 students taught by 352 certified teachers of which 1/4 are Yup’ik certified teachers.
LKSD has the highest percentage of indigenous educators of the State’s 53 school districts. This, is a result of the mission statement which reads as follows. “The mission of the Lower Kuskokwim School District is to ensure bilingual, culturally appropriate and effective education for all students, thereby providing them with the opportunity to be responsible, productive citizens.”
Through the able leadership of Mr. Bill Ferguson, many federal and state education proficiency improvement mandates were implemented. Many of these mandates, the No Child Left Behind in particular, were unfunded, or minimally supplemented with services.
The 25 sites in the Lower Kuskokwim region are fortunate to have had this man as their school leader. I have always maintained that the success of education is having a dedicated and experienced leader that understands the educational needs of the region served.
Mr. Superman of Education spent 40 years of his life living right in the heart of our school district. I take this opportunity to extend profound gratitude for his life’s work.
In the last two decades, LKSD was lead by two of the most dedicated educators I have had the opportunity to work with. And I have worked with many Superintendents, both in Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Lower Kuskokwim School District.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank another LKSD Superintendent that also spent an entire career to teaching our region’s students. I first met this young lady (at that time), also back in mid-sixties, as she taught in the Bethel State schools, long before REAA’s came into being. This lady also devoted her entire career to educating the region’s students. Sue Cummings Hare is also a homegrown Educational Leader, which the region was fortunate to have as Superintendent of the School District.
From the bottom of my humble heart... I thank you Mr. William A. Ferguson and Sue C. Hare. May you both be in peace in retirement.
William Ferguson retired June 30, 2008.
Pride in our Native Heritage
6-11-08
by Robert Nick
Just as any sustenance livelihood of any indigenous first peoples in all places of the universe, the Alaska Native heritage shows in everything we do to survive in this harsh land we call home. And the activities of spring and summer are testament of the healthy lifestyles and pride of the Yup’ik and Cup’ik people of western Alaska.
Truly our forefathers were a proud and healthy example for us to follow and their many words of wisdom of living together peacefully, helping one another, make for healthy communities everywhere in rural Alaska.
As I was growing up, elders shared many traditional ways learned through ages of enduring hardships, experiencing food shortage, famine… and told us that we must live accordingly to survive.
One of the many traditions they taught is to be early risers. That means to be up early in the morning and start our food gathering activities while the animals and birds are roaming about their habitat. They would tell us that if we like to sleep late, we will miss out on the opportune time to catch anything.
As most small animals are nocturnal, meaning they are active at night and do their food gathering then, they sleep during the day. So, if you are a late sleeper and get a late start, you probably won’t see a lot of the small furbearing animals, because they are sleeping in their underground holes.
And the migratory birds which are flying every which way but loose in the early morning hours, are no longer flying for they are fast asleep also. Early rising also lets us do our chores energetically and tirelessly as we are well rested. So, rise early and watch the sun as it majestically rises in the East, emulating scarlet rays of energy to all of earth’s living beings, and you will be energized.
Another teaching of our elders is not to be lazy. If we do nothing, we will not accomplish anything. They tell us even though we do not feel like doing anything, we need to do our chores. And you wonderful, beautiful young men and women, there are always, always things to do at home, around the home and in our communities. There are elders living alone, widows and widowers needing a helping hand in all of our villages.
Remember the saying… “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Just a “Thank you” from an elder or anyone needing help has many, many rewards. If one keeps busy helping others, there is no cause to be “bored,” a feeling of being tired with repetition or tediousness.
What is tedium? It is a tiresome feeling of length and slowness, or in simple words... doing nothing. So, if one keeps busy, how can one be bored!?
Another teaching of our elders is to harvest as much as we can while the fish are available, and by golly and jolly... they are here again. We again have an opportunity to gather and store for the long winter months, which will surely be here again.
There was an elder who gave me much wisdom as I tried my best to provide for my family. Every fall he would tell me to winterize my motors and place my boats on dry ground, telling me that winter will not last... that summer will come again. By golly, summer is here again and the land and waters abound with the blessings of our maker.
So, fishers and gatherers of earthly plants and fruits, let us reap our blessings with thanksgiving.
Piurci.
Spring is about
rebirth of the Spirit
6-4-08
by Robert Nick
As I meditate on the annual activities of spring, I do declare that this season of the year certainly brings about a rebirth of the universal spirit.
It is a period of renewal of all living, breathing beings, from humans to the birds and animals of the universe, all plants and fruits that grow on Mother Earth.
And even the water bodies of western Alaska. Spring brings much needed respite from the long cold winter and its effect on us such as cabin fever, thereby bringing a much needed renewal of the human spirit for those of us that live in this harsh land of four seasons.
The snow has melted and the ice in lakes is gone and the water has risen and is now washing the land around us. The land is again turning green with the renewal and the growth of the living plants of the land around us.
We humans have quickened our pace as we are again busy with our subsistence activities. Even those in advancing ages are rejuvenated and invigorated with this new energy that comes with a breath of fresh air that spring brings.
White fish, lush fish, shee fish are hanging and drying in our racks and smoke houses. And as I write this, my family is making plans to make our first journey to our camp at Niugnilnguq located near Baird Inlet.
This camp, which my grandkids refer to as “PUKPAL” is on the tributary of the middle Akuluraq River just west of Pukpalaq Lake. And the prized fish, the pike, caught from Taklirlaq Lake westward to the Bering Sea has spawned and is now biting the fish lure with every cast from the bank of the Akuluraq River and the lakes shores.
My grandson, 8 year old Kenyon Alexie probably caught the most last year. When I told him yesterday that we are going to “PUKPAL”, he smiled from ear to ear.
My iluq called me from Toksook Bay yesterday and told me that Baird Inlet is still frozen and that I can probably drive across by snowmachine, but I think he was teasing.
The migratory birds have now laid their eggs and before long there will be ducklings all around us as we travel throughout the meandering rivers and lakes of western Alaska.
King Salmon are here again and will soon be hanging in racks at fish camps and villages along the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers and their tributaries.
As the smelts made their way up last week, I heard a comment that they are going up fairly fast. Further comment was that when the water level is high they make their way up fast and that salmon will do likewise.
So fishers for salmon, catch and dry all you can as the weather which had been wet and windy for sometime is now sunny and clear. And it usually is good for a while, so hopefully we will have good drying weather for some time. Good luck fishing...
Piurci.
Bering Sea Pollock Fishery Salmon Bycatch
5-28-08
by Robert Nick
As the Chinook (king) Salmon are about to make their annual migration to their spawning habitats in the tributaries of the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is planning to meet in Kodiak, Alaska to address the Bering Sea salmon by-catch issue.
On the agenda of this meeting next month is consideration of a variety of alternatives that were reviewed, modified at the Council’s April meeting, for possible action to deal with the Chinook salmon bycatch that occur in the Pollock fishery.
These salmon bycatch numbers have been increasing in recent years due to fishing behavior of the three means used for harvesting the prized Pollock: Inshore, Mothership, and Catcher/Processor.
It is a known fact that most of the salmon bycatch occurs during the pollock fishery. As a result of this rise, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council needs to act in a manner that will result in the reduction of the salmon bycatch through establishing controls on the Pollock fishery. And this can only occur by adopting hard caps, as these caps will require modifications of how the three sectors do their fishing.
This year’s pollock “A” season is now done and the Inshore sector which had an allocation of 50% of the directed pollock harvest had a 66% of Chinook bycatch, while the Mothership sector, which had an allocation of 10% of the directed pollock harvest, had 7% of Chinook Bycatch. And the Catcher/Processor which had an allocation of 40% directed pollock harvest had 26% of Chinook bycatch.
With the 40% catch limit this year, king salmon bycatch has been reduced from previous years, but still is not acceptable.
The NPFMC will be reviewing ways a hard cap for Chinook Salmon could be allocated to further reduce the bycatch numbers per the current caps. Since the bycatch of salmon has occurred from the start of the fishery, one consideration would be based on each sector’s historical bycatch of salmon. Undoubtedly, the venue of options will be carefully reviewed at the June 2008 NPFMC meeting, as the initial review of the draft Environmental Impact Statement, which analyzes the impacts of the alternatives will occur then.
Therefore, I again would like to make myself perfectly clear... Tribes and all subsistence fishers for salmon must write letters and resolutions to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council requesting imposition of lower hard caps for the three sectors within the pollock fishery so that further reductions of Chinook bycatch may occur. Possibly a lower hard cap as low as 29% annual catch limit.
The managers of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands fisheries must institute a sensible re-building plan, just as the salmon users on the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers did with the Chinook and Chum Salmon Re-building plan during the past seven years. Piurci...
Governor Palin’s short term energy plan
5-20-08
by Robert Nick
Last Thursday Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced her Administration’s proposal/plan to address the energy crisis that continues to escalate despite efforts by oil producing nations to slow down the sky-rocketing costs of energy by boosting production.
The last time I had time to listen to the news, the price of crude oil had reached $128 a barrel and still rising and that was a few days ago. As eighty five percent of Prudhoe Bay crude oil is exported, this is good for the State Treasury as each dollar (upward) adds millions of dollars in royalties to the State.
However, families across our great state are in a serious bind, especially those that do their subsistence harvest activities throughout the summer months. Additionally, electric utility bills are at all time highs, and I fear that some may face disconnects this summer.
I wholeheartedly agree with her statement that “the right thing to do is to return surplus monies to the resources owners through energy relief”. Afterall, Alaskans own the resources that are bringing these billions of dollars $$$$$ to the state treasury.
The short term energy plan that she plans to include in the special Legislative Session beginning on June 3rd, has two parts.
The first is through grants to electric utilities to reduce electricity costs by 60 percent. This includes all homeowners, renters, schools, governments and businesses.
All Alaskans, especially those residing in remote communities are experiencing the highest energy costs in the nation. As summer is now upon us, remote Alaskan villages will soon be supplied by the only fuel oil and gasoline supplier/deliverer, Crowley Maritime. And speculation is that the summer fuel deliveries will be at higher prices, which will soon be paid by all users.
In addition to the grants to electric utilities, there is a plan for conservation incentives for the utility companies. This incentive for the remainder of 2008 would allow the state to make year-end contributions for capital energy projects to electric utilities. This would give incentive for the utility providers to seek ways to reduce kilowatt hour sales from the 2007 levels.
This plan, short term it may be, would be a blessing from the sky and would tide us towards long term solutions that are in the works with the development of the statewide energy plan.
This longer term plan is being developed through the office of the State’s Energy Coordinator. Steve Haagenson, recently appointed by Governor Palin, is heading the process of developing a statewide plan to cut down energy costs and bring long-term solutions for the state. This first part of the proposed plan would cost the state $475 million dollars.
The second part of the proposed plan is to provide an Energy Debit Card to every qualifying Permanent Fund applicant. As all Alaskans have already filed their PFD applications, this card would go to each one that is qualified.
The amount of the assistance would be $100 per month for the next twelve months to each cardholder. For minor children, this monthly assistance would go to the sponsor of the child. This short term assistance through the Energy Debit Card will be used by the holder for buying fuels from heating oil sellers, gas stations, natural gas sellers, pay electric utilities, and other retail fueling stores. The cost of this assistance could cost the state $729 million.
This short term proposal by the Governor would mitigate the energy crisis for one year, none-the-less would help everyone greatly. Like the late U.S. President Richard Nixon would say, “I want to make myself perfectly clear,” this two-part short term energy plan proposed by the Governor Sarah Palin is still to be considered by the special session of the Alaska State Legislature that is set to begin on June 3, 2008 before it happens.
Therefore, I IMPLORE CITIES, TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS, REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, VILLAGE CORPORATIONS, REGIONAL CORPORATIONS, SCHOOL DISTRICTS, AND ALL ALASKANS TO WRITE LETTERS TO THE ALASKA STATE LEGISLATORS TO ACT AND APPROVE THE GOVERNORS PROPOSAL DURING THE SPECIAL SESSION IN JUNE 2008.
Finally, I urge all distinguished members of the Alaska State Senate and House of Representatives to open your minds, your hearts, your ears, and embrace the plight of the people you represent in our state’s legislative branch of government... PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE approve this proposal with expeditious and immediate implementation plans. Piurci.
Ducks are back
5-13-08
by Robert Nick
Mother Nature is again blessing us in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta with the return of the migratory birds to their nesting grounds in the wetlands of Western Alaska. And our God-given privilege to harvest these birds is enhanced by the migratory bird hunting agreement that allows us to hunt them as they arrive from their wintering grounds in the south.
These ducks will be with us for the next five to six months, laying their eggs, raising their little ones, replacing their wing feathers, fattening in the fall, and then migrating south again to their wintering grounds.
Many a family in the villages along the Kuskokwim and Yukon River has by now feasted on these fresh meats. In earlier times, before the stores brought food products to folks in the villages, the arrival of the birds pretty much assured survival until the arrival of fish.
Along with the return of the ducks to the tundra villages, the pike is now back in the Johnson River and its tributaries. Right behind, the broad head white fish and and ciscos will be arriving along with their spawners to lay their eggs and re-cycle.
A local teacher who did some research on the white fish once told me that there are five different types of white fish in the tundra area. In addition would be the Nanvarpak white fish, which in size is usually quite bigger.
I guess we all know smelts and the different species of salmon that come up the Kuskokwim River after break-up. All these fish are harvested by many families every spring and summer.
As I flew down to Bethel this Saturday, I saw many pike fishers along the shore of the Johnson River near the lake below the village. There will be many hanging in the fish racks tonight.
Many folks who had spent the day jigging for pike and the men hunting for ducks will be healthier, having spent the day outdoors.
Last Monday, I spent the day in a hastily made duck blind of willows and grass with my grandson. My youngest son and his friend were in another location nearby, also in their duck blind. Since I did not have a chance to do any spring hunting last year, I had such a good time that the day ended quickly.
For the next five months, I will be spending a lot of time with the family at our camp near Baird Inlet and just about everywhere in the wetlands that I can reach by boat.
Since there are hazards associated with spring travel, I urge all travelers to take extra care for safety and accidents that happen quickly and unexpectedly. And for hunters, always tell your family where you are going. Piurci…
Healing from emotional trauma
5-6-08
by Robert Nick
Ancestors of indigenous Alaskan Native people had traditions of healing through practices to promote the health of the body, mind, emotions and spirit. They did this by practicing traditional ways learned from the teachings of their elders.
These practices - litanies of remedies - must actually be practiced, for we cannot heal by words alone. And we need to understand one another as humans have energy attached to emotions. This is critical in order to heal.
Human emotions are felt by others around us so they can and are passed on to others, and the energy of emotions such as grief and anger can be passed on from one generation to the next without the younger generation understanding what they are feeling.
Traditional healers tell us that emotions can affect the body also, because of the relationship between all parts of the person such as the mind, spirit, emotions and body. And the most important relationship of our ancestors is… spiritual relationship with the Spirit of the Universe, which they referred to as “Ellam Yua”.
Another belief of our ancestors… we need to have spiritual relationships with our families, other people around us, our ancestors, all living beings, and all of nature (land, water, and air). In the traditional healing belief of our ancestors, the most important concept (thought-notion) to understand is that spiritual relationships connect all things. Therefore, when these spiritual relationships are interrupted this causes a “block” that can affect our spirit, our mind , body and our emotions.
For example, negative emotions such as anger fill one inside, displacing the spirit. A traditional healer said, “When we are angry we should not hold it. Throw it out. That is why we get anxieties - from harassing ourselves.”
When this interruption occurs, traditional healers seek to restore a person’s spirit by balancing the mind and body. This is done because these healers believe that each person holds the answers within. And the purpose of traditional healing is to help people find the cause of the illness and to help them restore healthy relationships within themselves, others around them, and all of nature.
Additionally, traditional customs and healing practices help people access their own answers and abilities to restore healthy relationships.
When we suffer from a traumatic event, it affects the body and spirit and we may experience physical, mental, or emotional illness. As our ancestors show us by their traditional practices for centuries, healing is the process of connecting to the spirit of all things, so learning and practicing traditional values is a critical part of the process.
As we now understand that Nature and all living beings are related, we can see the importance of respect for all things as part of our own health. These values include caring for others, sharing, and humility. There is also the value and healing nature of laughter.
Pain is very real to those who experience the loss of loved ones. A traditional healer said, “Unlike western medicine, traditional healers around the world trust that people have the ability to heal themselves. Some find healing by spending time outdoors through the serenity and peace of nature. Some find healing through connecting with others by participating in community activities. We must all understand that solutions to all physical, mental, and emotional conditions exist, and healing is the art of helping oneself or others to find them. And if we are not aware of the problem causing the condition, or cannot restore the personal balance on our own, we may seek assistance of a traditional healer, or an Elder in the community.”
Piurci…
A lost gas tank
4-8-08
by Robert Nick
Traveling on the ice road can have unusual handicaps as you will discover in the following story of a weekend trip to Nunapitchuk.
The winter was sometime in the late 60’s. One of my cousins and her husband decided to ride to Nunapitchuk, on possibly my late father’s Johnson River ice-road. During that time the ice-road would be two zig-zagging wheel tracks on the Kuskokwim and Johnson River, all the way to Nunapitchuk.
I believe my late father and his neighbor were the only ones with trucks at that time. As my late father had taught me to drive his old red and white Northern Consolidated Airlines truck, I used to haul gasoline in 55 gallon drums that he sold in the village. As I did not have a driver’s license then, the late Eddie Hoffman would drive down to the riverbank to fill the drums.
