Until Further Notice
6-24-09
by Nick P. Andrew, Jr.
“Until further notice.” These three words are what the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF & G) uses when they are uncertain about salmon abundance mainly for the Lower Yukon commercial fishery. Today these three infamous words now determine the fate of our subsistence fishery. As you read this, our fish nets are out of the water and time is of the essence, a local woman stated it right. She implied to the visiting ADF & G Biologists and Fishery Managers, “We only have a certain time to harvest and dry our King Salmon before the rains come.” Why are we not harvesting King Salmon for subsistence? We along the Yukon River are casualties of an unjust system that protects big enterprise and a state government that is unsympathetic to the rural people of Alaska, primarily the Native community.
What are the contributing factors to the diminishing runs of King Salmon in particular? Many claim that predation in the Bering Sea is to blame, or others point out natural mortality rates. However, the High Seas Pollock Fisheries are a major contributing factor to the scenario. According to the AKMuckraker Blog article, Something’s Fishy on the Yukon, “The sad truth that the State of Alaska doesn’t want to deal with is the fact that there ARE more fish. Lots more fish. And what’s happening to tens of thousands of those king salmon that are swimming toward the Yukon River right now as you read this? They will be caught in the nets of factory trawlers fishing for pollock off the coast, they will be hauled out of the ocean, and they will die as WASTE. These precious king salmon that should be feeding Alaskans, sustaining a commercial fishery, and helping us fulfill our treaty obligation with Canada are thrown overboard dead.”
Wanton waste is a crime along the river and the entire state, yet bycatch is allowed and unregulated in the high seas of our precious subsistence and economic resource.
The AKMuckraker Blog article also stated, “Up until now, the limit for bycatch has been nonexistent. No cap. They can take as many salmon as they want. And because of that, during some seasons more than 120,000 fish were wasted. The great compromise this year? The state has decided they will cap the number at 60,000…two seasons from now in 2011.”
Conservation of salmon stocks have been placed at the expense of Lower Yukon River’s Commercial Salmon Fishery for two (2) seasons, and now we on the lower river will face more economic hardships and severe restrictions on our traditional and customary subsistence harvest of king salmon. The role of king salmon conservation should be technically and legally reversed. However, the State Board of Fish along with the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (NPFMC) have basically favored big business over subsistence which were not acknowledged or considered along with the lack of concern from the Palin Administration.
Governor Palin’s agenda does not favor rural subsistence rights, nor does she put into consideration how vital it is to our very existence. According to the News From Indian Country online article written by Lloyd Miller and Heather Kendall Miller: Sarah Palin’s hostile record on Tribal issues in Alaska, stated, “As soon as Palin was sworn in as Governor she set a firm course against Native subsistence rights. One of her very first decisions was to continue litigation that seeks to overturn every subsistence determination the federal government has ever made in Alaska.”
We along the Yukon River now understand why the Palin Administration has ignored us and did very little during the recent NPFMC hearings to protect the very way of life that sustains and nourishes us, mind you, we are still constituents of the state and citizens of this great nation. The article further adds, “In both hunting and fishing matters, Palin has challenged critical protections that Native people depend upon for their subsistence way of life, merely to enhance sport fishing and hunting opportunities. She has tolerated leadership on her state regulatory boards that is openly hostile to Native people, including those who have gone so far as to suggest, when chairing a public hearing, that all Native people are drunks. Palin’s lawsuits are more insensitive; they are a direct attack on Alaska Native People.”
Thus, we the Native people along the entire Yukon River face an uncertain future; our subsistence way of life is now in serious jeopardy. A family member stated, “There is absolutely no justice in this management strategy! Without salmon, a major part of our culture and way of life dies just like that of the Plains Indians with their buffalo. The whiteman, for commercial purposes, conducted a wide scale harvest of buffalo for their hides and wasted the meat while the Plains Indians starved. Sounds familiar?...When big money is involved, the American Indian/Alaska Natives are always last on any consideration and get severely restricted!”