Well, the story goes…the couple decided to make a weekend trip following my two wheel tracks. Since they needed to leave after work, by the time they left Bethel it was dark. It was a pleasant but rough ride until they got to the Johnson River. There is a stretch below the big bend (igvaryaraq) to the mouth of Napakiak Slough, which we call “anumalleq”. Snow on top of the ice at this gradual bend is usually deeper, so if one is not using a truck, you would more than likely get stuck at this stretch.
When they got to this location, the bottom of their car started hitting snow as the bottom of their car was not high enough. They were riding along when all of sudden the engine quit. My cousin’s husband checked this and that and everything seemed to be okay, but the car just did not want to start. Finally, when every trouble shooting effort indicated no problem with the engine, the wife asked her husband... “Did you fill up the gas tank?” Her husband answered, “I filled it up full.” Then the wife asked him the second question, “How come the gas gauge is on “E”(empty)?”
The husband then started checking the fuel lines and after checking under the car, he peeked in the car door and after a short laugh, “Ehah,” he said, “The gas tank is gone.”
The gas tank apparently got pulled off when the bottom hit some hardened snow. He walked back along the tracks and found his gas tank back down the trail.
Them were the bygone, dog-gone riding days along the Johnson River ice-road. And I, having made many, many trips along that river road had many hilarious experiences. Piurci...
A wet acrobat
3-26-08
by Robert Nick
Unless you are an aerobatic pole-vault champion of the Olympic Games, oar-vaulting from the back of a boat can turn out to be a splashy plunge into the Oscarville Slough.
The following botched acrobatic maneuver is probably remembered by the many by-standers sitting on the bank of what is now called Oscarville Slough. And the remembrances probably got a laugh out of the many that apparently had a free show that sunny afternoon.
The year was probably in the fifties. Oscar Samuelson’s Trading Post was one of few near Bethel at the time. And many folks in fishcamps along the Kuskokwim went there to buy the few necessary items they needed like flour, sugar, tea, coffee and black bull tobacco.
Well, as the story was told, one sunny summer afternoon there were many folks sitting on the bank of the slough in front of Oscar Samuelson’s Store. As these men and women sat on the bank, teasing each other and just having a good old jolly time, a boat came around the bend, probably from the fishcamp at the upper end of the Oscarville Slough.
As usually happens in those days, there were many in the boat that came along for the ride. Well, it happened to be at high tide, so as the man of the boat unloaded his passengers on the sandy beach in front of the spectators, one of the men said to him, “Anchor your boat way out, the tide is going out.”
After his passengers got out of the boat, the man pushed his boat way out and threw his anchor, as it turned out, too far out. As he needed to get out of his boat, he started to push the back end of the boat towards the shore. When the anchor line got taut, he was still too far out to jump to the beach. Since he had no hip boots, he could not wade to shore. One of his spectators on the riverbank told him to pole vault to the shore using his oar.
Well, the man was very small (about 5 feet tall) and probably considered himself quite agile. So he pushed his boat as close to the shore as he can. Then using his long oar, pole-vaulted from the back of his boat. All this time his spectators were watching him, anticipating a gymnastic feat. Story has it the man did start rising in a graceful arc when LO & BEHOLD, as he reached his highest position, his oar snapped in half!
Well, the law of gravity took over and since he was still halfway from the shoreline, he plunged into the water still holding his oar. Story has it that a chorus of laughter was heard from the bank of Oscarville Slough.
Amidst all of the loud laughter, one man did say that he heard these sounds from the falling and plunging acrobat in split seconds... “Aaiieeehh!” as he was falling, and “Iihh…iihh!” as he surfaced from the water.
This story has been told many times throughout the years... Piurci.
ATG’s of Nunapitchuk
and Kasigluk
3-6-08
by Robert Nick
Another impromptu boyhood memory that brings a grin and sometimes a laugh even to this day is when our fathers and grandfathers were called to defend our nation. I guess, Alaska being a territory at that time, they were called the “Alaska Territorial Guard,” ATG’s for short.
My friends and I used to be fascinated by their drill exercises. A young man from Nunapitchuk was their Sergeant who commanded the marching maneuvers. A couple of my cousins, a friend, and I used to follow them around as they marched in formation between Nunapitchuk No. 1 and Nunapitchuk No. 2.
Well, in those winters in the forties, the month of March brought tons of snow to the region. And prior to the radio, and decades before television, the village and neighboring Kasigluk was our world and Bethel was far, far away. And there was no one at Atmautluak. Snowmachines were unheard of, and a mail plane came once a week piloted by Elmer Nicholson, weather permitting.
One sunny late winter afternoon, they had what they called a drill. The Sergeant was doing a good job with his commands and the men were turning this way and that way, and sometimes turning completely around.
As they marched, the Sergeant would holler, “Hut…tup…thrip…for... Hut…Tup…Thrip...For…” like a broken record. When he wanted the marchers to stop he would holler, “Platoon Halt!” and all would stop.
Well, luck would have it for free entertainment for us boys. In one of the stops, the Sergeant called on his second in command, a Corporal to take over. We, the boys, got even closer to see how he would do, as he had made us laugh before.
He marched in military dignity to the center of those men and faced them and commanded them to turn right into a straight line. He then commanded, “Forward march!” and they started marching in a straight line. The corporal started out, “Hut…tup...thrip...for... Hut…Tup...Thrip...For…” and said the command to turn left.
As it happens every winter, there were a number of long snow berms, some as high as 15 to 20 feet and stretching as far as 300 feet. As the Corporal started marching the platoon, “Hut…Tup...Thrip...For…”, getting ever so closer to one of the snow berms, he continued, “HUT...TUP...THRIP...FOR…”
As the marching line of men neared the berm, he appeared to be at a loss of commands, and as the platoon reached the berm shouted excitedly, “WHOOAAH!”
I guess he forgot the words to stop the marching men... “Platoon Halt!”
We boys burst out laughing and the men broke out of cadence and went every which way and loose, some snickering and others laughing loudly. The drill for the day ended with the ATG’s huddled here and there snickering. Them were the bygone military days.
Piurci...
More remembrances
of my boyhood
2-28-08
by Robert Nick
We all know that sound travels through barriers; walls, through space, and even water. I would like to share moments of my youth, some of which were laughing matters to my late sister Margaret, while a sad moment to her younger sister Marie.
One spring, not having gone to our spring camp at the headwaters of Kialiq River that spring, we were the only ones in the village along with our neighbor’s family.
One day, my late sister Margaret and her younger sister Marie wanted to go egg hunting at the small grass islands near the village.
As the wind was blowing from the south, I did not want to go. Going to the area of the islands would be easy as we would mostly be drifting with the wind, but getting back would be a problem as I would be rowing into the wind.
They insisted on going, so I took them egg hunting in my late father’s smaller boat. Sure enough, coming back we made no headway, so my late sister Margaret and I started pushing the boat into the wind with oars with her on one side of the boat and myself on the other side.
Well, as spring break-up brings flooding, the area where we went was submerged marshy muskeg (tussock) with small lakes. Although a hilarious laughing matter to my late sister Margaret, it was not so to Marie, and certainly not to me - hazard struck.
Although Margaret was afraid of falling into the water, I insisted that we stand on the front passenger seat to have more power to our pushing effort. As we moved closer to the end of the village, we somehow went above one of the small lakes when hazard struck. The oar that I was using made a bull’s eye to a hole and as I was holding it as hard as I could, I went overboard with it. Those small holes are deep, so I dove into the frigid waters holding onto dear life (the oar).
The water is cold in MAY. As I used to hear, if we fall into one of those holes to hang on to whatever we are holding (ayaruq) and that stick will save us. While underwater, I did not hear these words, “Man overboard!” But I did hear some sounds above me.
When I surfaced, I was still holding the oar and the sounds I heard were my late sister Margaret laughing at top of her voice and her sister Marie crying at the top of her voice.
I guess I was a sorry sight, wet from head to my toes. I was so wet that I could not even pull myself into the boat. I kept hollering at my sister to help me, but it took her a while to quit laughing.
She finally helped me into the boat. Now you can see that it certainly was no laughing matter to me then.
Well, we still had some ways to go so by the time we got home, we were all laughing. I still smile when I remember my two sisters then, one laughing and the other crying.
Piurci...
Remembering my past
2-20-08
by Robert Nick
Of late, as I hear these words: energy crisis, recession, inflation, high cost of fuel, the high electric bills, and so many more complaints, I sometimes think of my boyhood days.
We had no furnaces, no toyostoves, no oil stoves of any kind to heat our houses. The only heat came from a cast iron wood stove. And this stove is also where our meals were cooked. And I remember my maternal grandparents just had part of an old oil drum to heat the subterranean log/sod house, at what we now refer to as Nunapichuak #1. And I never saw a Coleman camp stove, except a few folks had a small kerosene camp stove.
There was no electricity. So many a night, a kerosene lantern gave a little light to the house where my parents raised me. Some nights, when there was no kerosene, I used to watch my mother pour some seal oil into a saucer and place some sort of cloth as a wick with the end lit, and that was our light till bedtime.
It sure was bright in the house when we had Blazo and were able to use our mantle lanterns.
There were no streetlights, and the nights used to be pitch dark, except when the moon lit the night, or the northern lights did their nightly dance on a frigid cold night.
Although not a laughing matter to me then and now for that matter, I am going to tell you a laughing matter.
One cold night at the house of a friend, he and I were putting together a puzzle with a kerosene lantern in our midst (the only light in the house) when his mother said to us, “I smell something burning.” She came closer and exclaimed, “Ukuuk,” (boys). “Your hair is being slightly burnt (singed).”
She told us to not to get too close to the lantern. When we both looked at her, she burst out laughing and said this to us both, “Your eyebrows are gone.”
As my friend and I went back to our chore, his mom would call our attention and when we looked at her, she would burst out laughing. I guess you would agree that this was one hazard of the kerosene lamp.
As the years went by, my late father was able to get a woodstove that had an oven, so it became easier for my mother to prepare our meals. I remember the stove well.
As a youngster I was always curious about things and I once asked my mother who made the stove. And she said “Lang” made it. And when I asked her how she knew, she pointed to the letters on the stove, which were “LANG”.
Of course being a wood stove meant logging in the summer and getting wood by dog team from the area throughout the winter. As my father was always hunting and fishing in my younger days, I had the daily chore of sawing the logs and splitting them and cutting the alder trees that he would get when not hunting.
The woodstove would be kept burning during the day, but with nobody to tend the stove, the fire would have burnt out by morning.
Everyday, we would wake up to a cold house. Then many a morning, my mother would call me and I would reluctantly hop to the stove and fire it up again. I used to make wood chips out of drift logs that I chopped and these I used as kindling for fire starter.
Today, I sometimes see folks buying fire-starters from the store, to make lighting the steambath stove easier.
Our ancestors were healthy, and rightly so, as they spent most of their time taking care of the everyday chores of living.
And there were no washeterias, or even washing machines in my boyhood days. So, our mothers did their washing in tubs, all rubbed by hand on a scrub-board, using a light brown soap called Fels Naptha.
When I think of all this and earlier folks of Alaskan Villages, we who live in this day are living in very, very comfortable habitations. So comfortable that when the house gets a little colder, we just turn up the thermostat. And when it gets a little hot, we turn the thermostat down. We spent our days on our comfortable couches watching TV. I guess one could say that life is easier these days. But…! An elder in our community used to tell us this, “Do not forget where you came from.”
Blackfish are surfacing
2-5-08
by Robert Nick
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| A Nunapitchuk man checks his traditional wooden blackfish trap in 1940. |
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| Robert Nick empties his blackfish trap near his village of Nunapitchuk as his ancestors did since before memory. |
“Nakirnerpak-gguq pug’uq,” literally translated… blackfish are coming to the surface along the riverbank about 4 miles below what is now Akula Heights, the lower site of Kasigluk.
This happens every year in February and folks from Nunapitchuk, like the man you see in the photo taken in the winter of 1940, would set their skillfully handmade blackfish traps along the shores of a bend in the river there.
Blackfish would literally thaw the ice along shore cracks, as ice always cracks every which way but loose, but usually would crack lengthways with the bank. This where the blackfish converge as they come up for oxygen, which they need to survive.
I have learned through schooling that water is two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen (H2/0). I am not a scientist, nor a biologist, but when the lake about six miles below Nunapitchuk freezes to the bottom and totally stops the Johnson River water flow about this time of winter, blackfish start surfacing in the rivers.
The water becomes brownish and foul tasting. I’m guessing that the oxygen content of the water is no longer providing air, so blackfish, the only fish that remains in the wetlands of Western Alaska in the winter, has to come up to the surface to breath and survive a little longer.
When one travels on the Kailek River in the spring, you can smell and see the dead blackfish along the shore cracks.
There are many stories about the little blackfish fish. As I have been fishing this little fish every year from September to May, it is a delicacy for the family. Even my little grandchildren would ask when I would check my traps.
Unlike the elder in the photo, we now make our traps using what is called galvanized cloth made of aluminum. Being aluminum, our traps don’t last as long as the wooden ones made by the men in the qasgiqs.
As a youngster, I used to watch my father make these traps. Unfortunately, I started spending my teen years wintering in boarding school at Sitka. By the time I completed High School, galvanized cloth had replaced the wooden traps, so I never did acquire the skill, as you can see me using aluminum traps in my photo.
One blackfish story is that one of the tundra elders had asked a preaching missionary if there were any blackfish in Heaven. When the preacher said there were none, the elder responded, “If there is no blackfish, then there is no point in trying to get there.”
Another blackfish story is one about what a friend said when he and I were checking one of my traps one night. As I sometimes covered the open hole with a piece of plywood, I would place it behind the hole so that the light from my headlights would reflect down to my trap in the water. As my friend and I were looking at the blackfish in the water, he exclaimed, “Qayumi,”(it is true), and he pointed to a little mouse swimming in the midst of the blackfish inside the trap. He told me, “Niitelartua can’giiret uugnarauniluki.”
After we went home, my wife cooked the blackfish and we had the delicious little fish, his comment totally forgotten, “EH!” Piurci...
Changes in arctic climate
1-22-08
by Robert Nick
As it often occurs, Western Alaska weather has greeted the Kuskokwim 300 racers with the warmth of southern winds that started mid-week.
Although some morning village flights were heard via their two-way radios that morning, freezing rain halted all by mid-day, Wednesday, January 16th.
As I traveled to Tuntutuliak by snowmachine that afternoon with my son, Patrick Robert and Megan Andrew, the warmth of the southern wind was great. Knowing that the Kuskokwim 300 and the Bogus 150 dog racers were preparing for their Friday evening start, my mind kept telling me, “Here we go again”.
Since we were slow going due to snowdrifts on the way down to the main coastal trail, strong south winds were blowing by the time we got to the Kuskokwim River. As it does when the south wind blows as high as it did, with blinding snow whipping our faces, we encountered overflows that we had to go around on the Kuskokwim and Kialeq River. Fortunately, four other travelers were ahead of us, so we were able to follow their tracks and drive our machine across and around the overflows.
At this same time last year, we had been traveling back and forth to Tuntutuliak in the frigid cold North Wind, which showed in my frostbitten cheeks for days afterwards. Albeit, frostbitten sometimes, it is always good and refreshing to travel here and there in winter.
Although one sometimes loses sight of the trail and ventures off course as I have done many times, main trails are marked these days. So unless visibility is so hampered by blowing snow, keeping on track is no problem.
In the days of the dogteams, a good leader never leaves the trail. My late father had one such leader that would follow a trail even though covered by snow. One handicap of such leaders is, when the driver knows a short cut, the leader will not leave the trail no matter how loud one says, “Gee or Haw”. I know, because I used to be that frustrated driver.
Well, getting back to the weather, the beautiful frosty white trees and overhead power lines are now showing true colors again.
Last week I spoke of the frosty trees along the Kuskokwim River, which would appear to truly denote the month of the Frost, “Kanruyauciq” in yugcetun. I have often heard this comment from elders… that the Gregorian calendar days that we use today are behind the true season days by as much as two weeks. Perhaps, the long-time observers are correct.
According to Elders, the month of October is “Amirairutet”. And the month of November is “Kerlurcarvik”. The month of December is “Cauyarvik.” While the month which we are on now, January is “Iralull’er”. And next month, February is “Kanruyauciq”. And the month after, March is “Kepnerciq”. Each name describes some change caused by climate change.
We are still in the middle of winter, so cold weather and blackfish will be around a few more months. Dress warm while traveling, and let others know where you are going… no matter which direction you go. Tennis shoes are not the shoes to wear when going somewhere in the winter.
Piurci...
Governor Sarah Palin
visits Bethel
1-15-08
by Robert Nick
As our State’s legislative body begins the abbreviated (90 day) session, the good news is that our state is six plus billion dollars richer. With this in mind, I would like to share with you all, two things that happened last week in Bethel.
Last Thursday, the day Alaska Energy Authority began a two day session on Wind Energy at the Cultural Center, Governor Sarah Palin visited Bethel and met with leaders of the regions non-profit service organizations.
At a luncheon at the YKHC Board room, the Governor, along with the Commissioner of Public Safety, and Commissioner of Economic Development, and Rural Affairs Advisor (Rhonda McBride), listened to the region’s leaders Gene Peltola, Ron Hoffman and Myron Naneng speak of regional issues.
As the group ate, with a beautiful cloudless view of the eastern sky, via the plush Boardrooms bay windows; and the frosty Kuskokwim River trees and the Kilbuck Mountains, with trucks and snow machines driving up and down the river, the issue of high cost of energy was a hot topic.