We also learned of the consequences for subsistence fishing during “Closures”, a visiting Wildlife Enforcement State Trooper who accompanied the ADG&G delegation mentioned ticketing violators, a court appearance, and confiscation for any catches of salmon. Other offenses will be harsher should a person(s) repeat an offense. We will eventually become “Outlaws”, or the ugly stigma of “Poachers” just to feed our families. God forbid that a reward system be instated as an incentive during these times of hardships where a few Native(s) will and shall turn in neighbors/friends/relatives for fast-cash.
We do not need an urbanized conclusion that we should harvest other species of fish to compensate for our sacrifices. Urbanites are outsiders looking in; they have no clue of our daily lives and struggles. Nothing compares to king salmon, dried, salted, or frozen for later consumption especially during the long cold winters. People only harvest a small fraction of king salmon runs and none goes to waste. People who harvest more than what is needed share the surplus with other family members or others in need. The proof is in the pudding. Rural Native people eat more fish than large game animals. According to The Federal Subsistence Management Program, “The state’s rural residents harvest about 22,000 tons of wild game foods each year-on average 375 pounds per person. Fish makes up about 60 percent of this harvest. Nowhere else in the United States is there such a heavy reliance upon wild foods.”
We cannot wait until those charged with regulating and conserving the king salmon make up their minds when to open the next subsistence period(s). Many families including the elderly still have empty smokehouses and it is already mid-June. Last week Sunday June 14, 2009 felt like a Commercial King Salmon 18-hour opener. It was saddening to see boats lined up along accustomed fishing areas waiting until 8 PM. to set their subsistence nets. During the closure at 2 PM Monday on June 15, patrolling airplanes appeared in force looking and searching for violators to cite. What is happening echoes the scenario of the Puyallup Tribe in Washington State during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Billy Frank and other members of his tribe where denied their aboriginal rights to harvest salmon in their accustomed fishing grounds.
It is only a matter of time until we unite and defy the system that continually treats us as second-class citizens and involve the mass media and make a stance just as the Washington State Indian tribes set in motion in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. These bold people practiced civil disobedience in form of “fish-ins” many were arrested, beaten, degraded, threatened, and despite the circumstances stood up for their subsistence rights and won with the noted Boldt Decision.
HistoryLink.org article by Walt Crowley and David Wilma quoted, “On February 12, 1974, Federal Judge George Boldt (1903-1984) issues an historic ruling which assured what rightfully belonged to them. “Judge Boldt finally held that the government’s promise to secure the fisheries for the tribes was central to the treaty – making process and that had an original right to the fish, which they extended to white settlers. It was not up to the state to tell the tribes how to manage something that had always belonged to them. Judge Boldt ordered the state to take action to limit fishing by non-Indians.”
An Alaska inter-tribal class-action lawsuit must be considered by all tribes affected from the mouth of the Yukon River to the Canadian Border’s First Nations Tribes to address the high seas fisheries and the State of Alaska’s lack of concern for the on-going Chinook salmon dilemma. Silence is not golden. Our subsistence rights must at all costs never be compromised. Until further notice…
Nick P. Andrew, Jr. is an Ohogamiut Traditional Council Tribal Member and Subsistence Fisherman and Hunter from Marshall, Alaska.
Context, Respect are Vital to Fishery Management
by Denby S. Lloyd
Recently I had the privilege to visit several villages on the lower Yukon River. I went with John Moller of Governor Palin’s staff and knowledgeable employees from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, to discuss this summer’s Chinook salmon management and recent action by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to curb bycatch of Chinook by the pollock trawl fleets in the Bering Sea.
We knew we were repeating distressing news. As far as we can project, the commercial fishery for Chinook will not open in the Yukon River, yet again, this year. I also knew that many Alaskans feel that the North Pacific Council should have taken stronger action to control bycatch. What I wasn’t prepared for, but should have been, was the graciousness and respect granted us by our hosts in Holy Cross, Anvik, Hooper Bay, Scammon Bay, Mountain Village and Emmonak.
Yukon River Chinook runs have been poor the last two years and spawning escapement for the up-river, Canadian-bound stocks failed to meet goals. Prospects for 2009 are similar. The management strategy will reduce harvest on those stocks, and shift some subsistence effort to healthier Alaskan-spawning stocks. This strategy had been developed over the course of several months, with broad input from people up and down the river.
It’s important to remember that 60-80% of the “first pulse” of Chinook into the river spawn in Canadian waters. Protecting these fish helps sustain runs for future harvest by Alaskans, and Canadians, all along the river. Also, biologists monitor the run as it moves upstream, take inseason action based upon the number of fish actually returning, and work with local fishermen to relax restrictions if the run exceeds expectations. We see the sacrifices being made and the urgency of providing as much fishing opportunity as possible. Lastly, ADF&G received funding this year, requested by Governor Palin and authorized by the legislature, to provide additional information for better management of Yukon River fisheries.
Inriver actions are being taken under state authority within state waters, something well understood. However, the bycatch issue needed to be explained in the context of a more complex, federal management regime, subject to substantially different laws and procedures. But we relayed that the six Alaska representatives on the Council led an unprecedented effort over the past couple years to exert real control over the bycatch of Chinook salmon in the pollock trawl fishery.
Admittedly these limits are higher than advocated by many rural Alaskans. But, combined with potential incentives that would further penalize bad performance by the pollock fleet and reward good performance, the Council established a system to limit bycatch at all levels of Chinook abundance.
We heard concerns about other potential impacts to Chinook salmon: jet boats, mining, and timber harvests on spawning grounds; lack of adequate fisheries enforcement; climate change; effects of management actions and shifting fishing effort to later in the season. We all agreed we need a better understanding of Chinook salmon declines.
In Emmonak one leader told us that, while he came to the meeting thinking we were fighting against them, he now understood we were fighting for them. Another leader stood to shake hands with me in a sincere and symbolic gesture of mutual concern and respect. I was humbled by both.
I’m not foolish enough to think these meetings have overcome the anxiety, apprehension, and even distrust that families along the Yukon River may still feel. I do, however, take exception to coverage by the Anchorage Daily News. In their apparent pursuit of speed over substance, the newspaper didn’t wait for Mr. Moller or me to get back into communication, did not even wait for the meetings to be completed. They seemed interested in neither context nor respect.
Yukon River Chinook are a resource requiring our best efforts to sustain and utilize. We hope these inriver restrictions will be short-lived. But the long-term control of Chinook bycatch has just begun. Offshore fisheries must account for the cost of their actions.
Denby Lloyd is commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
Ordinance would make City’s water services and billing more fair
6-17-09
by Eric Middlebrook
Ordinance 09-13, written by Council Member Williams and myself, is an ordinance to make the city’s water and sewer billing more fair to customers. We are proposing some small common sense changes that will hopefully reduce some of the frustrations for citizens and reduce friction between citizens and city staff.
Currently the ordinance requires the city to mail the bills by the 5th and payment to be made by the 20th. This is interpreted as the payment must be received in the city office by the 20th. So for example, a payment mailed on the 17th but not picked up by the city staff until the 21st, is considered delinquent. Considering that it can take a few days for a bill to arrive in the mail this really gives an honest 10 or 11 days for us to pay our bills. I can’t think of any business or agency that has a collection policy as strict as the city’s. All private businesses are required to wait 30 before assessing any penalty or interest. Neither the local phone company nor the power company has such strict billing policies.
The proposed ordinance also addresses temporary suspensions of service. The current ordinance allows for one suspension per year at no cost, for customers whose bills are current. Additional suspensions of service are at a $50 charge. Common sense says that we will save wear and tear on the trucks and employee’s time by not delivering water and pumping out sewer tanks when it is not necessary. Additionally, it will save the customer money and they won’t be paying for unnecessary services.
These are the changes that we are proposing with Ordinance 09-13:
•Payments will be due by the 25th of the month or 20 days after the bill has been mailed, whichever is later
•If the 25th falls on a weekend or holiday, payment is due by the close of business on the next regular business day (like the IRS)
•Payments postmarked by the due date will be considered timely
•A customer, in good standing, will be allowed to suspend their service at no charge up to four (4) times per year.
•Additional disconnections to customers in good standing will be allowed at a nominal cost of $25 each.