Rightly so, with sky high heating fuel oil prices, now more expensive than gasoline, and the high electricity rates of rural Alaskan utility systems, even in villages with AVEC power generation.
I had learned through research of the cost of producing electricity by the burning of fossil fuels, that Alaska Village Electric Cooperative provides the most economical electrical energy in rural Alaska. The dialogue between Governor Palin and regional leaders will no doubt have beneficial outcomes at this session of the Alaska Legislature, and the Administrative branch of government which the Governor runs with her staff of Alaskans with proven ability.
It was also good to hear the Commissioner of Economic Development speak of the need of vocational education in the schools, and for more efforts to address the dropout rates in high school and college.
I was fortunate to be at the luncheon, and spoke a little of village issues, high energy costs in particular. It was very heartening to listen to the Governor speak of her Administrations priorities: fully funding the power cost equalization program, enhancing and funding the state’s Municipal Assistance and Safe Communities (Revenue Sharing) Program, and services to senior citizens, and energy assistance programs, and vocational education opportunities.
Of course, education has been her high priority and she has done many things towards adequately/forward funding school districts across Alaska. I wholeheartedly commended the Governor on her excellent performance.
The second event that began that day was the Wind Energy Conference sponsored by the Alaska Energy Authority at the Cultural Center. It was good to see many village representatives in the two day conference.
I highly commend the energy experts from the many organizations that gave presentations on what has been done towards alternative energy systems, using wind turbines to reduce fuel consumption in particular. Perhaps the highlight of the conference was Chaniniq Wind Group’s presentation of what they are doing toward reducing consumption and reliance on fossil fuels. And that is construction of wind turbines that will reduce fuel consumption, similar to what AVEC has done in Toksook Bay and Kasigluk.
Both of these AVEC systems are benefiting members from four communities, Kasigluk (Akiuk & Akula), Nunapitchuk, Toksook Bay, and Tununak. The Diesel/Wind Power Plant in Akula has a tie-line to Akiuk and Nunapitchuk. The Diesel/Wind Power Plant in Toksook Bay has a tie-line to Tununak.
Utilization of wind energy in both of these systems has reduced fuel consumption by as much as 25 percent. This reduction in the burning of fuel is helpful, as members of AVEC, we have been paying the same rate for years and years, but the cost of fuel has continually increased our fuel surcharge per month.
About this time in past years, I was paying well over two hundred a month. We are now realizing considerable reduction to our monthly bills since the three wind turbines in Akula started.
The original AVEC Plant was in Nunapitchuk for over 30 years. With the move of the plant to Akula, the three wind turbines were built. The tie-line between the Nunapitchuk and Kasigluk, which was built at the start, (1970) was also upgraded.
Of course, this largest AVEC project did not happen overnight. It took years in planning, numerous meetings with AVEC members in Nunapitchuk and Kasigluk, City of Nunapitchuk, who was the grantee for the Denali Commission grant, and AVEC.
Similar systems in other communities would help other families throughout the delta and rural Alaska.
And this is how the State of Alaska, Legislators and the Governor can address the dire energy crises faced by rural Alaskans. And the start would be to develop a regional and statewide energy policy by working with all energy producers, agencies, corporations and individuals in the state.
After all, Alaska is a very energy rich state, and 85% of oil is exported. WHY NOT REFINE IT HERE IN ALASKA AND DISTRIBUTE IT STATEWIDE? I have full faith in her ability, so perhaps Governor Sarah Palin can work towards this.
Considering the wars in the Mid-East oil producing nations, OPEC Cartel future uncertainty, the natural disasters in the Southern Atlantic seacoast, Latin American governmental unrest... Alaska may one day become the only safe place to refine crude oil/natural gas for distribution worldwide. Why not start now?
Piurci...
A New Year begins
1-9-08
by Robert Nick
Wishing you all a peaceful beginning of the new year, I would like to begin my weekly thoughts of what is happening in the region, the State and the world in general. A lot has happened since I wrote my last weekly article in May, so I won’t bore you with what is now history.
However, I want to enlighten you all. Subsistence, or living off the land and waters of our homelands is again heading for more compromises - in the courts, and state and federal management bodies. Although, we who live in rural Alaska will be most affected, as we depend on the fish and wildlife of the land, folks living in urban areas will also be affected.
Rural subsistence priority (Title VIII of ANILCA), perhaps the most important law for those of us living in the two hundred plus villages, continues to be assaulted. It is now under sustained, well organized political and legal attack by our own state government, by our country’s (Bush) administration, and by private anti-subsistence hunting and fishing groups inside and outside of Alaska.
The suzerainty of powerful Nations has dominated weaker nations since time immemorial. And in our time, none is more powerful than the tribunal sovereignty of the United States Government. Therefore, SOLIDARITY of Native Tribes is a must for any course of action that would be needed to assure the continued protection of aborigines right of subsistence in the harshest land in our continent.
Since the passage of ANILCA IN 1980, there has been continued effort to repeal the amendment to a travesty of justice in a previous Law (ANCSA). The extinguishment of aboriginal hunting and fishing rights of Alaska Natives in this earlier Law was clearly recognized as needing a fix, and Title VIII of the ANILCA did this.
In this last frontier State of our great Nation, none is more recognized as the leader in the sustenance efforts of its aboriginal inhabitants (Alaska Natives) than the Alaska Federation of Natives. This united body of Alaska Natives has advanced and protected our way of life in Alaska. This united body (AFN) has championed what no other entity has done for us socially, economically and politically for the past four decades.
During the annual Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in October, it was announced that the need has come for all Alaskans to come together again for a Subsistence Summit sometime this spring. A statewide gathering on this issue would need much resources, i.e. funds, planning and operation. Therefore I am asking, imploring tribal/city governments, village and regional corporations, and any institution, and all others to contribute to AFN so that the federation can continue to stand on our behalf.
In this era of rapid change, we need to stand united, more so than at any other time in our history. We need the able staff of AFN to do the following: (1) continue to monitor state and federal regulatory systems and their decisions; (2) continue information networking with Native Institutions; (3) continue to provide information/advocacy pieces for the general public in Alaska and outside; (4) continue to lobby in Juneau and Washington D.C; (5) litigation in both state/federal courts to protect subsistence; (6) do public opinion polling regarding subsistence; (7) Plan and operate a special AFN Convention on Subsistence, on a date to be set by AFN Board at it’s meeting in Juneau on February 20-21, 2008.
Most importantly we need to contribute for the much needed administrative overhead to AFN for clerical support, space rent, phone, fax, copying, postage and other administrative services.
If a village institution/others can make a contribution for AFN subsistence defense, it can be done in one of two ways. If the institution/others does not need to take this contribution as a deduction on it’s income taxes, it can mail a check made out to “Alaska Federation of Natives” directly to AFN (1577 “C” Street, Suite 300, Anchorage, Alaska 99501), with a notation saying that it is for “Subsistence”. If the village institution/others do want to deduct this contribution from its income taxes, it should mail a check made out to the “Alaska Community Foundation” in care of AFN at the same address.
Subsistence is the key economic and cultural issue in determining the future survival of most Alaska native villages in rural Alaska. Therefore I ask you all to contribute, as the need is “NOW”.
Piurci.
More on Education Reform
5-16-07
by Robert Nick
Families are facing large challenges in this rapidly changing global economy. And the value of their wages is declining as the cost of living keeps going up.
In particular is cost of petroleum products, i.e. gasoline and heating fuel. Hardest hit in this quagmire are those living in the remote communities, where employment is scarce. Gone are the days when even meager wages were able to bring home the bacon, so to speak. And with massive layoffs in the automobile industry, many jobs are moving overseas. Many feel that the American dream is slipping away.
Fortunately, there is one member of Congress who understands the state of education in our country. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a Democrat of Massachusetts who has been a member of Congress for more than four decades, is again a key figure in the re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind education Law. As one of the key architects of NCLB, he know what needs to be done to address the crisis we are in today as we attempt to prepare our youth to 21st Century Skills and economic competitiveness. He understands that an investment in early childhood education is key in preparing our students so they may be able to compete with countries like Japan, China and India. He believes that pre-school must be accessible and affordable, and that Headstart is the answer and must have full support of Congress. Having been a headstart teacher and being a school board member for decades, I wholeheartedly agree with him.
Elementary and secondary schools need to provide strong science and math education to all students. And school districts must provide incentives to attract teachers endorsed in these subjects.
As a young, aspiring Senator, Mr. Kennedy visited Alaska almost 40 years ago and saw firsthand the need for Congress to do something and was instrumental in the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. This act established the federal government’s commitment to education.
In his visit to the Bethel Agency area of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Mr. Phillip Guy and I along with the late Raymond Christensen, and many others met with him and spoke of the many needs of the region, a regional high school in this region in particular. As a result of his visit, the Bethel Regional High School dormitory facility was built.
Throughout the years, Mr. Kennedy has worked very hard for necessary improvements to the E.S.E.A Act. He was again instrumental in the re-authorization of the Act in 2001, requiring higher academic standards.
One of his priorities is to address the high cost of a college education these days. He fully understands the need of citizens to have a college education, so they may compete in the global economy and have a fair chance of the American dream.
We must all join Senator Edward Kennedy in our local schools so that all students may receive a high quality education, as achievement gaps are widening not only with ethnic groups, but with others countries abroad. And we must also focus on improving the lowest performing schools instead of simply labeling them failures.
As parents are a child’s first teachers, we must come forth and become more involved.
In closing, I again thank “Mothers” for being there for your kids everyday...getting your children up and being there in school for them at the beginning of their schooling...everyday should be your day. Piurci...
Tough choices
for tough times in education
5-9-07
by Robert Nick
As another school year comes to an end, the United States as a country has passed an important milestone. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. population has exceeded 300,000,000 people. This due to increased immigration will undoubtedly pose the greatest challenge since 1983 when there was a Nation at Risk.
As immigration is responsible for much of the growth, the number of English language learners has grown by 84 percent from 1993 to 2003. And with State exit exams projected to increase over the next five years, these students, if held to the same standards as native English speakers, are at risk of being denied a high school diploma.
It is easy to lose sight of important facts and figures like these, what with all other challenges we face in efforts of delivering a well-rounded education to children attending our nation’s schools. For this reason, the American School Board Journal publishes special reports on the state of education.
Issued annually as a supplement, Education Vital Signs compiles important data and puts it into context for school leaders. This supplement presents state-by-state figures on student enrollment, teacher salaries, per pupil expenditures, assessment scores, and other gauges of the health and well-being of our nation’s schools.
For recent immigrants, learning English presents additional problems. While it is one thing to pick up conversational English from friends or TV, it is quite another to be able to use the language in an academic educational environment. According to the Center on Educational Policy, by 2012, 87 percent of these English language learners will attend school in states that have exit exams. Unless changes are made to some of these tests, the center says, the impact on English language learner students could be devastating.
Although new strategies for testing English language learner (ELL) students are being researched, states with current or planned exit exams are moving ahead with policies to hold ELLs to the same standards as all other students and require them to pass exit exams before receiving a diploma.
Remediation programs that are targeted specifically to ELL students who fail exit exams are also lacking. Therefore, large numbers of ELLs could be denied a high school diploma, even after repeated attempts to pass the test.
Additionally, schools already are more diverse than the general population. In the period 1973 to 2004, the number of minority students in public schools increased from 22 percent to 43 percent. And this increase is expected to rise. For children under the age of five, almost 45 percent are now minorities, with seventy percent of the growth between 2004 and 2005 coming from Hispanics. Although achievement gaps between white students and Hispanics have narrowed over the past 30 years, the gaps remain large.
Why am I saying these?
Here in our home state, we are also bound by the same standards as elsewhere in our nation. The No Child Left Behind education law of 2002, and the state’s many initiatives to raise proficiency, dating back past three decades, have raised standards that must be met before receiving a High School Diploma. All of our high school seniors must pass the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam in math, reading, language arts and now science.
Many of our small schools students, especially in western Alaska enter our schools as English language learners as well. Therefore, the Lower Kuskokwim School District affords Yup’ik First language teaching in grades K-3, in addition to the English language learner model. Additionally, a number of sites now have English First language K-12 model. And with the exception of Bethel Regional High School, all LKSD schools use the Continuous Progress Model (CPM).
In my previous articles, I did expositions of all of these education reforms and what LKSD is doing to address ensuing challenges. Our school district’s programs are models followed by others in the state.
With declining state and federal dollars, school leaders today, nearly a quarter of a century after a Nation at Risk, are again faced with Tough Choices or Tough Times, according to The Report of the new Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. This report for the National Center on Education and the Economy, aims to present a problem so critical that it simply cannot...will not be ignored. Therefore I expect more reforms, especially with the sweeping changes with the re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind education law due to happen this year.
In closing, I want to convey heartfelt congratulations to this year’s graduating students, whether from Early Headstart, Kindergarten, Elementary, Junior High and especially all of you finishing High School. May your futures be blessed with success. And to all of you proud and happy “MOTHERS”...a berry, merry and a very happy “MOTHER’S DAY”. We all love you so much…from ILUPERAQs to DAHs’...Piurci...
The fish, birds, and the bees are back
5-1-07
by Robert Nick
Many in the tundra villages are again eating fresh fish (white fish and pike). And the migratory birds have arrived from their wintering grounds. Thanks to the diligence of our elders/tribal leaders, many of which have passed on, subsistence hunting of these birds is now allowed from April 2nd to August 31st.
As these birds have come back to the wetlands of western Alaska to nest and lay their eggs, the Yukon Kuskokwim Goose Management Plan does allow for a short closure during the nesting period. This thirty day closure is announced through media and announcements within our communities. We are usually very busy with our summer salmon fishing activities then.
As the migratory birds relocate per winter and summer periods, the Migratory Bird Treaty is agreed upon by Mexico, Alaska, Canada, Japan and Germany and Russia. And I thank the governments of those countries for recognizing the need of the Yukon and Kuskokwim delta residents to harvest them in the spring and summer months.
As I have participated in the deliberations then, many an elder told of how the harvest of these birds was needed for their survival until the return of the salmon to both the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers. These salmon also are returning to spawn (reproduce).
As is happening all over the world, the fish and game are now threatened by the pollution of the ecosystems that support their health and existence. Alaskan rivers and coastal waters are the last of the pristine waters that our forefathers protected as nature’s trustees.
For anyone who has not depended on the fish and game for survival on this harsh environment, it is hard to understand why we strive so hard to protect the land and rivers and coastal waters of our region. To understand any traditional harvest issue, one has to begin with historical context. To do this, I would like to talk briefly about the Columbia River.
Up until 1856, the tribes of the Columbia River Basin were the only trustees of the fish and waters. Under their stewardship, 10 to 16 million salmon returned to the Columbia River every year to spawn and reproduce. And as one Indian fisherman of the river said, “The Columbia River was once a...great table...where many tribes would come together and partake.”
These salmon that swim up the river die after they spawn. And the small fry that survive migrate back out to the ocean when they are about 4 to 5 inches and grow, and return again after 4 to 5 years.
One hundred fifty one years ago, the Columbia River tribes who depend on the salmon for their survival ceded 38 million acres of land in the Pacific Northwest to the federal government with a treaty that promised to protect not only the Indian way of life for those then living, but also for generations not yet born. By this treaty, the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho became the new sovereign trustees of the rivers and fish across ceded territory in the Columbia River Basin.
It saddens me to say that today, as a result of federal and state trustees now presiding over the Great Table of the Columbia River, wild salmon runs in the basin are at 2% of their historic levels. And today, in addition to the very low salmon runs, the fish are contaminated by toxic chemicals present in the waters and sediments of the Columbia River Basin.
As we in the Kuskokwim and Yukon riverine villages await the arrival of the five species of salmon that migrate up our rivers to spawn, let us be thankful that the salmon that are returning to spawn and the tributaries where they spawn are not contaminated...not yet anyway.
Piurci...
The house of a swallow
4-24-07
by Robert Nick
As winter changes to spring, the weather is getting milder and spying a flock of geese flying overhead this past Sunday, my ears became keen to the chirping of swallows.
Of the many birds that nest in our surroundings, the swallow is one bird that does so in a shelter. Either in a little house that we make for them and attach to a perch, or on our own houses, or in enclosed shelters accessible through a hole...that is where she will nest.
And there is one such house, a duplex so to speak, which I made thirty years ago, and has been a summer home for swallows every year since. In fact, it is a two story bird house with a duplex on the bottom and a single one on top.
Many a beautiful sunny day, my wife and I would sit on our porch steps and watch the swallows as they start flying into their houses with a piece of grass in their tiny beaks. One at a time they would gather pieces of grass…building their nest inside the houses.
We certainly know when they arrive, as my kids and my wife would come in one day with the news. And through the month of May, June and part of July, we would hear their constant daily chirping, from dawn to dusk.
As their eggs hatch, their numbers around the house would increase. It is amazing to watch a swallow learning to fly, making short flights to a telephone wire or some perch and make nary a crash landing. Sometimes eliciting a short laugh from the watcher, usually my wife and I.
As the newborns start to fly, they like to swoop down to whoever is walking near…sometimes making us duck down. Sometimes I would hear someone exclaim, “ee’eh” or “a’laeh”.
As their last month with us nears, they would fly further away. Then starting the second week of July, they would start soaring way up in the sky and do their flying aerobatics all the day long. Then about the 15th of July, I would tell my wife the sad news...the swallows will be leaving us in a few days. In most summers, the day is usually July 18th. After their departure, no longer is their daily chirping heard, nor the peace emanating from the shadow of their wings.