These are simple changes that would make our billing system more user friendly to the customers.
This ordinance was up for introduction at the June 9th council meeting but was pulled from the consent agenda due to concerns of one or more council members. It will now be on the agenda for introduction at the June 23rd meeting. Input from citizens at “People to be Heard” does have an impact on council and is always appreciated. Public support of this ordinance can help ensure its passage.
Eric Middlebrook is the Vice Mayor of the City of Bethel.
Commissioner visits Emmonak
6-5-09
by Nick Tucker, Sr.
An open letter to the Commission of the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Denby Lloyd.
Commissioner: I want to thank you and your staff for coming here. The community meeting was productive. We can move forward from here. One thing that stands out from our meeting with you is that our community gave you the opportunity to speak out first and we expressed ourselves and asked questions when you got done. It was necessary for us to have had a clearer understanding of your position, your responsibilities, and how and why you handled yourself the way you did during the North Pacific Fishery Management Council last April. We thank you. We all recognize that this is only the first step regarding the salmon bycatch issue and it is new both to the Council and to us.
With regard to our Chinook salmon: it has only one way to go and that is up and the bycatch cap has to go down; and there is only one situation that our Chinook salmon is in: danger! During the meeting, I expressed that I don’t care if the Pollock industry collapses. I also expressed that when we testify before anyone that we do not make light of our words, hearts and spirits. We’ve got no choice. If it weren’t for the current chronic state of our Chinook salmon, we would have possibly had other options or alternatives - we don’t.
And, please keep in mind my good words toward your Lower Yukon Area Biologists. We sure hope the forecasts are wrong; that we will be able to commercial fish if Chinook escapements and subsistence needs are expected to be met. I’ve never lost hope in the most dire of times.
I am honored that you came to our community with respect and I couldn’t be more proud of my own community and neighboring villages who bestowed the same respect to you. We were able to communicate. Let’s move on from here. There is much work to do.
Nick Tucker, Sr. is a resident of Emmonak, AK.
A Parent’s Choice
5-19-09
by Jill Hoffman
I had to make the same choice that many parents have to make when they live in Bethel. Mike and I had to decide which school to place our two boys once they reached kindergarten age. We had to choose between ME, an all English school or Ayaprun Elitnaurvik, a total Yup’ik Immersion School.
I am one-half Yup’ik and a teacher of 14 years. I was born and raised in Bethel and attended all of the Bethel schools and graduated in 1985. I received my teaching degree from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in 1992. I have taught at Kilbuck and presently teach at ME School. My mother, Evelyn Pete Elliott is full-Yup’ik of Bethel. My father, Don “Sompy” Elliott is originally from Arizona, but has spent most of his life here in Bethel.
In the summer 1990, I married my husband, and five years later we had a son. In the fall of 2000, my husband and I discussed and placed our eldest son at ME School. We made that decision because we were both concerned that Ayaprun Elitnaurvik might slow down his progress in English and confuse him when trying to learn how to read and write. As a parent, I placed a higher value on the English language because I wanted him to do well in school. I did not want him to “get behind” by learning another language. We were also worried about not being able to help him with his homework because neither one of us spoke the Yup’ik language and that was another concern. I was also concerned because the school was a charter school and had not been open long enough to see the long term test results of its effectiveness.
Two years later in 2002, we had to make the difficult choice again with our second and youngest son for school and chose to place him at Ayaprun Elitnaurvik instead of ME School. My husband and I decided to try it out and discussed how great it would be for our son to learn to speak the Yup’ik language and learn more about our rich Yup’ik culture. We also did some research and learned about the cognitive benefits that coincide with learning a second language. There is lots of research that has been done in regards to the benefits of bilingualism and this is critical information that needs to be publicized. I think that many parents still believe that bilingualism may actually harm their child in becoming a proficient English speaker instead of viewing it as a strength that it really is.
I believe that many families have assimilated to the Westernized culture without realizing it and have shifted away from their own native language and culture. This trend may have a devastating impact on the future of our Yup’ik language if parents are not promoting or teaching their Native language at home or promoting it’s use in the schools. Each year more languages are dying out around the world. Even though our region has the highest number of Native speakers, the number of speakers are declining each year.
I went through a process of change, growth, and identity when deciding to place our youngest child at Ayaprun, and it involved a lot of soul searching to overcome the Westernized perspective that often overlooks our Native ways of knowing. I decided to place a higher value on raising my child as a fluent Yup’ik speaker who knows who he is and where he comes from with a strong identity that is reinforced at home and in the Ayaprun Elitnaurvik.
My husband and I believe that our choice of school and our son learning the Yup’ik language was more valuable and meaningful to us and our child than any test score that so many parents and teachers are so concerned about since the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act came into effect. As some researchers have said, we would rather “Raise a child, not a test score” because that is what we believe is most important in building his character and identity during his formative years.
I love how the school has become an extension of what we believe in as parents and what we want reinforced from the Yup’ik perspective. We are so proud that he is bilingual and can speak, read, and write in Yup’ik. Singing and drumming are now a part of who he is because of his weekly Yuraq class. We are so proud of him because he is continuing our cultural traditions. He has been given a wonderful educational experience that we are so grateful for.
Our son will be graduating from Ayaprun Elitnaurvik this year since he is in the sixth grade. We are feeling a sense of joy, but also some concern for his future in speaking the language. It is unfortunate that there is not an academic Yup’ik language class that he can take when he transfers to junior high so that language attrition will not occur. More effort is needed to promote the use of our Yup’ik language in our schools and in the home. I am all about students learning a foreign language, but not at the cost of losing our own.
I want to thank all the hard working and committed teachers at Ayaprun Elitnaurvik who have taught my child the past seven years. They have all the bragging rights to be the school with the most certified Yup’ik teachers in the state! It is such a gift to have them all in one great school with the same philosophy and belief of passing on the language and traditions. They have spent countless hours of work to create culturally relevant materials that are geared towards building the whole Yup’ik child. They translated most of the assignments in English so Mike and I could help with his homework.
I would also like to thank the administrator Agatha John-Shields, the APC board, and finally the Lower Kuskokwim School District administration, which continue to support the Ayaprun Elitnaurvik charter school in the promotion of our rich Yup’ik language and culture. You have given my son the best gift that neither Mike nor I could give by giving him both a strong Yup’ik voice and spirit that will carry on with him forever.
My husband and I chose Ayaprun Elitnaurvik because this school was able to give our son something that we could not… the power of being able to speak the Yup’ik language. There is nothing more beautiful than that and our only regret is that we didn’t place our first son in the program so that they could converse with each other in Yup’ik. If you are reading this, please promote our Yup’ik language in your home and at school. We are grateful for the opportunity to have a choice between the two schools and are pleased with the choice that we made for our son. Quyana.
Jill Hoffman is a resident of Bethel, AK.
The person that I consider my role model
5-14-09
by Gzime Saliu
All over the world, everyone has someone they consider a role model. In my life, the one that has filled my heart with significance is my lovely mom! She has done a lot of meaningful things for me. My mom, Ajshe, is the most admirable person in the world. She is the key to all of my successes in life. I feel very fortunate to have my delightful mom as my role model.
First, my mom, Ajshe, has done many grateful things for me during my life. She has been both my mom and my father because of the terrible situation that we dealt with in my country, Macedonia. My father had to come to the United States to work, so we could have money for food and shelter. Mom sacrificed her own personal life to educate us. I owe everything that I have to her. Imagine giving up your own private life and staying alone with three children in a poor situation. It’s not an easy thing to do. Moreover, my mom always tried her best to teach us so we would become good and respected people. Now that I have my own children, not only do I admire them, but I also understand my mother’s sacrifice was not meaningless. I begin my day thanking God for giving me a heart, and knowledge and words to educate my children as my mom still does for us.
Second, I consider my mom the most inspiring person in the world. For example, when I was little, she always advised me to be an optimistic person. I still remember her words: “Gzime, smiling is the only thing that would brighten your life.” As we all know, life has a lot of obstacles, but I try to be happy and smile. I understand that life is a labyrinth and we are the ones that should find the way out. My mom also never yelled at us but educated us with good, soft words. She has done her best to show us the right path in our lives.