Their short visit with us is purposeful. A Psalm of King David of yesteryear tells us “Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young.” (Psalm 84:3)
Likewise, man hath done as the swallow. And as the swallow, we lay our young and rear them. As the swallow hath done, let us make our house, a “Home” for our young, where we may rear them according to a righteous purpose.
In closing, I recite another Psalm of King David. “And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.” (Psalm 55:6)
My friends who are missing their loved ones...be at Peace. Piurci...
Empowerment of YK Delta Tribes
4-18-07
by Robert Nick
In an effort to become more informed on impacts of mining, Kuskokwim River tribes from Napaimute down to Kuskokwim Bay, Nelson Island, and a few tribes of the Yukon River met in Bethel last week. I want to thank AVCP and the six villages that planned the conference. It was superb and the information presented was topical to the region and very appropriate.
With the imminent activities/issues that are about to befall Native Communities in Southwest Alaska, Bristol Bay and the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta in particular, the theme said it all, “MINING IMPACTS TO NATIVE COMMUNITIES.”
Especially fitting to the occasion was a delegation from the Bristol Bay region, led by Bobby Andrew of Dillingham. I want to commend Mr. Andrew for the highly charging presentations of what they are doing in the Bristol Bay region. His very elaborate and comprehensible report will no doubt empower the tribes in the Y/K region.
Although one views the effects of any mining activity to just the Kuskokwim River watershed, the Yukon River watershed and the coastal communities will most certainly be affected also. The information presented by the various speakers need not be simply learned, but tribes must act to protect our environment, our land, our rivers and water bodies, our fish, and all of the furbearing animals that we consume to live.
Let us never forget that our Ancestors were the stewards of Nature’s Trust. By that, the real leaders, the Elders, saw to it that the lands and rivers that we eat from are protected from pollution. This practice has come down from the beginning of time.
One thing happened that should polarize us as we watch the rest of the world suffer from not exercising Natures Trust. Indigenous peoples throughout the world, including Alaska’s first peoples, gave this up to the governments of their land.
In our case in Alaska, we gave this up to the United States government. And this government has vested the fiduciary duty for the protection of our land, and its resources that we use to subsist on these lands to the Environmental Protection Agency. This Agency, although well meaning in its purpose is over-regulated and being an arm of government heeds to its mandates. And so does the Department of Environmental Conservation of our own state government.
During the three days, much of the discussion was on the imminent and potential impacts to the air, our rivers, lands and their resources, all of which are renewable. Renewable, meaning properly managed, they would be available till the end time.
Of particular concern to the tundra villages of Nunapitchuk, Kasigluk and Atmautluak is Barrick Corporations interest in having a Lighterage Dock at the Johnson River Crossing, or near Fowler Island. This barge/dock would allow ocean going barges to come up and off load fuel and equipment to be barged up further using smaller barges for the Donlin Creek mining operation.
Knowing the narrow channel in the area, it would be off-shore, meaning it would be in the deep water part of the river. Knowing that the Valdez Port is zoned, and that Homeland Security would require protection, it will more than likely be zoned off for river traffic.
This area is the fishing grounds for not only the tundra villages, but many other villages. The Kuskokwim River is also used by river boats from the entire lower Kuskokwim Bay.
What is important now is for tribes to be informed as we come closer to Barrick Corporation’s decision on the feasibility of moving forward on its plans. They still have a lot of challenges, such as power needs, transportation needs and so forth.
Again, I want to thank AVCP and the facilitators, especially Rose Kalistook, for the very successful conference. You are empowering the tribes of the Y/K delta. Piurci...
Consortium for Digital Learning
4-10-07
by Robert Nick
In a continuing effort of forming collaborative partnerships to make education and overall well-being of our children a top priority, the Association of Alaska School Boards initiated the Consortium for Digital Learning.
This four year project was made possible by the 24th Alaska State Legislature’s awarding of $5 million in capital funds to AASB. This program is up and going this school year in 18 school districts, LKSD included. These funds assisted participating school districts by providing 75% of the initial costs, including initial technology hardware, ongoing staff training, and to provide technical assistance over the next four years.
In this innovative initiative to further improve statewide student achievement, each student was provided a laptop computer with wireless capability to continue the learning day beyond the normal class attendance of the participating student. Nine schools in LKSD established 1 to 1 learning environments to Junior High students. This allows communication and collaboration among students, teachers, and connects parents more closely to the educational process of their child.
Providing the students with access to the wireless computers extends their learning environment process outside the classroom and into their homes.
And the sharing of lessons, homework and school projects stored on the laptop computers engages parents to have a more active role in their child’s academic learning.
In this time of knowledge based economies where the computer is the industry tool, schools can further help prepare students gain familiarity with technology tools they will need later in life. It will also help in building skills needed in their work and life. Such assets as communication, problem solving and critical thinking, which are helpful to take part in today’s economic development opportunities and to live successfully in today’s global economy.
All schools within Alaska now have computers, and so this statewide initiative will no doubt prepare all students for the many challenges they will encounter in this 21st century.
The No Child Left Behind Act, which is up for re-authorization by Congress this year will undergo changes where the federal government may/will impose more challenges for public schools to equip children with skills needed to succeed in life and improve their nation and the world.
Thanks to the Association of Alaska School Boards; parents, teachers, elders, faith communities, community organizations, tribes, and cultural groups have joined together to make education of our children their top priority. As our ancestors have done for us, it truly does need to have the whole community to educate a “child.”
Indigenous traditions and cultures
4-5-07
by Robert Nick
This year’s theme of the annual gathering of cultures and traditions of indigenous peoples from Los Alamos, Mexico; from the Hawaiian Islands; Saint Lawrence Island; the Tsimshian Dancers from Metlakatla/Anchorage; and Y/K delta tribes certainly says it all… “Together into Our Future”.
I will most certainly agree that we are at a period of time where our people must look to who we are. We are indigenous to the lands where we live, wherever we come from. And our ancestors have developed litanies of how we can live on these lands. They taught us how to hunt and fish. They taught us how to prepare and care for these bounties of the land. They taught us how to clothe ourselves with the skins of the fish, birds, and all of the furbearing animals that we harvest.
They taught us how to preserve these food sources. They taught us how to live during periods of famine. These periods have special traditions that must be adhered to if one is to survive when these lands and waters that so abundantly provide our daily foods are lacking of them. These periods in the life of man started with the beginning of time. In the greatest literature of history, the BibIe, famine is defined as “extreme scarcity of food” when everyone is hungry.
A few recorded causes say lack of rain (climate change), insects, and warfare led to famine. And during the famine in Canaan, Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt to buy grain.
During the past two centuries, our ancestors in the Y/K delta experienced famine. I wrote about this in the words of an elder from Napaskiak, in a previous article. Our ancestors tell us that when our people no longer follow the teachings of our elders, the “Spirit of the Universe” lets us experience a short period of famine. They tells us that hunger is the greatest pain that man experiences, so by hunger we are admonished.
The dictionary says to admonish is to bring to someone’s mind. So by this experience we are told that we have become lawless (ellangcarluta). As this has been experienced by man since the beginning of time, many indigenous peoples can relate to this in their homelands.
These litanies also tell us how we can live together peacefully as a community of peoples. No matter where one resides, unity and harmony brings about the peace that we so desire amongst us.
In my native language, this year’s theme says “Pillgutekluta Ciunerkamtenun”. When we say ciunerkamtenun (one word), it translates “to our future”. So when we say “pillgutekluta ciunerkamtenun”, then it becomes “into our future”.
So, let us look back to 2001. It is that year that we in the Y/K delta started a program that we appropriately called “Kinguliamta Ciunerkaat”. This effort of our communities started a new chapter of litanies for our future generations. And these are none other than our traditions and cultures that have been passed on from generation to generation. Best practices (atu’urkaqegtaaraput) were told by our elders in the many meetings that we held in our communities.
In one of the many articles I wrote then, I stated that when all else fails, let us go to grandpa and grandma, and our elders, for they know best.
As I watched dancers Saturday evening at the CAMA-I Dance festival at Bethel High School, I again was reminded of who I am and where I came from. Let us never forget who we are and where we came from.
And I want to thank the dancers from Hawaii for their departing words of wisdom. In the final dance of their performance Saturday evening, they eloquently told us who they are and where they came from. And they told us they perform this wherever they tell their traditions and cultures in dance.
Finally, I want to join the “Bethel Council on the Arts” in Honoring of the regions Living Treasures: “Massa” Martina Aparezuk and “Igvaq” Pauline Hunt and the Honoring of our Living Treasure: “Cakaitelleq” John Thompson of St. Mary’s. Quyana Caknerpak John… We all love you...
Communities helping
kids succeed
3-27-07
by Robert Nick
It has been 16 years since the Association of Alaska School Boards began efforts of Shared Responsibility of Educating Alaska’s Children and Youth. Leading the cause is AASB’s declaration that “Children, their Health, Safety, Education, and Future... are Alaska’s top priority. Since then much has occurred towards improving schools and student achievement in Alaska’s Schools. I wrote of the many initiatives in previous articles in hopes of engendering collaboration of parents, community organizations, and school boards across Alaska. The vision/mission is to engage all that share our passion and goals of helping kids succeed in school and most importantly, “In Life”.
In 2001, Alaska’s Senator Ted Stevens recognized the power of community engagement and asset building as key to enhance student achievement and general well being, and was able to cause a direct federal appropriation of $14 million over seven years to AASB to develop and sustain a community engagement and asset building initiative in Alaska. As a result of this assistance, AASB created Alaska ICE, and Quality Schools/Quality Students (QS2). These two initiatives have become successful advocates for Alaska’s youth. The success is due to the active involvement of a wide variety of folks interested in the future of our children. These wonderful folks included parents, teachers, elders, faith communities, tribal and cultural organizations who have joined school districts and made the safety, health, and education of our children their top priority.
Today, through Quality Schools/Quality Students, 18 school districts across Alaska have partnered with all concerned in an effort to improve school and student performance. And Alaska ICE provides these districts with focused intensive support to more fully engage adults and community organizations in assisting kids succeed both academically and socially, and these efforts are getting positive results. And Alaska ICE is working with Alaska State Board of Education in developing guidelines for statewide standards at current and future residential schools, such as Mt. Edgecumbe. This is being done to incorporate Resiliency in Residence Life project’s successes to the boarding schools in Alaska.
Perhaps the most noteworthy effort is being done by the Anchorage School District (ASD). Partnering with AASB, ASD is developing the School Climate and Connectedness Survey. As the school district experiences a high drop out rate of Alaska Native students, this effort could develop positive measures to improve this national wave. As a lot of districts experience this problem, steps taken by ASD could well be incorporated by other districts across Alaska and the Nation. There are many other innovative initiatives through partnerships with many entities, and increased recognition of youth who are contributing to their community are resulting in more positive adult perceptions of youth.
This is the sixth year of the seven year grant and I want to implore the 18 School Districts across Alaska to keep up their excellent work, as our children are our future, and the future is always built upon the past.
As our ancestors, who are the pillars of life today, let us try our utmost to insure a future life of peace, happiness, success and prosperity to our beloved children and cherished grandchildren. They deserve nothing less.
Remember, our ancestors raised us through two most important sponsors... family and community.
The serenity of tranquil seas
3-22-07
by Robert Nick
T’was a beautiful sunny windless day on my only journey to the Bering Sea along with Charlie Mute and his son Don, and my brother Nick. For years and years, my iluq’s from the coastal villages... Newtok, south to Quinhagak asked me to go seal hunting (qamigaq) with them, telling me that if I went once, I will yearn to go again and again.
So it was in the spring of 1980 I finally went on a memorable journey which to this day I still remember every spring when seal hunting time approaches.
The day started with a hefty south wind, and being prone to seasickness, I hoped the weather would calm down before we launched our boat into the Bering Sea. As we left Kipnuk on a snowy windy day, being a believer in a higher power, I humbly asked our maker to calm the winds and to give us a beautiful day. As we arrived at the waters edge, there was a boat already in the water and as I slowly approached the boat, I recognized an old friend having a quick lunch prior to venturing out to sea in search of seals and eider ducks.
Despite the raging south wind, the tranquility of the moment as I stood at the bow of his lund boat was memorable, which to this day, I remember quite vividly. My friend, now deceased, stood tall in front of his motor wearing what used to be a white qaspeq, but not quite then, with a skinned frozen white fish in his right hand and a jar of seal oil in his left hand. He would take a bite of the white fish in his right hand, and take a big drink of seal oil from his left hand. When he finally recognized me, he stopped chewing and looked to the sky and laughed. It was more like a ho! ho! ho! than a laugh. He certainly must not have expected to see me there at the sea’s edge.
Amidst his big bites of the white fish and swiggin’ his seal oil, he would look at me and make his slow laugh again. Another friend later told me that he does that type of laugh when he is awed by something very unexpected. That moment is etched in my brain and will be a lasting memory.
As my party had a quick lunch, my apprehension grew, because the wind had picked up more since we arrived at the sea’s edge. My thoughts were in my earlier prayer to a higher power, and lo and behold, as we left the small cove and ventured out to the sea, the wind ceased.
Throughout the day, the power of the sea was marvelous. It’s calm serenity. It was a day to be remembered with the brilliance of the sea as we went in search of seals and the migrating eider ducks would darken the sky as they journeyed north to the breeding grounds.
As we meandered here and there, we would sometimes meet other hunters. And like the surprise shown by my friend earlier in the dawn at the water’s edge, they would also laugh at seeing me way out there in the seas. One friend looked at me and after a hearty laugh, he said to me, “No wonder the weather calmed down…you must come out to the sea more often…you bring calm seas.”
Throughout the day, the waters were like a shining sheet of glass as my brother and I, sitting at the front of the boat tried out our marksmanship with our 12 gauge shotguns. We must have been doing great, as I would hear our driver utter, “WA HOO” as a staccato of shotgun blasts filled the serene air. We saw numerous seals that day and got a few. So it is that man ventures out to sea in search of food for the family since the beginning of time.
In closing, I thank Charlie and Don Mute for the experience of a lifetime. Piurci...
Changing Times
3-7-07
by Robert Nick
All land in the Universe is haunted by memories. Not only memories of our own, for we had inhabited this region only lately. Although about ten percent of our population has been around for six decades or more, we have seen many changes occur...some to our benefit/comfort in our everyday living.
Although, not much was recorded of our past, some memories are those of the long-vanished people who had lived in this region. And the people that lived in this region who dwelled in many riverine communes that meander from Bering Sea, east to headwaters in central Alaska and Canada, lived richly and well as long as they had wild country abounding in fish and game.
We have heard a lot of stories of such peoples in them days. Although there were no media such as radios, TV’s and newspapers, talk went up and down the river, and coast to coast, as some communes lined the ocean shores. And where travelers stopped, there was always somebody with a story to tell.
Stories of successful big game Hunters (nukalpiaqs) were told in Qasgiqs. And in earlier times when warring occurred between communal groups in the Yukon, Kuskokwim and Bristol Bay…great elusive warriors were favorite stories. Well so much for memories, lets ponder about today.
Although memories live on, times and circumstances do change throughout the history of the world. This new millennium is apt to bring about circumstances never before experienced in the magnitude we are seeing them today. The State of Alaska is viewed as the last frontier in experiencing these changes. And we could very well be less prepared to address the adverse effects, especially in small rural communities where indigenous cultures and traditions are alive and are still practiced.
Foremost is the way we live in rural parts of the state, where our very existence is from the land and waters surrounding our communities. And we need to understand these changes as they have occurred throughout the rest of the developing world. Countries like Ecuador, Nicaragua, Central America, and Venezuela, to name a few were most affected by the exploitation of their rich natural resources, oil in particular.
Of course we know about the oil in the Middle East. in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq. This black gold as it is called is the cause of the conflicts that have gone on there for over half a century.
Here on the home front, as oil reservoirs do go dry, Prudhoe Bay is now pumping about half of what it did at in the beginning. So other areas such as Bristol Bay are being looked at for future well sites for oil.
Another sought after natural resource is gold. And we know that there are plans for mining that mineral resource in our region and in the Bristol Bay region. And there is mining activity occurring in other parts of the state as well. These will bring about changes in the coming decades. These changes do bring employment to the areas of development and can bring economy to the locality if local people are hired.
Piurci...
Global warming
2-20-07
by Robert Nick
We who inhabit the Western and Northern regions of Alaska experience four seasons in a single year... summer, fall, winter and spring. So I guess one could say that we are adaptable to climate change. And we have done this by preparing for each season and none is more apt and able than the Eskimos of the Arctic and sub-Arctic region.
And we do this by harvesting the migratory fish and birds that migrate to our lands and waters where we live. I need not talk of why, how and when, because we all know and share. However, there is one condition that is different… the weather is getting warmer in these seasons and they are calling it global warming and Alaska is warming and melting faster than any other place in the world.
So, should we be concerned? You bet your “kameksaks” that you have not put on in many decades and may not need no more, we should be alarmed.
All who is who in Alaska should talk about what we need to do to prepare for a melt-down. Low lying communities (flood plains) should start planning where to move. Agencies that sponsor infrastructure development should start planning for the future state of affairs, for the Congress/Administration of the country is doing almost nothing.
Based on historical weather data, Alaska’s annual temperature has gone up 3-5 degrees Fahrenheit, with winter temperatures rising up to 10 degrees. It is speculated that the Arctic region could go up to 18 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer by 2100. And we may have only 64% of our current winter snowpack by then. If global warming intensifies, scientists are predicting that the Artic will be ice free in the summer of 2070 or sooner.
So again, should we worry about our food sources that we gather and harvest in preparation for the long cold winter months? Let us hear what an Elder from Napaskiak told us…
“The fish in our rivers and lakes survive in median water temperature between warm and cold.” So if the water temperature rises above the median, the fish will die.