Third, my mom is the key to my success. What I have accomplished today is due to her support. If my mom did not stay with us when my father left for the United States, I would not have become the person I am today. Every day we see children that grow up without their parents’ support, that have difficult time making the right choices. Her kindness and her excellent character have made me a happy and responsible person. She has also supported me in all my decisions and I am very thankful to her. Her words have made me a confident and trustworthy person in reality.
Today my mom suffers from the terrible disease of diabetes, and I try my best to help her to face this illness. She knows that she has faced a very difficult journey in her life, but with her strong will she is fighting this disease. My sister, my brother, and I are always there for her because we know that she is the key to our successes. We have devoted our lives to her.
In conclusion, the support of an outstanding parent has a positive impact in the life of every child. In my case, my mom, Ajshe, is not only the key to my successes, but during her life she has done a lot of significant things for me. I consider her the most faithful person in the world. I have no more words to describe how much I respect, love, and value my mom, Ajshe, because she truly deserves all of these.
Gzime Saliu is a resident of Bethel, AK.
An adventure I didn’t want to have
4-29-09
by Susan Taylor
Late Saturday night of January 17 - K300 and Martin Luther King holiday weekend, my car was stolen in front of AC Quick Stop in Housing. I just stopped there briefly to grab some pop and a magazine, leaving the car running because it was cold out. I called the police from the store.
Then I walked to my house up the road and called the radio station and K300 headquarters to inform them, also giving them a description of the car. This was the first of several nights of lack of sleep and worry, followed by the first of several days of anger, frustration and depression over this.
Since the car was low on gas, the next morning I called the gas stations I knew that were open Sunday to inform them and described my car. I also called Kusko Cab to ask them to be on the look out for my car. It was daylight now and my car has distinct body shop repair and a bumper sticker.
At the end of the day no one reported seeing my car. The next day, Monday and a state holiday, I offered to ride around with the police but they were very busy. I called people I knew in the various remote subdivisions and had it announced on Monday night Bingo. I called some near by villages also.
Tuesday morning and back to work, one of the Kusko Cab drivers came to my job to let me know where he saw my car. I let the police know right away. I checked back later with them and the dispatcher said they determined it was not my car. At noon the cab driver showed me the car.
It was my car! And it was parked right behind a house. It was clearly not just left on some road or ditch from a joyride situation. Also there was a thin layer of snow on it; it snowed the day before. This was a clear indicator of it having sit there a while behind this person’s home.
It was right next to and parked right behind this house that was barely a block from the police station. What were they doing with my car? When I see a ditched or deserted vehicle or sno-go out on the tundra or anywhere near my home, I call the police. Why didn’t these people do the same?
It was not a matter of no one at their house during the three day weekend either, as there was plenty of foot prints in the snow around their steps. The tail end of the car showed the license plate number, the bumper sticker and the body work patch, all the identifiers of it that the police had.
I went straight to the police and said that was my car and asked them, “Why are you saying it is not my car?” I did not get a clear answer on that. “Too dark out,” was one of their statements, yet the cab driver saw it just driving around doing his job and the morning was only getting lighter.
Lunch break was ending so I told the police to hang on to it for proper investigation and that I already called Ed’s Auto in case it needed work. The police told me they were unable to get the key to the vehicle, which is another indicator that this was a vehicle stolen with intent for future use.
I was very happy to have the car but from the time my car was gone, I wanted to press charges and still do. This was clearly blatant car theft. Joyriding is car theft too, but this was clearly a workable and provable case with evidence. I wanted to press charges and my job requires that anyway.
My initial contact with the dispatcher on Saturday was one where they asked if I would press charges and said that sometimes people change their mind. I told them from the start I would press charges and was just as strong on the decision four days later even though I was very happy to have my car.
They passed the ‘unsolved’ case over to an officer not due back to work till Friday, four more days. Why do that? This risks making the case weaker. Fortunately the officer they picked is from here and worked here for a while. And there seems to be plenty of evidence for the case.