Scientific data tells us that the recommended temperature for salmon spawning is 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and warmer temperatures cause diseases for fish and reduce availability of nutrients and oxygen.
The water temperature of the Yukon River has warmed by 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 30 years, causing the “Ichthyophonus” to infect Chinook salmon. Based on reports by fishermen, 40% of the fish caught are now infected with “Ichthyophonus” and are inedible (cannot be eaten). We had this in the Kuskokwim River in mid to late nineties with El Nino, warming of ocean water temperature.
So what needs to happen?
Man needs to decrease the amount of heat trapping gases in our atmosphere, as the accumulation of these gases known as greenhouse gases are increasing the protective atmospheric blanket around the earth and this is causing warming of earth’s temperatures.
The leading greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide, and as an industrialized nation, the United States accounts for more than 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. In one year, 22 tons of carbon dioxide are produced by the average American, more than six times as much as the average man living outside of the U.S. And we do this by heating our homes, generating electricity, and powering our cars, and this carbon pollution and other gases we emit today (2007) will stay in the atmosphere until our grandchildren become adults.
So, we need to change how we produce and consume energy today, as scientist predict even more devastating consequences for the earth.
Only “WE” hold the solution to protect our environment, our natural food sources, our health, our economy, our community infrastructure, our planet, and our very existence on it.
State of apathy
2-13-07
by Robert Nick
Echoing the words of the late Jimmy Chimeralria of Napakiak… “We are in a state of Apathy (ilacingukut)”… not only in our small rural communities, but throughout the world. What then is “APATHY”? The English dictionary tells us it is: (1) lack of emotional responsiveness; (2) lack of interest or concern.
Since there are so many words that can describe the state, I add these words, also from the dictionary: impassivity, insensibility, disinterest, disregard, headlessness, indifference, and many more that describe human attitudes.
Let us ask…why are we in this state? Again, the late Jimmy Chimeralria tells… “Nobody is telling us the traditions of our forefathers, or those that were here before us.” Yugcetun… “Qanrucestairucamta-wa, wall’u, Qalarucestairucamta-llu elluarrluta, ilakuyulluta-llu ilakuralriani cali-llu nunalgutkuralriani yuullerkamtenek.”
So very true are these words that have been passed on through generations of human lifeways. Yugcetun… “Anglilli ilumulria ciuliamta qanruyutaitni ukanirpak.”
Let us briefly delve into the past, outside the realm of our communities and our country. As we enter the year 2007, it is now Two Hundred Twenty years since (1787) the original thirteen colonies adopted what is now the United States Constitution, amended as needed. As nations have risen and fallen since the beginning of mankind, history has a very telling story of civilization throughout the world. So about the time the Nation of these United States began some 220 years ago, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh said these words of the fall of the Athenian Republic about 2000 years earlier: “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority will always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.”
Again as the history of the world order of civilization tells us, the average span of Nations in terms of years of the world’s greatest noteworthy civilizations from the beginning of history has been about two hundred years. And the citizenry, people that were countrymen of the greatest nations throughout history have always progressed through the following succession: (1) Bondage to spiritual faith, (2) Spiritual faith to great courage, (3) Courage to liberty, (4) Liberty to abundance, (5) Abundance to complacency, (6) Complacency to Apathy, (7) Apathy to Dependence, (8) and then from Dependence back to bondage.
Therefore, based on these historical events, it is noted by a school of law professor, that we are now somewhere between the complacency and apathy phase of Professor Alexander Tyler’s definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation’s population already in the governmental dependency phase.
If the current number of illegal immigrants (about 20 million) are granted amnesty and citizenship by the United States Congress, and are allowed to vote, then the fall of one of the greatest nations... the United States of America ...will surely be added to the history books as a fallen Nation.
As most of us know today, the Soviet Union, once a super-powered nation is virtually unheard of today. And the Middle East, once the mecca of peace is totally torn in war, despair and poverty. This state brought on by having been under dictatorship for about half a century.
Finally I want to close with the wisdom of my ancestors... “When the world is about to experience a great famine (hunger), people get to the state of ‘APATHY’”. Yugcetun... “Ellam-gguq yui kaikata’arqata yuut ilacingtuut”. And another... “When the people become so disobedient, lawless and the social order of communes collapses, the spirit of the Universe punishes them by hunger… the most excruciating and painful suffering man can experience.”
The ancestors of Western Alaskan indigenous peoples feared this above all. So much suffering is experienced that a few fortunate survivors of “Famine” openly state that they wish to die before another one occurs.
Piurci... Next week: Why it is so important to preserve the fish and game in the Yukon Kuskokwim delta...
From a Northern chill to Southern warmth
2-6-07
by Robert Nick
It seems like just a few weeks since my last article, but it is last year and we are already in the second month of a new year. And what a year 2006 has been. It certainly was an adventurous journey for mankind.
The cold spell we had in December and January probably had a few records broken, for I saw many young men and even women with the marks of the northern chill bites. Even I had the marks on both cheeks for a spell in mid-January.
On a late night ride home to Nunap’ from Tunt’, the northern chill was exasperated by snow from the wake of seven snow machines traveling in front of me as if running from the Southern warm weather that has followed the Northern.
Now it is the opposite with record high temperatures in the last few days. And possibly a solar storm with lightening on the evening of the February 1st. Four local men were driving home from a day of pike fishing near Aropak Lake about 90 miles Northwest of Nunapitchuk. As they were traveling east at Long Lake, some time between 7:30/8:00PM, a very bright flash was seen high in the southeastern sky, followed by two more reddish flashes not as bright as the first. These flashes were also seen by more folks in Tuntutuliak.
As I was driving home from checking my blackfish trap at dusk that day, I observed the eastern horizon to look as if thunder was about to happen as it does in summer. Perhaps, these flashes seen an hour and a half later were actually lightening way up in the solar system and high enough so that no thunder was heard, as does in a summer thunderstorm. Well so much for the weather...
Word has it that pikes are biting as if a hook is the only edible thing, because pike bite anything that moves in the water and on the surface.
It certainly was nice to eat fresh pike from Akagculleq.
Beaver dams have made fishing to move away from once likely spots. However, since the pike are there still, another canal type creek to a large lake and then to Aropak Lake are good spots.
Another local man that spent his early years at Chocfagtulik told me, if they are biting now, they will be so for a while. So pike fishers, go get ‘em.
To my “Iluqs” and “nephews” that go there to fish, if I eat one of your catch...I will call you a “Nukalpiaq”.
Remembering a great man
12-14-06
by Robert Nick
At a period of renaissance for the 49th State of the Union, called America, a young man arrived in Western Alaska with his family and along with his wife, Nancy, taught my siblings at the BIA Day School here in Nunapitchuk.
Being an outdoorsman, I soon befriended the man, George Hohman, whom I had the privilege to go camping with many a time, at which we talked of many things which we were able to do in the decades that followed.
During that time, Alaska was a very young state with very little revenue and not much in state programs and services. The late Jimmy Hoffman and the late Raymond Christensen were in the state legislature. Then in 1965, Representative Christensen decided to run for the Senate and asked me to run for House of Representatives.
Being naive in politics, I decided not to run, so I suggested to Mr. Christensen that he ask George Hohman, who by that time was teaching in Kwigillingok. Mr. Hohman decided to run and then began the decades of my campaigning for a great man. For that I feel privileged to have known and helped Mr. Hohman return to Juneau, time and time again, bringing home millions of dollars to rural Alaska.
Oil had just been discovered in Prudhoe Bay and in 1969, almost a billion dollars entered state coffers from oil lease sales. Thus began the work of one of Alaska's most powerful legislators, bringing home millions of dollars for all causes for improvement to all walks of life in Alaska. As a member of both House and Senate Finance, the Christmas tree budgets which he engineered were legend.
During one those bonanza years, I remember one conversation where he asked what else can he get for Western Alaska (Bethel Area), so I said, how about a Radio Station. As usual, he got the funding in another Christmas tree budget.… so began KYUK Radio. I am certain that many, many villages can lend testimony to all the programs Senator Hohman got during his tenure as a legislator.
I would like to end with my remembrance of a near tragedy we had while landing on a sand pit near Heigermaster Island. We were spending a day beachcombing in his small aircraft, landing on beaches, starting from Chagvan Bay near Cape Newingham all the way to Togiak. One of the wheel brakes failed at the Island and at the Dillingham strip behind town. All through the evening, George would look at me and just say three words… "that was close". Farewell my friend...
Remembering George
George H. Hohman, Jr. passed away on November 20, 2006 at Providence Medical Center in Anchorage surrounded by family. He was 74 years old.
Some people called George Hohman the "Tundra Fox"; some called him the "Singing Senator"; he was "Sonny" to his parents, brother and sisters. To his family he was Dad, Pops and Grandpa.
He was born June 2, 1932 in St. Louis, Missouri, and as a child, moved with his family to Glennie, Michigan. George graduated from high school in Oscoda, MI in 1950 and attended college at Michigan State University until joining the U.S. Army in 1952.
George was stationed in Monterey, Calif. where he attended the Presidio of Monterey, studying the Russian language. While there, he played baseball for the Army and was a member of the Russian Choir where he sang tenor and was a soloist.
In 1954 he was sent to Fort Richardson in Alaska where he was a Russian translator, and then to the Pribilof Islands to study the influence of the Russian language on the Native language in that area. When his tour of duty ended he, and his (then) wife, Nancy, and 2 daughters returned to Michigan to complete his college education.
In 1962, he returned to Alaska with Nancy and 4 daughters to teach for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. He taught in the villages of Emmonak, Nunapitchuk and was principal/teacher in Kwigillingok for two years.
In 1967, he moved his family, now 4 daughters and 1 son, to Bethel so his older children could attend junior high and high school. He taught school and was elected to represent the Yukon-Kuskokwim area as their Representative to the State House. In 1972 he successfully ran for the State Senate. George represented the Yukon-Kuskokwim and Bristol Bay Districts in the Alaska State Legislature for 16 years, serving in both the House and Senate.
Among many other things, George was a teacher, a legislator, an air-taxi owner, a businessman and a guide. As a legislator, George was a tireless advocate for the people in his districts as well as residents of all Rural Alaska, statewide. He was tenacious, honorable, and truly one-of-a-kind; a champion and a friend. An editorial in the early 1970's read, "Said one Republican legislator: There wasn't any way to stop it. The Bush was going to be served by George Hohman and that's all there is to it."
George remarried in 1986 to Agnes Thomas of Tuntutuliak. Together they had George's sixth child, Benjamin. Ben was a gift to George; wherever one was, the other was always there.
He is survived by his wife Agnes Thomas-Hohman, daughters and sons-in-law Carrie and Paul Longpre, Laura Hohman-Tichenor and Joe Tichenor, daughters Catherine Hohman and Sarah Porto, and sons George III and Benjamin; son-in-law Roy Wiseman; grandchildren Jacques Longpre, Zach and Matt Wiseman, Cassandre Hohman and Nancy Porto; sister-in-law Sophia Thomas and her children Pavilynn, Peter and Tony, who were part of his Las Vegas family; sisters and brother, Patricia Hook, Bettyanne Hoien, and Ronald Hohman; and former wife Nancy Thompson. George was very proud of his Native extended family members who are too numerous to name.
George was preceded in death by both parents, George Sr. and Margaret, grandson Benjamin, and nephew Michael.
Finding identity in
a fast changing world
11-22-06
by Robert Nick
The Yup'ik and Cup'ik people of Western Alaska are struggling with finding an identity in a rapidly changing world. It is a good thing though, amidst problems of today, we still keep the past in mind. All the same, the native languages spoken by our parents and grandparents in passing on traditions from one generation to the next is being lost by this generation.
In many villages in Western Alaska, the growing elders still speak Yup'ik and Cup'ik, except that many of their children and grandchildren do not speak and understand the language.
The early BIA days of institutionalized education was much of the cause as young learners who spoke their native tongue were severely punished in school where a totally foreign language was taught. As it historically happens, this loss of familial language is causing the loss of their culture, for the new generation of English speaking Yup'ik generation is distancing themselves unkowingly from the ways of the elders and those that were here before us.
This manifestation should cause indigenous native people to learn and speak their native language, if we are to say that we live a Yup'ik Cultural way of life. Truly, language is culture, language is tradition, language is our identity, and above all, language is our oneness as indigenous peoples.
The concepts of our ancestral past are in place and rightly so after generations of trial and error perfected for harmonized life, although simple.
During the forties, fifties and sixties, Indian education through BIA sought to assimilate the American Indians and Alaska Natives to the industrialization of America. As such they forced the native to walk into a school of learning, shedding their culture, their language and their identity. In its place, this education sought to instill in the minds of young learners, the "American Dream".
For those that have done well with what is termed the western way of life, I am very pleased. For we do have native professionals such as medical doctors, scholars, Corporate Executives, businessmen, Lawyers, Airline pilots, trades professionals and many successful members of working society. I heartfully congratulate you for your success.
Through the awakening of the emerging generation of the sixties, native languages began to be taught in the BIA Day Schools. And this effort was advanced by the passage by Congress, of the Bilingual Act of 1968. This was the vanguard of native language instruction as school districts were provided funding to instruct native students in their first language. This also allowed the hiring of local language speaking teacher aides.
The Lower Kuskokwim School District leads districts across Alaska in the teaching of lower grade students in the Yup'ik and Cup'ik languages, aspects of their traditional way of life in order to help them learn about the outside world and their futures.
Although this methodology is less than four decades old, studies are now showing that it helps to improve overall learning. Immersion programs are also shown to improve a child's learning. And we have a Yup'ik Immersion school in Bethel, Alaska.
I want to congratulate the Lower Kuskokwim School District for being the recent recepient of the Cultural Freedom Award from the National Indian Education Association. This prestigious award appreciates promotion of cultural understanding and demonstration of strong commitment to improve the educational opportunities of native children of Bethel, Alaska.
Three years is enough
for game board chairman
11-16-06
by Robert Nick
To fully understand any traditional harvest issue, one has to begin with historical context. Until the latter part of the nineteenth century, about 120 years ago, tribes across Alaska were the sole trustees of all fish and game resources across the pristine lands and waters of the State of Alaska. This was, is especially true with rural Alaskan traditional lifestyles that rely on fish and game. This was and still is a way of life that has lasted on this landscape for thousands of years.
Subsistence hunting and fishing is... will always be the "KEYSTONE", "MAINSTAY" of sustenance and very survival of all inhabitants of rural Alaskan communities. Wonderful peoples of all nationalities who have chosen to live in the Alaska Native homelands, if you can read and understand the language that I am using to write this, I implore you to understand, comprehend, and learn, and I repeat, subsistence hunting and fishing is... will always be the "KEYSTONE", "MAINSTAY" of sustenance and very survival of all inhabitants of rural Alaskan communities. For this purpose native tribes were the sovereigns who managed nature's trust.
As I stated in an earlier commentary, in 1892 the United States Supreme Court said in a landmark case called "Illinois Central" that the government holds wildlife and navigable waterways in trust for the people so that they may hunt, fish, have a food supply, and meet other basic needs. This public trust doctrine is the first and oldest environmental principle of this nation.
Prior to statehood, the protection of tribal harvests continued through a sovereign compact between the federal government and the native tribes. With statehood, tribes began struggling to protect their traditional lifestyles. And with the cession of tribal lands, the State of Alaska and the federal government became new sovereign trustees across ceded lands.
The tribes' direct authority over the resources of these lands shrank with their reduced jurisdiction. However, tribes' reliance on these resources for their very survival and their fiduciary will to protect the resource has never diminished. Having said this, read on to learn what happened at the State Board of Game meeting last month.
During an officially, sanctioned State Board of Game meeting in Anchorage last month, Chairman Ron Sommerville showed his true colors and hung out as dirty laundry his divisive personality in state game management.
During a public comment period, when a third Native scheduled to testify on proposed subsistence hunting regulations before the Game Board failed to appear, Chairman Ron Sommerville said, "There must have been a run of free beer or something."
Not satisfied with this insult to Alaska Natives, Mr. Sommerville greeted the next person to testify with these injurious words, "Don't like beer, Donna?"
The distinguished, honorable, and respectable Native lady from Copper Center had come to the Board of Game meeting to testify on proposed subsistence hunting regulations.
These racially insensitive comments by the Chairman of the Board of Game are uncalled for and show that he does not belong in a state governmental arm whom we look to as trustees of nature's trust. And Alaska Natives have embraced the rural subsistence priority as necessary protection for survival, especially in remote locations where unemployment is high.
Twenty-four years ago, this same person led a ballot measure to repeal the state's rural subsistence priority, which the voters rejected.
Ron Sommerville feels that Natives should not have priority and when he ran for Governor in 1986, he viewed Alaska Natives as a special interest group. Although Mr. Somerville had a long history of opposition to rural subsistence, Governor Frank Murkowski appointed him to the Game Board in 2003.
Based on his long-standing record, Ron Sommerville has to resign from the Board of Game. And if he does not, newly elected Governor, Honorable Sarah Palin needs to remove him.
Board of Game member
comments racially insensitive
by Ray Watson
I am writing this letter encouraging you to withdraw Ron Sommerville from the Alaska Board of Game meeting this past October.
At the meeting Mr. Sommerville expressed, not only once, that the Alaska Natives attending the Alaska Board of Game were not present due to "free beer". He further compounded his racial insensitivity by asking the next person, who is Alaska Native, "Don't like beer...?"