It shouldn’t all fall on the police’s shoulders. Too much of this ‘live and let live’ and ‘mind your own business’ attitude from society has created a culture that allows crime. The house and neighborhood that harbored my stolen car all that time it was missing, and being advertised, are connected to this crime or at least knowing who committed this crime.
The following Saturday, or actually 2am Sunday morning, someone tried to break into my house. I shined a flashlight on his face and told him to leave. Twice I told him to get lost, but he didn’t listen and still kept trying to break my door down. I called the police and also pressed charges.
I know his initials and he’s not related to the car theft, but nothing ever came of this case; the court never received the police report. He had to go down a narrow steep angled driveway with snow piled up on both sides and walk around my car to get to my house, and then wouldn’t leave.
I know for a fact the police filed the arrest report; I saw the actual report and record of arraignment. But when I called the court the day before his appointment they had no such record or anything on him. And according to the jail, he was only a Protective Custody case, released the next day.
Most crimes happen in people’s homes, which is a sad enough fact in itself because that means children are witnessing that and parents being arrested. But now crimes are overflowing out to others like you and me and other law biding citizens. Our own personal safety is jeopardized.
We all have an opportunity through both local newspapers, radio call in shows, city council meetings, etc. to do something. We are the solution. We can tell those committing crimes that their behavior is unacceptable. Criminals need to know we do not approve of their behavior.
I am not talking about being above the law. We need law enforcement but they need our sincere community support if we expect them to be effective. Later on in the evening following the trespass incident a women came over looking for where the man who broke into my home misplaced his lost coat.
She apologized for his behavior and said he was stressed out. She is an example of enabling another’s drinking. This means following behind a person to clean up their mess, make excuses and apologies for them etc… is actually something the abuser takes advantage of.
It is a metaphor for the bigger picture of how a society enables criminals. As long as people are afraid to confront them; we are actually allowing crime. You can confront a person without judging them; you simply do it because you care. The only choice we have is to be part of the problem or part of the solution.
Which one are you? Solution or problem… can’t be neither; statistics are too compelling… crimes are in your face… too much to ignore or excuse. For my own safety I might have to wait for better timing and in this sue happy world I need to be politically correct, but I can still confront them.
That’s what I intend to do since nothing seemed to have come out of the legal formalities. Court and Police will be more effective if we all step up. It is a waste of time to just blame others or accuse them of not doing their job. We all should look out for and care about each other.
I hope others frustrated with current crimes also speak up. Bethel isn’t the only community caught up in this. We can all do something about it. I now notice a nice looking van and a sno go next to that house that harbored my lost car. Are they theirs or are they stolen too?
To this day, even though it was more than several months ago, the police haven’t confronted them to complete their investigation. I wrote this letter because doing nothing allows this to continue. Auto theft is a crime and so far they got by with it.
I have nothing against AC Quick Stop, where my car was stolen. In fact, it is a clean and friendly environment and worth the occasional checking out for bargains. But last month when I went in there someone dumped a very small kitten under my car.
It just happened because the cat was still warm and not yet shivering. Kitty found a good home in a few days, but it is just wrong to do something like that when we have a local pound and also a local store that will rescue and help find homes for cats.
The intent of this letter is to address crime and simply keeping in mind and teaching the next generation to respect themselves, others and property would greatly reduce the crime rate. We can’t dump all that responsibility on schools or on law enforcement.
If we know of something not right, it is so much more effective to take it up with them, or close family member if you can’t or don’t feel safe to reach them. Offer to help. Show concern. Don’t judge. Listen. Be available. We are all in this together. Thank you.
Susan Taylor is a resident of Bethel, AK.
Testifying before the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council
4-22-09
by Sam Jackson
I recently attended the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (Council) meeting that was held in Anchorage from April 1-7, 2009. I went there to observe the process and testify on the issue of Chinook (king) salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery.
I learned the process while waiting for my turn to testify along with over 200 other individuals signed up to testify before the Council. Listening to the testimony of individuals representing various entities, I was very surprised by the testimony given by the CDQ group called Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF). CVRF paid for over 100 people to testify generally that CVRF has provided a lot for their villages by creating jobs, sending students to various schools, scholarships, etc. It is true that the CDQ fisheries have provided significant opportunities and I applaud CVRF for pursuing those opportunities for Western Alaskans.