During the October 2006 annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Anchorage, the delegates overwhelmingly supported a resolution calling for a human and civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the conduct of Mr. Sommerville. We were part of the delegation and we ask you, as our Governor, not to condone such behavior by demanding his resignation. We feel his blatant disregard for Alaska Natives is his sheer expression of racism and insensitivity.
Alcoholism is no laughing matter in our region. It serves no purpose, but to humiliate, to make a joking remark of that nature in a public forum. We strongly encourage and ask you to terminate his membership to the Board of Game.
Ray Watson is the Chairman for the Association of Village Council Presidents.
United rural vote for Governor, "a must"
11-1-06
by Robert Nick
As I began my secondary education in 1959 at Mt. Edgecumbe Boarding School on Japonsky Island across the channel from Sitka, the Territory of Alaska became the 49th State of the Union.
So it was, from the infancy of our great state, Alaska Natives slowly but surely entered the politics of the last frontier. Perhaps one can credit the emergence of economic opportunity programs and the arrival of the Volunteers in Service to America to remote rural communities.
Throughout the four decades since, rural Alaska has been a major player in determining who governs in the Executive and Legislative branch of state government. Although there have been times when the rural vote has determined the governorship of our state, the need for this to happen has never been more paramount than now. Never before has there been a need to have a Governor who understands the subsistence issue than now. So, through my eyes and ears, let us briefly look at who wants to be governor of Alaska for the next four years.
Sarah Palin, a Republican candidate is making history if one can look at recent straw votes and sees the reflection of support. Although I had no idea who she was prior to her campaign, I pretty much know who Sarah Palin is by now. I know that she does not support rural subsistence priority and that she does not wish to see a constitutional vote on the issue either. She does not seem to understand the infamous phrase, "Urban, Rural Divide".
When one looks at the straw vote, it is how voters in the bigger cities feel. There has never been a poll vote in my community, nor in any rural community that I know of.
Tony Knowles, a former two-term governor has been a friend of Rural Alaska, even when he was Mayor of Anchorage, Alaska's biggest urban city. I will say that I know governor Knowles well. And aside from the subsistence community, no other governor understands the meaning of survival by means of hunting and fishing, particularly in rural Alaska.
I will forever remember and cherish his declaration as governor...that he will not appeal the landmark Katie John decision, giving her a right to fish in her fishcamp as her family has done for centuries. Having been governor of Alaska for eight years, no other candidate knows the needs of Alaskan communities than Tony Knowles.
And aside from another former governor, the late Jay Hammond, no other governor understands the subsistence issue than Tony Knowles. If elected, he will continue to see that the needs of rural Alaska are met. And in this time of surplus state revenues, he can re-instate programs that were eliminated by our current Republican Governor, such as the Longevity Bonus for our senior citizens, Municipal Revenue Sharing for Alaska's municipalities and tribal governments.
In this latter, tribal governments can unite and seek equal shares as those for municipal governments, as they provide the same level of services as city governments.
Solidarity of rural Alaskans has never been more crucial. Your united vote shall elect the next Governor of Alaska. On the contrary, if we are divided, we shall witness continued genocide of Alaska native traditions and cultures.
In closing I ask all registered voters to go to the polls and vote on November 7th, but remember who supports "SUBSISTENCE". PIURCI...
Beavertown in Qasqirayaq
10-24-06
by Robert Nick
One of nature's aquatic fur-bearing mammals, the beaver, scarce when I was growing up, is now everywhere and has a tremendous impact on the waterways of the wetlands of Western Alaska.
Unlike other mammals who simply burrow into the ground for shelter, the beaver builds shelter out of trees and sod, which we call "engelu" or beaver house.
A friend from McGrath, the late John Andrew, once told me how the inside of a beaver house looks like. It has one floor, sometimes bigger houses have two floors, kind of like a two story house. He said that each beaver, in his words... poppa beaver, momma beaver and little beaver have beds of wood shavings. Little beaver's bed would be near the entrance hole. He is the one who gets the green wood from the outside stockpile, which the family of beavers eat (the bark). And he would take the same wood out after the bark is eaten. This last chore must be absolutely true as I once caught (with a snare) a little beaver (aqsatuyaq) along with a piece of barkless wood.
The beaver population has grown. In fact, the other day I saw a beaver house on the north side of Tundra Ridge road. My guess is that the beaver has created an engineering havoc for Bethel's utility workers for there is a body of water on the north side of the road. This means that the flow of water through the roadbed culvert has been royally dammed by the little furry animal.
I once opened up a beaver dam in a creek where I had set my mink trap for years, but the beaver repaired it that night. I had to trap the beaver so I could continue to trap in the creek, otherwise it would become a wide river.
I had a trapper friend, now deceased, who trapped year-round. One fall he went to his favorite creek where he always caught mink and could not even find it because beavers had dammed downriver and turned the foot-wide creek into a river. Seeing a beaver house above, he got angry and went back to his camp, got his snares, and set them all around the food pile. All of the beavers were caught by his snares the next day.
The utility crew may have to trap the beaver so that they won't have a major road problem come spring. I am sure an elder in town would be pleased to have the beaver carcass, a very nourishing meal. And maybe Peter Twitchell can cook it for you at his restaurant, the "Roadside Grill".
Perhaps my good friend Robert John could be asked to trap the beaver, for he loves cooked beaver meat. An elder once told me that the beaver is the easiest mammal to catch, so one does not have to be a "Nukalpiaq" to catch one. So maybe my friend Craig Boney can trap the one behind his shop (Prop Shop). I certainly would be pleased to eat beaver meat caught by him... feet, tail and all. Then I can call him a "NUKALPIAQ". That is what I call my "iluqs" like "Ingluilnguq" in Toksook Bay, who fill my stomach with their catch.
I did a lot of traveling this summer, especially during the berry season. I traveled west as far as Baird Inlet numerous times and all around the tundra area. There are beaver and beaver houses everywhere. We who trap the beaver have names based on the size, the biggest beaver being called "ucingluq", the smaller one "nukaq", and the smallest one "aqsatuyaq".
It is a spectacular experience to watch beavers work. As slow as they move, their engineering ingenuity in building river dams is superb, especially across wide rivers with fast moving waters.
Being an aquatic mammal and somehow knowing that water levels recede in the fall with decline in rainfall, they block the flow of water downriver from their house so there would be water for mobility around their houses. They access their food supply even when the water freezes to the bottom away from their swimway. They must swim around their food supply continuously to prevent freezing around their food piles. And the swimway to their back door (isritii), where they can exit in the spring is also prevented from freezing. This is how they come out in the spring as the rising water enters their sod house. They also come out through the top of the engelu (beaver house).
Perhaps the most serious impact is the damming of the creeks where the fresh water fish migrate to spawn. As the water is high in the spring, so fish, such as whitefish swim over the submerged dams and make it to their spawning areas. However, during the summer and as fall approaches, the water levels recede and the dams emerge in the creeks again. Then the beaver again repairs the dams and trap the fish in the upstream side, preventing them from migrating down to the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers.
If you have ever been to a beaver house in a creek with a dam downriver from it, the water above the dam is probably not safe to drink, especially if the beavers are eating water poison hemlock (paparnat).
Beavers eat the bark of Willows (uqvicuut) and alder (cuukvaguat), and poison hemlock (paparnat). If you (trapper) see a beaver house with an alder pile in front, be sure to trap the beaver, as alder-eating beaver tastes best. Perhaps I am picky, but others have told me the same thing.
I am told that six beaver live in a single house, but sometimes there are less as one can see by the size of the house. Just as large families in human beings have large houses and single folk and couples with no children have smaller houses, so do beaver dwell likewise. In fact single beavers that probably do not have enough beaverpower, not being lazy as beavers are not, simply make their house on the side of high tundra, which we call "milqautat". These usually have smaller feed piles.
In all my years of roaming Western Alaska in search of food, I have not seen beavers sheltering communal style as man does in villages across his homeland. Since man has been traversing the land since the beginning of mankind, maybe others have seen colony dwellings of beaver.
This fall, a good friend told me of a communal style colony of beaver houses in the Qasqirayaq River, a tributary of Pitmiktalik River, with a long single food pile in front. I had planned to hunt in that area this week so I can sidetrack to see them myself and take pictures, but was unable to do so.
According to my friend, three beaver houses are aligned about 8 to 10 feet apart, with a long single food pile of alder trees stretching the entire length of the three. My friend told me that I will be astounded when I see them, as I still plan to go there soon.
Just as man sometimes endures hardship with food gathering, the beaver also loses its gathered food supply when strong south winds cause water levels to rise back up in the ocean fed rivers. Heavy rains also cause water levels to rise. I've heard that water levels are bank to bank in some Kuskokwim River villages, and here in the tundra flats, we now have water, water, everywhere.
The willow and alder piles are entwined by the busy beaver, so they drift away intact. And they are adrift, so the beaver will have to gather again, or starve this winter. Likewise if man does not gather food for the long winter, he will starve also. That is why our elders tell us to gather while the land and water's food sources are abundant in the summer.
Piurallerci... Next week, Politics and Government...
Nature again provides a plenty
10-18-06
by Robert Nick
As the landscape of green across the western homeland of the Yup'ik and Cup'ik Eskimos turns to multi-colors of fall, I share grateful thoughts of bounteous harvest from the land and waters of meandering rivers of the wetlands, the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in particular.
As I ask my friends from the riverine villages of the Yukon and Kuskokwim and the Coastal villages, Cenarmiut, as we refer to them, this certainly has been a good summer as we have met (amounts necessary for subsistence) as fish biologist assess harvest goals. And the migration of spawners to their yearly spawning habitats is good based on scientific data collected by the Fish & Game.
I am pleased with the data set on the salmon returns. And this was the goal of the Yukon/Kuskokwim Salmon Re-Building plan approved at the meeting of the State Board of Fish in 2001. The region was fortunate to have one of it's own fishermen as a member of the Board of Fish during the poorest years of Chinook and chum salmon runs in both the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers.
Dr. John White, a private dentist in Bethel, with his vast knowledge of fisheries in the Atlantic, Bering Sea, and Artic/Yukon/Kuskokwim (AYK) was able to lead the Board of Fish, sacrificing personal integrity, in developing the plan to effect sustainable returns of this re-newable food source. I thank you Dr. white for your intuition and forthright resolve towards sustainability of the regions most valuable food resource.
Let us briefly recount the abundant growth of nature's fruits of the land. As was reported previously, the salmon berries (atsalugpiat) were everywhere. There certainly will be salmonberry akutaq with many a meal this winter. Buckets of berries were even flown to faraway towns, such as Dillingham and Anchorage. And then blueberries (curat) became ripe and were picked. And then wild raspberries (puyuraaraat) became ripe and were picked. And then blackberries (tan'gerpiit) became ripe and were picked. And then red cranberries (kavirlit) became ripe and were picked. And then crowberries (kavliit) became ripe and were picked. This berry is used to make a different tasting jam. And last to ripen is the bog cranberry (uingiaraat, the tastiest).
Last Saturday, my wife and I spent the afternoon picking this berry one by one and more when they are close together and came home happy regardless of a sore back, which a hot steam massaged that evening. Since we have not been at fish camp for some time now, we have not been able to pick high bush cranberry (agautat), another berry used for making jam. All of these berries can be made into jam. If one picked and made enough, there could be jam for the whole winter, or until the berries grow again. This year I had a taste of fireweed jelly and it was delicious.
For a number of years, mouse population has been down, so mouse food (anlleret), which they stock up for their winter food supply has been hard to find. This is also used when making akutaq. A few days ago I saw a couple mice, so they must be around again. Well so much for "Motherhood and Akutaq", as my friend Harold Napoleon would say.
Piurci...next week, a story of "Beavertown" on the Qasqirayaq...
Congratulations to
newly elected public officials
10-11-06
by Robert Nick
Hearty congratulations to the chosen leaders of the many organizations in the fifty six communities throughout the Yukon and Kuskokwim delta. The privileged chosen leaders exercise a fiduciary duty to the people they serve, meaning that they hold something in trust. We are trustees of our peoples' well-being and in such we continue the legacy of our ancestral leaders that strived for harmony of peoples in communities all across continents.
Let me start with local governments. As a government is the only enduring institution with control over human actions, every community has either a tribal or municipal government. Those elected have a monumental fiduciary duty for the health and welfare of all community members. These councilors cause enactment of laws to ensure peace within their communities. The local governments work with the state and federal government for the benefit of community residents.
As Councilors normally don't exercise the day to day operation of services, they employ either a city manager, or a tribal administrator. These folks normally should hire their staff, however, in most communities they are hired by the councils also. In some communities they are hired by the administrators, and since they are supervised and evaluated by them, they should have sole hiring authority.
One of the age-old problems when councils hire all staff is the tendency to hire relatives and this generates complaints from community members. And another hindrance to effective management is micro-management. This is when a member of the council directs the administrator to do certain things. An effective administrator is one that is managed by the Council with clear direction given in council meetings and via ordinances, especially in public safety.
Next, let us look at school governance. Since the Molly Hootch lawsuit in the seventies, every community now has some means of local control of its school through a school board. In most small rural communities, Rural Educational Attendance Area districts administer schools within its boundary.
In the Y/K delta... LKSD, LYSD, Yupiit School District and Kuspuk School District administer community schools within their boundaries. Since State Statutes do allow a municipal government to run its local school, the City of Chevak and the City of St. Mary's do this with their own community School Board. So what do school board members do?
They too have a clearly stated fiduciary duty for the education of our children. They are clearly stated in State Statutes and regulations promulgated by the State's Board of Education. School Boards hire a Superintendent, who hires staff to implement Board Policies, regulations, and statutes.
Although school districts employ many employees, school board members need to clearly understand that the chief school officer is, in essence their only employee and all other employees work for the Superintendent, so to speak. And again, micro-management is a no-no. As school board members, we exercise our fiduciary duty in meetings of the school board. At any other time, we are citizens of our communities, with no more authority over the Superintendent than an average community member.
Since REAA school districts have more than one community, at the beginning every community has a Community School Committee. However, this was ended by state legislation. Since many communities in LKSD wanted this local control process to continue, the LKSD school board, by Board Policy established the local Advisory School Boards.
The members of these boards are chosen in each community by the same process as other elected officials. In most cases, ASB's serve in advisory capacity to the district board, but do have limited powers per district policy. They set the local school calendar, are involved in local school curriculum, are involved in the interview and selection of the local school administrator.
Again, congratulations to all elected officials in communities across the Y/K delta. Always remember who you are working for.
The United States
Environmental Protection Agency
10-3-06
by Robert Nick
The United States Environmental Protection Agency is an arm of the federal government with the trust duty of protection towards Indian interests as its obligation since it began years ago. This trust duty is embedded in federal law and predates statutory law by 120 years. This Indian trust doctrine is EPA"s foremost obligation.
The second trust obligation which is relevant when talking about traditional foods is EPA"s public trust responsibility. This public trust duty is to preserve the natural resources for all people today and future generations.
In the 1892 landmark case called "Illinois Central", the United States Supreme Court said that the government holds wildlife and navigable waterways in trust for the people so that they may fish, have a food supply, and meet other basic needs.
This public trust doctrine is the first and oldest environmental principle of this great nation. As such it is a fundamental doctrine of government, which precedes this country, dating back to ancient societies of the Orients, Moslem Countries, Europe, and Africa.
As we have learned from these earlier times, a government that fails to protect its natural resources sentences its peoples to hard times. So, who in the United States government is responsible for the public trust obligation that has been around since ancient times?
Today"s trustees are the people that work in the EPA in every state of the Union (51 states). The Environmental Protection Agency has charge of our natural trust. As governments are the only enduring institutions with control over human actions that affect natural resources, courts characterize it as the trustee of these resources. So the government holds the corpus...the waters and wildlife...as its property that it must manage for the beneficiaries...the citizens. We have learned that with every trust concept, the most important duty is protection.
Therefore, the Environmental Protection Agency, as trustee, must protect the trust asset for the beneficiary. This means taking action to defend the corpus against injury, and if it has been damaged, it must take action to restore the corpus of the trust. As natural trust lasts in perpetuity, this obligation lies at the very heart of government"s purpose. And the amount of natural wealth passed to future generations depends entirely on how well the government trustees defend the trust.
So, we now know that through the Indian trust doctrine, EPA protects the tribal way of life, including traditional foods, and the public trust doctrine holds crucial resources in trust for the people.
The third obligation of the EPA are the environmental statutes passed in the 1970"s to be used as tools to restore the natural trust. Two statutes in particular administered by the EPA are the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. These statutes were enacted about 35 years ago.
The opening words of the Clean Water Act say in Section 101, "It is the national goal that the discharge of pollutants into navigable waters be eliminated by 1985." Here we are twenty years after we were supposed to have pollution-free rivers... and pollution is threatening the wild food supply of the native nations and the nations as a whole. And the pollution that EPA and the state agencies have control over is ending up in the traditional food supply of tribal people everywhere.
In 2001, the Environmental Justice Advisory Council for EPA described it this way in its report, "The waters to which tribes look to meet their needs have become vectors of toxins. Contamination now renders their ways of living--a source of exposure to substances toxic to humans and other living things. Yet toxic chemicals continue to be permitted...in the air, water, soils and sediments that together make up home to all life."
The very same law, the "Clean Water Act", allows permits to pollute. Although the Congress of the United States designed this permit system to be a transition tool to achieve the goal of no pollution by 1985, the Environmental Protection Agency has allowed what supposed to have been a 5 year permit to a business-life license to pollute. In effect, a statute that was designed to restore the trust is being used to institutionalize continued damage to the trust.
In its Strategic Plan issued in 2002, EPA warns: "Polluted water and degraded aquatic ecosystems threaten the viability of all living things." The story is the same with the Clean Air Act. In 2002, 4.6 million tons of air toxics were emitted to outdoor air, and EPA"s data indicates that 95% of all Americans now face an increased likelihood of cancer just from breathing toxins in outdoor air. In essence, mankind is in a perilous period in time. We are in a moment of time where entire food groups are contaminated, water carries poisons, and global warming is threatening to destroy nearly all of Natures trust.
One hundred years ago, our parents and grandparents probably never imagined the destruction that would come at the next generation, but here we are experiencing the impoverishment of nature because of the consequences to society from actions taken by this generation of people. And we will not be here 100 years from today when it will be too late to save what we still have. This is when our children, grand-children, and great grand-children will be striving to survive on this land. Piurci...
Our ancestors are
protectors of tribal harvests
9-27-06
by Robert Nick
What are the resources important for present and future generations? I can unequivocally say...it is the AIR we breathe every instant of our natural life, the WATER we drink daily, afterall our bodies are 4/5's water and we need to replenish what we excrete daily, the STREAMBEDS that keep our drinking water potable and are enhancing aquatic ecosystems, the WILDLIFE that mankind has consumed since the beginning of time, the FISHERIES that nourish us with a healthy life, and all other elements needed to sustain life.
Understanding this, our forefathers whom early invaders to our vast ancestral lands called a heathen peoples, exercised self-restraint in the harvest of wildlife and fish even during times of famine. Especially in times of starvation, tribal leaders would not allow more harvest than the resource could sustain. This they did as trustees of Natures Trust. Their stewardship has allowed renewable resources such as fish and all wildlife to survive global adversities throughout time.
In Western Alaska, in two major rivers, the Yukon and Kuskokwim, tribes were the sole trustees of the fish and waters. They fostered a way of life that has lasted on this land for millennia. Under their stewardship, five species of salmon migrate up these two great rivers every summer to regenerate. In such, the two rivers continue to be a "great Table" where many tribes come together and partake. This stewardship of Natures Trust is a sovereign concept that predates the United States, including our great State of Alaska, the last frontier in the Western Hemisphere.
And before the United States were formed, native nations and tribes in this continent called America controlled vast aboriginal territory. They were the sovereigns who managed the natural trust on this land. And their very existence depended on nature's resources. Therefore they developed systems to ensure that those resources would be available in abundance for their beneficiaries then, today and tomorrow. These systems evolved and were perfected over centuries...thousands of years of governance. Although tribes did not use western legal terms in describing their laws, the governing mandate throughout all tribes across America, Alaska included is a trust concept then and today.
Tribal leaders speak of natural law (nutemllaq alerquun) and this appoints them as stewards of the Air, the Animals, the Fish, the Waters, the Land and the plants. What happened to this Stewardship?
As all nations rich in renewable and nonrenewable resources are conquered, the United States began a massive-cession of land and left tribes with small remnants of homeland...reservations. Fortunately, however one looks at it, only Metlakatla is a reservation in Alaska.
Thus United States and states such as Alaska became a new trustee over natural resources in the ceded territory. However, this tribal cession of land was based on a promise that the federal government would protect the way of life of the tribes, including traditional harvest. Throughout the past years, tribes have relied on this promise in relinquishing their land, and the courts have enforced it through a trust concept. Today, the federal government is deemed trustee of all Indian lands and resources, including off reservation lands that support traditional harvest.
In 2001, the United States Supreme Court case involving the Klamath Tribes water rights, the Court described the trust doctrine as "one of the cornerstones of Indian Law, with the United States as trustee, the Indian tribes as beneficiaries, and the property and natural resources managed by the United States as the trust corpus."
Courts apply the trust obligation to every federal agency, besides the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Courts have applied the trust duty to the Environmental Protection Agency. And in 1984, the Environmental Protection Agency developed the first trust policy that is serving as a model for other agencies.
Piurci...Next Week...Who is the Environmental Protection Agency?
UUI-VTS August Institute
8-29-06
by Robert Nick
For the past two weeks, ten young men and women from Upper and Lower Kalskag, Tuntutuliak, Kongiganak and Kipnuk participated in a Village Technology Specialist Program at the Kuskokwim Campus (KuC) of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Due to increasing demand of the use of telecommunication services even in the remote small communities throughout the world, YK delta included, and at the request of the telecommunications industry, the Kuskokwim Campus has started this much needed program.
The main goal of the program is to support the growth and development and use of the data communications services in the Y/K region of our great state. And this much needed Village Technology Specialist program is to be initiated in conjunction with data and internet-based infrastructure development in the region and would serve as the primary "infrastructure" component of the project.
As a leader of the telecommunications industry, United Unicom Incorporated, known to many of us clients in the villages as United Companies, Inc., a wholly native-owned company, is the "Vanguard" of utilizing our people in the region and their telecommunications equipment, which with forthright foresight of its long time innovative leader Steve Hamlen, has taken this positive step.
And why not?
UUI has long championed the cause of progress throughout the state, what with millions of dollars it has invested in our future leaders by providing scholarships throughout the years. And the many, many young men from the delta, which they employ, shows they believe in our people's ability to learn and become a workforce of the delta. In fact I have a son-in-law, brother-in-law, nephew and many, many relatives across western Alaska whom UUI employs in all phases of its operations. And UUI trained them all.
I recently traveled to a number of villages and noticed telecommunications towers in every one I visited. One that impressed me is in Eek, Alaska. And the reason I was so is that last December 2006, I was at the foot of the Kilbuck Mountains east of Eek on a caribou hunt with my youngest son, when we were guided back to the flats by the gigantic tower.
UUI has these towers in Aniak, Tuluksak, Akiak, Bethel, Chefornak, Eek, Kipnuk, Kongiganak and Quinhagak. Each tower is part of a network of networks that routes traffic to and from the Yukon/Kuskokwim delta villages and the rest of the world. This network is referred to as the Yukon Kuskokwim Deltanet, or just Deltanet for short. So much for UUI - let us learn a little more about the Village Technology Specialist Program (VTS).
The UUI-VTS August Institute (14-25) will equip these young men and women with a broad range of computing knowledge and skills that would provide them with the skills/ability to install and provide the technical support for small village access points which would serve as computer labs; (2) they would be able to understand and provide the technical assistance with basic computer applications and data communications skills functions; (3) they would provide customer services to village based clients through the public access points (computer labs); (4) they would coordinate, support and maintain the functions and services provided through the village public access points(computer labs).
The intensive classes which UUI participants (students) are taking utilize content area specific, industry recognized curricula needed to develop the students' information technology expertise. The training includes intermediate level computer application such as MS Word, Excel, Operating Systems and Internet and Communications Software, including Network Hardware/LAN installation and support training; and the developed IT Workplace Basics course-ware to accommodate the specific workforce goals necessary to support the project's needs and the specific educational needs of the participants (students).
Once the participants (students) successfully complete the UUI Cohort training, each would receive IC3 Certification, which is the course objective and goal. Each of the five courses are college credit courses and would also prepare the participants for more advanced technical training should they choose to continue in a computer career. The college credits and the professional certification testing and test preparation gives the UUI participants (students) options to continue in this fast growing field. Afterall, we are in an information era, and I wholehearted applaud United Companies for again taking the lead in an invaluable investment of a future workforce for the Y/K delta.
This ties in with the efforts of the Lower Kuskokwim School District in preparing our youth to this era of knowledge-based economy by using the world-wide networks enabled by the computer internets.
These ten young men and women completed their training last Friday, the 25th. And I congratulate you, Anna Morgan, Dionne Dorris, Alexie Littlefish, Rachel Wise, Carlotta Evan, Max Joseph Jr., Reuban Paul, Frank Mute Jr., Byron Paul, and Ryan Samson. Your service to your people in your respective villages will be greatly beneficial and appreciated by UUI clients across the delta and there are many of us.
Again "KUDOS" to United Unicom, Inc., also known as United Companies Inc.
A moment in time
8-15-06
by Robert Nick
In a moment of pristine stillness, I gazed towards the west at Nelson Island, sitting atop a high hill on the east shore of Kagasak Lake and thought of those that were there before me.
The day was a beautiful calm afternoon with not a cloud in the sky and the waters of Baird Inlet and Kagasak Lake glittering as glass and nothing moved about them.
My wife and daughter were further down the hill amidst pebbles of blackberries, which they were picking on the sunny side of the slope. There we stood a little apart, merely living the stillness, with no thought of any other time than this. Occasionally the singing of the birds drove the stillness away as we picked berry after berry. Such is the land that our ancestors walked as they hunted and fished throughout time. And they revered the land, breeding areas of fur-bearing mammals in particular and places where they shelter.
The lakes and rivers where fresh water fish are at home were kept unpolluted by man. Although not book learned, our forefathers mastered the teachings of their forefathers and to this day these traditions have not changed. Our ancestors were fortunate and rich in the fact that they had all these God given foods and they had each other. And although a sod house, they had shelter, and above all, they had family/community unity.
This location at the mouth of the lower Akuluraq River is where the late Alvin Wassillie of Nunapitchuk, the late Fred and Alexie Pavilla Sr.'s, and the late Robert Nickolai and many other fall hunters had their fall camp. The sod house is gone now, but not the memory of stories told by these men who hunted mink, land otter and fox in the fall until snow covered the vast marshland near Baird Inlet.
One such story goes like this. One of hunters loved his morning sleep and would take considerable urging of the others to get up for an early breakfast, and early they were when you are a true hunter. One time when there were only two of them at camp, the other person gave up trying to wake him up, and when he got ready to leave, he covered the only window on the roof with a tarp. Covering the window brought total darkness to the sod house. Sometime in late afternoon, the man came back to camp and found his partner just having breakfast. Since the inside of the sod house was so dark, the sleeper thought that day had not come yet and slept all day. Story has it that this man did not say a single word about the window being covered and about sleeping all day as a result of it. I guess you could say...a good lesson.
Another story is about another hunter who had a habit of making his tobacco chew mixture as soon as he arrived home from a daylong trapline check. Apparently, the same trickster must have gotten tired of this, so one day he came home to camp (same camp) early and looked for this man's tobacco punk (araq) and slightly added baking flour to it. As the others came back from their trapline, he would tell them that the chew mixture maker would probably do exactly that when he arrives home, as he usually arrives last.
Sure enough, the man did exactly that and as the man started chewing his tobacco mixture, they all watched him as he chewed. His chewing slowed down and instead of black tobacco juice, it turned white and dough-like. The man caught on and spat out his tobacco. After that experience, the man started hiding his tobacco and punk and discontinued his late arrival chore. I guess punk and flour don't mix well for a tobacco high, "EH"!
Berries, all kinds,
berries everywhere
8-9-06
by Robert Nick
After ripening later than usual, salmon berries are everywhere. Even places where there was very little or none in the past, they are covered with the tasty fruits of nature. There were so many that my wife and sometimes my children went with me to the same berry patches over and over again.
As you read this, the berries are about 100% ripe in the tundra area west of Bethel. And it sure was good to see berry pickers along the Johnson River this past week. It certainly has been a bountiful harvest summer and it is not over yet as blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, and wild raspberries are growing everywhere on the tundra. And of course, the last to ripen in late August and early September, the red berries are showing up. They are still white in color, but will, by far, be very sweet tasty red berries then.
My wife and I have a patch where we have been picking these tasty berries for many years. In Yup'ik, we call these berries, "uingiaraat". A bowl of akutaq with these and salmon berries is a prized delicious snack with any meal.
I have spent so many days with nature these past three weeks that when my telephone callers finally get in touch with me, they tell me that every time they call, someone tells them he's berry picking as usual. Many a day, I am out there alone in the tundra, but certainly not lonely, as the birds are all around me singing their beautiful melodies. Of course, mosquitoes are everywhere, but thank goodness for "OFF", they are repelled. If not for "OFF", we probably would have daily blood draws, and some mosquitoes do carry a virus. Good thing, only female mosquitoes "bite" to suck blood from us.
I once took a trip with my "iluq" from Tuntutuliak, which included a stop in Caracas, Venezuela. Since the Cruise included this stop, we were required to take a special immunization shot to protect us from yellow fever, in case we get bit by a mosquito in that subtropical New World area. I did get the immunization shot but my "iluq" did not, so in our tour stop at the capitol of Venezuela, we were told that one of the pictures hanging on the wall, a beautiful young woman, was a young bride of one the President's of the country who died of yellow jaundice after being bit by a mosquito. So after that, my "iluq" had me do a 24 hour watch for mosquitoes. Every time we saw one, he'd say, "There's one!" and I'd end up hunting it.
There was a waiter who served our table named Vasily and every time we had our meal, my "iluq" would tell him to stand next to him and guard for mosquitoes and while we were eating he would post himself next to him whenever he was done serving us.
Sometimes when we'd see a mosquito, we would all be on the hunt, of course, laughing. Although seemingly humorous, this actually happened. Thanks to our diligent watch, my "iluq" did not get a single bite, "eh" and is happily home in Tuntutuliak. This trip certainly was a true R&R with actual humorous turn of events.
As our trip made many stops in the Caribbean Islands, search of our luggage was required as we left the Caribbean Cruise Liner at a Port in Canada. One of our friends, a lady from the area, also taking the same trip had much luggage, so she had my "iluq" include one of her bags with his own luggage. I was right behind my "iluq" at the Customs check line when they checked his luggage. Since he had this lady's bag with him, checking it brought some smiles to the Customs Inspector and myself and the lady, but not to my "iluq". He was looking at her with a killing look, and why not? Our friend's bag contained her most dainty, feminine under clothing. By then I was looking the other way, trying my very best to keep a straight face, as my "iluq" kept telling the Inspector that the bag is hers, pointing at her.
For the life of me I could not hold back anymore, so by the time we passed the checkpoint, we were all laughing so hard, we were almost crying.
Spring camping at Niugnilnguq (Pakpal as my kids call it)
6/27/06
by Robert Nick
As we have done for many years, my wife, our kids, son-in-law and grandkids spent a week at camp at the tributary of the middle Akuluraq River about sixty miles west of Nunapitchuk. This is where my wife's parents and family spent spring camp for many, many years hunting muskrats. Our families dried and sold the skins for much needed cash for summer subsistence fishing.
Of course we dried the skinned and gutted muskrats and ate them cooked. Very delicious with seal oil. Anyone eating it not knowing he/she was eating a rat would enjoy eating it as did one visitor from back east did. The story was...this man attending slaaviq at a friend's house was eating with everybody and actually asked for a second serving. While he was enjoying his meal, he told the host that the meat was good and wanted to know what he was eating. The host graciously told him that he was eating a rat and the poor guy stopped eating and asked where the bathroom was. And you probably can guess what happened. Had he not known what he was eating, he would have been well fed that day.
Although our family did not eat muskrat on this trip, we did have delicious land otter meat which we eat cooked (bone in) as some commercially sold meats are cooked. I myself have not caught land otter in years, but I have a lot of cousins and nephews which do and just before we left for camp, one of them gave us one which we enjoyed eating, along with my wife's brother and his family.
As we do in spring camp, we ate fresh off the land and water for all the days we were at camp. As we do every summer, we will be picking salmon berries there in July and early August. And will go back to pick black berries near Baird Inlet in late September, probably near the late Alvin Wassillie's camp.
I wrote about one such trip a few years ago when my wife and eldest daughter went there one dry summer. This was a memorable trip as we spent all afternoon inching our boat from the end of the tramway to the water at Long Lake. Imagine moving the boat inch by inch for 90 feet or so. It took us over four hours to get our boat to the water, but it was all part of camping fun. The fun part was when we were about halfway to the water (about 45 more feet to go), my wife asked whether we should go back and I asked, "How are we going to turn the boat around?" in the middle of a soft mud beach where just walking was a struggle. We all laughed and continued to lever the boat to the water.
There was plenty of water this spring, so it was easier to tram our boat to Long Lake. However, due to the late break-up of ice at Qayigyalek Lake, we had to circle about the northern half to get to Naavan slough. And at Long Lake, we had to drive around ice on the east side to get open water. Others that left for camp the day after we did had to camp overnight at the tramway, because there was too much ice on the east side of Long Lake. But by Wednesday, the Brink's, Alexie's, and four other Wassillie families were at camp.
This year, the pike spawned late, as the water was cold due to the late chill this spring. Normally, they spawned earlier, but a few of the pike still had not spawned by the 10th of June., the last day my wife cut fish to dry.
This spring, one of my grandsons, Kenyon "Kunuin", got called a Nukalpiaq by his five year old sister Danesya. One morning, my wife and "Danesya" went with me as I checked my net. While I was picking the many pike out of the net, out of the blue, "Danesya" said, "Kenyon is a good fishermen". So, six year old Kenyon is now a "Nukalpiaq".
The salmon
are back in abundance
6/21/06
by Robert Nick
Although many who have spent the wonderful days of our short summer season in fish camps along the banks of the Kuskokwim River and its tributaries no longer do so, some still spend their subsistence harvesting of salmon at fish camp.
Although my family no longer goes to fish camp, my memories of fish camp are always with me every summer. As a small boy, I grew up with almost all of my cousins and nephews at fish camp above Oscarville. All the Chris's, Park's, White's and Berlin's, Chases's, and Brinks were together every summer from June to August. And for a number of years, the Nicholai's (my aunt Sophie's family) from Napaskiak were with us.
If not for erosion of the bank of the river where the camp was located, some of us would probably spend our summers there. The main channel of the Kuskokwim was on the opposite side of the Island where the Actives', Nicholas', Slims', Andrews', and other families from Kasigluk had their fish camps. I remember an eddy right in front of the camp where they had their set nets, so all they had to do was get into their boats, push out to the net and pick fish out of it. The main eddy was on the other side of the channel where there would be quite a few sets nets for about a half a mile. And John "Datu" Samuelson was always the first to catch a King Salmon.
In those days, in these western Alaska lands where all the news came by word of mouth, men quickly became legends, they became larger then life. So, Datu "Cakayak" Samuelson was legend when it comes to the first King Salmon caught on the Kuskokwim.
During those days, there was an eddy just below Fowler Island, and that was where he caught his first King Salmon every spring. Now, Fowler Island is about 17 miles below Bethel, so according to his story to me, he would get up around 4:00 a.m. and go down to check his nets everyday. There were not too many river travelers those days, so every morning when I hear a boat passing fish camp about 5:00 a.m., I would simply know that it was "Cakayak". So, from about 10:00 on, I would check on every boat passing fish camp to see if it was "Cakayak" going home from Fowler Island. Some days he would pass slowly with quite a wake (leaving big waves), definitely loaded with King Salmon and I would run up to the tent and tell my mother that "Cakayak" is passing, and his boat is full of fish. Some days, us kids would shout that " Cakayak" is passing and his boat is really loaded with fish. Such was a legend of the Kuskokwim River and his wife Mary made the best Salmon strips that were sought after by their many extended families.
Such is the summer life on the Kuskokwim, year after year after year. With Salmon returning year after year to lay their eggs in the many tributaries of the Kuskokwim River which meanders from the Bering Sea to the Alaska Range. These pristine tributaries, the Kwethluk River, Kiseralek River, Tuluksak River (already polluted), Aniak River, George River, Holitna River, Tatlawiksik River, and the Takotna River may some day become polluted if mining of gold, copper and other precious metals is allowed along the mineral rich mountains along the Kuskokwim River. These tributaries are fresh water fed from the Mountains and have enhancing habitat for early growth of all the salmon species that spawn in them. These salmon grow to a certain age (perhaps 4 to 5 inches), and then migrate back to the ocean, then return again 5 to 6 years later to spawn and start the re-building cycle again.
This has gone on throughout time, some years seeing an abundant return and being a renewable resource, and can be so for a long, long time. This food source is probably the only lasting inheritance that we can leave our future generation, as our ancestors have done for us.
Throughout our world, indigenous peoples are provided food sources by our maker and this is good. But destruction of spawning habitat will not permit their continued existence.
As we eat the fresh delicious salmon, let us think of peoples throughout the world who are longing to eat fish that have been wiped out by mining pollution.
In closing, let us further think about the Sacramento River and Bay that can no longer sustain marine life, perhaps forever. And although mining ceased in the River in 1963, the toxicity of Acid Mine Drainage near the closed mine is 10,000 times more toxic than sulfuric Acid (battery acid).
Why change
after 150 years?
6/14/06
by Robert Nick
The need for change can only be summed up in one word, "Accountability". Who is accountable? It is all stakeholders...LKSD Board, Administration, Advisory School Boards, Teachers, Students, Parents/Guardians, communities and Tribal Councils. And if you may ask, "Accountable for what?" We are accountable to helping "ALL" children reach their potential K-12 education. And we do so by providing schooling in Academic, Vocational, Extra-curricular opportunities, non-academic courses, Cultural Activities/ Classes, Art, Music, Crafts and including healthy choices.
In LKSD, the process of raising the bar in the "Accountability" process started in 1996 with the alignment of curriculum to standards. It has been the single-most concerted effort by administration, staff and teachers in LKSD to keep up with state and federal educational reform mandates since the nineties to this day.
In addition to the State Performance Standards in math, reading and writing mandated by Alaska State Senate Bill 36 (1998), the High School Qualifying Exam Law (1999), State Benchmark Testing in grades 3, 6, 8 (2000), No Child Left Behind Law (2001), Terra Nova Testing in grades 4,5,7,9 (2001/02), Grade Level Expectations at state and district curriculum needing to be aligned with the GLE's (2004), the State Board of Education adopted Grade Level Expectations in Science (2005). Therefore, testing for Science GLE's will occur in 2007 for grades 4, 7, and 10.
So what did we do in LKSD? And schools throughout the State? It was apparent that a change in the traditional system must happen. Two approaches that have been researched extensively since 1959 and found successful have been (1) the Continuous Progress Model, and (2) Standards Based Education - with mastery learning.
The work of a number of educators and much research reviews established the validity of non-graded schools in terms of student academic achievement. Of particular interest was a school in Los Angeles where Madeline Hunter and her colleagues, after 20 years of examining and using educational research, implemented continuous progress, phases and mastery learning, where they worked with "At Risk" students. The efforts of both teachers and students led to accelerated growth for both.
The Continuous Progress Model acknowledges that students progress from the time they enter school until they graduate. They are challenged appropriately at their instructional level until they reach proficiency, better yet, mastery and can progress to a higher level.
Skilled teachers are necessary for continuous progress and the success of all students to occur. The burden is on the teacher and it is much harder than the textbook, "5th grade curriculum", traditional model. It requires understanding the needs of each student through assessment, placement, record-keeping and differentiating instructional strategies.
Being standards based, teachers use standards on a continuum to focus their instruction appropriate for the students in the non-graded environment. And all students can earn an "A" or a "B", "Advanced" or "Proficient" even though the time to do so may vary. And students are asked to meet the standards established at the national, state, and district level at the proficient level on both classroom, district and state assessments.
In LKSD, the Standards Based Education-Continuous Progress Model (SBE-CPM) started in 2000 and has had some changes since then with the implementation of the state of Alaska Performance Grade Level Expectation in 2004.
Since the School District began in 1976, students were graduating from High School based on seat time, but could not demonstrate proficiency in the content areas. And schools throughout LKSD did not have consistent requirements with any given content area at the elementary or secondary level for advancement. Although a variety of strategies, textbook series and curricular changes had been made based on recommendations and best practice, students continued to be moved from one grade level to the next with less than proficient skills, only to widen their achievement gap the following year.
And why not? Even a grade of "D" was passing. Retention was discouraged at all levels as research has pointed to low esteem and poor academic recovery success attributed to retention. And the so-called social promotions worsened the achievement deficit with students going from one grade level to the next with bigger learning skill and knowledge gaps.
It was at this time that LKSD Board, Administration and staff, Site Administrators, Teachers and Advisory School Board members took a serious look at a standards based Continuous Progress Model. Phases were already in place in the primary Yup'ik classes. These were non-graded classes where students were assessed based on their independent and instructional levels in math, reading, and writing and were advanced based on proficiency; not on age, not on time spent in class, but on demonstrated proficiency. The teachers in the schools using this program acknowledged its success and felt that instead of trying something new, LKSD should build on a model already in place, and develop levels called "Phases", modeled somewhat after the "Madeline Hunter Model" in Los Angeles talked about above.
In August of 2000, Advisory School Boards and Site Administrators signed a pledge to adopt a standard's based continuous progress model for math, reading, and writing. It was then that "Teachers" from throughout the Lower Kuskokwim School District determined the number of phases deemed appropriate for each of the three content areas; reading, writing and math.
Although CPM is somewhat different throughout the district, there are a number of characteristics that are the same and they are as follows: (1) The State of Alaska Performance Standard Grade Level Expectations that are aligned to the LKSD instructional indicators in reading, writing and math at all phase levels, entry to exit, (2) Students must meet the 80% (primary/elementary), 75% (secondary) level of proficiency on summative assessments at each phase in order to advance to the next phase, (3) Phases are based on students instructional levels. Assessments should be used to appropriately place students instructionally, (4) Older students should not be placed with students much younger than they are at the same phase, but should be accommodated at their instructional phase level with peers or age group, as closely as possible, (5) Class groupings are best kept narrow in terms of the number or range of phases, (6) The Comprehensive Instructional Model assists in the instruction of multi-phased groups. Guided groups allow for small flexible groups within the larger group, (7) Instructional indicators and PSGLEs provide the focus for course mapping, not the textbook, (8) Instructional indicators do not comprise a checklist for instruction, but provide the content to be included with an instructional phase.
There has been much debate since the beginning of LKSD's Standards Based Education - Continuous Progress Model, but I will say this after having been abreast of educational reform during the past four decades: It is a successfully proven model. And based on standards based assessments this year, the program is showing growth in achievement of students in LKSD.
As one who has looked at national percentiles based on both the California Test of Basic Skills and Iowa Test of Basic Skills, I like what assessments are showing and we have only completed our third year with SBE-CPM.
In closing I will add that all children learn, but not at the same rates. So, I implore our dedicated, committed teachers to buy into the program as you will grow in skills necessary for continuous progress and success of all of your students. After all, we the parents dropped our kids into your classrooms for you to teach. And I thank you very much for doing so. Piurci.
Why standards
based education?
6/6/06
by Robert Nick
What is the traditional method of instruction in schools across America? It is a graded classroom where children are assigned grade levels based on age. And this method of graded classrooms with textbook instruction, and a focus on content curriculum, instead of "students and standard performance based learning" certainly has not produced the quality of education needed in this rapidly changing world.
And this method, which was introduced and developed over 150 years ago in Eastern United States cities as a manageable way of grouping students, is becoming more and more difficult, particularly for the students who are struggling to keep up with the moving train, so to speak.
Students in the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) who began school at a lower level academically have always been asked to catch up with students who started at a higher level of achievement at a given age and just keep moving higher. These struggling students do make gains, at least a year's gain in a year's period of time, but could never catch up with other students who started at a higher level at the same time and at the same age.
The norm of achievement is always increasing, and students were never given an opportunity to catch up without having to run faster. And unless you are a gifted runner (learner), catching up is not optional for a majority of the students.
Based on poor performance of students over the years in the traditional classroom model, LKSD staff and teachers had to search for alternative ways of educating its students that would address individual needs and not continue a system of failure.
It was assumed 150 years ago that everyone could be grouped by age, for they would have the same readiness level, have the intensity and capability for acquiring new information and could progress at the same rate of speed over a 180 day school year.
In this type of graded environment, there have been two options for students who do not or cannot meet this criteria: 1) They either repeat the year again (grade), or 2) they are simply promoted to the next level of learning with gaps in their knowledge and skill base, with no opportunity to acquire them.
With new technology of today and the pressure of learning the new information, the gap simply got wider as the year(s) progress. And with this method and scenario, all students are presented the same material at the same time with the same objectives of instructional need, background knowledge or rate of learning capability. It is certainly a poor analogy to expect that all 10 yr. old girls and boys could learn 5th grade text and content curriculum at the same rate. The range of abilities: linguistic, cultural, emotional, experimental, intellectual among 10 year olds can vary tremendously.
We see this in our children as they grow and learn. Some of them make gains when taught with a "4th grade level book", others with a book designed to be used in 8th grade (as I did myself, because I repeated the 8th grade).
The students, who suffer the most when not offered the right fit, are the ones who are never presented material they can learn from with methods that are never effective, in situations in which they never experience growth.
Therefore, in an attempt to address such issues, educators have looked at a variety of models over the years in an attempt to address student needs, and avoid what some call the factory model of education.
The advantages of this traditional model, which we now call the Carnegie Model, include the fact that parents easily understand it. And why not? It has not been changed much in 150 years. And teachers can focus on textbooks for instruction, and the publishing industry can produce age-grade textbook series making it easier for "teachers to manage their work". In this way (traditional), the curriculum and the textbook can be the focus of "instruction", instead of the individual needs of the students in the classroom.
We all know that textbooks don't learn, and they don't complain. With the textbook as the foundation in the Carnegie Model, the burden of learning is on the child, not the teacher, or the educational institution.
Therefore, it is clear from what has happened that schools have not been successful with the graded model, especially in schools, and districts with struggling learners, schools with English language learners (LEP), students from lower socioeconomic levels, special education, and ethnic minorities.
With the standards based education and requirements of the Quality Schools Initiative, the Lower Kuskokwim School District, teachers, and administrators, had to look at new ways of educating students based on the challenges facing the schools. Because of the many mandates of the No Child Left Behind law and Senate Bill 31, rigorous standards have become the norm within the public schools in the State of Alaska.
All students are now tested annually to see if they meet the Performance Standards Grade Level Expectations. Students "must" pass the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam as well as earn 21 high school credits to earn a high school diploma from the State of Alaska.
Additionally, schools receiving federal funds (Title I) must meet Adequate Yearly Progress in 31 disaggregated categories. As a result of these increased academic requirements, conducting education in the same way we have always done for the past "150 years" has become unrealistic for LKSD and other rural districts in Alaska.
Next week, New Approaches and The Continuous Progress Model in LKSD.
Alaska Native
suicides in spotlight again
5/23/06
by Robert Nick
As I read the Sunday edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on May 21st, a headline in the national news section captured my attention. The headline read, “High native suicide rate addressed”.
The article was about the testimony of several witnesses who testified before the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs on Wednesday, May 17th. It was stated by a prominent Alaska native leader that causes for native American suicides are deeply embedded in the community. And I could not agree more as the fundamental tools for preventing suicide are in the community also, as our forefathers raised and nurtured their offspring to adulthood through life-learned traditions, through healthy families and communities.
Therefore, Alaska natives must go back and study and learn the lessons of our parents and elders who are still with us today. They are watching us heavy in heart as their beloved children and cherished grandchildren endure daily mental distress, simply and all because of lack of family and community support.
A few of Alaska’s new approaches to suicide prevention, such as the local Behavioral Health educators must have state and federal support. And community councils must be granted funding to employ local elder experts on reviving traditional knowledge in order to reduce Alaska’s suicide rate. And village leaders need to take ownership of the problems and attempt to change harmful attitudes of our young people. Experts in the field of suicide issues have found through much study that the problem is entwined with family violence, alcohol and drug use, and cultural disconnection.
For too long, we have surveyed the Alaska native youths using anonymous surveys, asking about personal risky behaviors and then do nothing. Are we surveying them so that we can downgrade them? Or are we really trying to help them?
In closing, I would like to commend the affiliated tribes of Tuluksak, Akiachak, and Akiak for working to revive our traditions and culture to their young people in school and out of school. I feel privileged to have been asked to review what the three villages have been doing for the past 5 years. Their local programs are teaching their young parents about parenting and other life skills and the need to be whole families as they raise their wonderful children.
They are also addressing the needs of special needs children in their communities. And they also address the needs of their tribal members using technical elder knowledge of their elders and other parents in support groups.
I applaud Yupiit School District and other collaborative agencies for working with the three tribes toward healthy families and healthy communities.
The future of
No Child Left Behind Law
5/16/06
by Robert Nick
The most eccentric educational reform effort (NCLB) of the century will be considered for re-authorization by the Congress of the United States next year.
Termed by U.S. President George W. Bush as the Cornerstone of his Administration, the No Child Left Behind Law passed by bipartisan coalition four years ago, may see some division as liberals in Congress are accusing the President of underfunding public education, while conservatives are saying he is already spending too much in domestic spending. Some say that it’s more likely the law won’t be reauthorized by the election of 2008.
According to a report by the Center On Education Policy in Washington, almost three fourths of the nation’s school districts are narrowing their curricula because of the No Child Left Behind Law. Of almost three hundred school districts surveyed, seventy one percent show reduced educational time in at least one subject to make more time for reading and math, the subjects tested under NCLB. There is an intense national debate whether this is a good development for education.
The study says that some districts see this extra time for reading and math as necessary to help low-achieving students catch up. Other districts point to negative effects, such as shortchanging students from learning important subjects, suppressing creativity in teaching and learning, and reducing activities that might keep children in school.
This nationwide study, “From the Capital to the Classroom: Year Four of the No Child Left Behind Act,” is one of three recent reports on NCLB, which will be considered for reauthorization by Congress next year. The most punitive action for school districts that fail to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for at least five years is they become subject to state takeover.
Therefore, the state of Maryland recently announced that it plans to take control of four chronically low-performing Baltimore high schools. The president of the Center for Educational Policy has stated that Maryland’s moves will be closely watched by other states, especially as NCLB moves closer to reauthorization, as the buck stops with the states now.
In the meantime, the law could be significantly changed, and some think it will be weakened by Congress. If so, the law could be seriously weakened. Changes could be made to the law’s teacher-quality provisions or to its consequences for districts not making AYP.
NCLB’s requirement that virtually all students achieve academic proficiency by 2014 (8 years from now) imposes an unrealistic kind of premise to build public policy around. However, proponents are reluctant to move away from that goal for fear of diluting the law’s impact.
The third report, by the Campaign for Educational Equity, calls for more funding and a government study of how much it would cost for all students to reach academic proficiency. This group calls for adequate funding for NCLB and is based on knowledge gained through adequacy litigation in 25 of the nation’s states.
The 200 page CEP study is the most comprehensive report to date on NCLB. Yet even after surveying 50 states, the report can’t say for sure whether the law is good or bad for the American education. On state standards, the CEP report says that employing legal definitions arising from the equity suits “a sound basic education” is one such standard that would go a long way toward improving education in states with low standards. And on instructional capacity, the report says the federal government must do more to help states improve their lowest-performing districts, not just label them as failing.
Overall, districts surveyed by CEP say test scores are up and the achievement gap is narrowing or staying the same. And the percentage of schools not making Adequate Yearly Progress now has leveled off to about 16 percent, in part as a result of changes in the federal regulations. Perhaps we may see more changes at reauthorization of NCLB that may incite our children to an “American Dream”. Piurci...
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