However, I don’t agree that there are enough Chinook going up the rivers to spawn. I have fished the rivers in my area since childhood, including the Kiseralik River which confluences the Kuskokwim approximately 5 miles downriver from Akiak. I have witnessed firsthand the declining Chinook numbers returning to the Kuskokwim River every year. I also heard testimony that other rivers weren’t seeing sufficient returns of Chinook. Particularly heartbreaking testimony from individuals from the community of Candle on the Upper Yukon where the whole Village caught only one Chinook last year, but in the spirit of sharing that Alaska Natives know so well, they split it among every household.
In the testimony and letters to the Council the tribes and villages in Western Alaska and along the Yukon all recommended a lower hard cap of around 30,000, and that the cap should go down further over time as the pollock fishermen learn to fish better with less bycatch.
I hope the Natives that testified for a high cap really knew what they were saying, because to me it sounded like they wanted to dry and subsist on pollock instead of Chinook. What has happened to the cohesiveness of Yup’ik Peoples in our villages? Have we strayed too far away from the traditional values of our ancestors?
I would like to appeal to the residents and the Board of CVRF to reconsider their position and request the Secretary of Commerce to reject the NPFMC’s action on Chinook bycatch in the pollock industry. The address to send comments is: Honorable Gary Locke, Secretary; US Department of Commerce; 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW; Washington, DC 20230.
Senator Mark Begich, US Senate; 825C Hart Senate Office Bldg; Washington DC 20510. Senator Begich sits on the Senate Commerce Committee.
What the Council did: Due to the high number of salmon bycatch in recent years, a hard cap of 68,000 Chinook was proposed and considered which was later reduced to a hard cap of 60,000, and a performance cap of 47,591.What this means is The Council set up a two-tiered system which is dependent on whether the pollock fishery has an incentive plan in place or not.
Under Scenario 1: If they do NOT have an approved incentive plan in place the hard cap is 47,591.
Under Scenario 2: If they DO have an approved incentive plan in place the hard cap is 60,000. However, bycatch can only go above 47,591 in 2 out of every 7 years. If it goes above 47,591 for a third year the hard cap automatically drops to 47,591. If there is an incentive plan in place and some boats chose not to participate in the plan, they operate under their portion of a hard cap of 28,000.
The incentive plans are supposed to operate so that they reduce bycatch in all conditions of abundance, but there is no guarantee that this is true.
There is a full description of the action in the Council’s newsletter as well. You can view it at: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc/newsletters/NEWS409.pdf.
Sam Jackson is a resident of Akiak, AK.
Cyberbullying and crank calls need to stop
4-14-09
by Elaine C. Andrew
Bullying is nothing new in the villages but a new tool of aggravation arrived recently in the form of the cell phone! There have been new waves of complaints on the VHF of kids making crank phone calls to houses, calling and hanging up.
We haven’t heard much of that particular complaint since the advent of caller-I.D. Phone calls made from cell phones to land-lines apparently show up as “unknown caller” just like long-distance calls to the villages do. I don’t know of a solution to that one yet, but I would like to share with parents of teenagers something I learned recently that might help in the future.
Did you know it is against the law to make threatening phone calls and text messages? As consumers we pay federal taxes on our phone bills, it is listed on your phone bill as a separate line item. It is a punishable crime in most states to make harassing phone calls either by jail time, a fine, or both. Look at the fine print on the agreement you signed when you bought your cell phone plan. What is cool about the cell phones is the way they record incoming and outgoing phone calls in a way home phone bills don’t, and there’s a record of text messages and all these are detailed by time called and the duration of each call! Forensics shows on TV always mention cell phone records and how they are used to prove this and that because the outgoing/incoming and text logs do not lie and cannot be altered. Cases are often won and broken all because of cell phone records.
When any person gets a harassing text message or voice mail, the first automatic impulse they automatically want to do is hit the DELETE button. Stop. Don’t delete. Hit the FORWARD button instead. That is cold, hard evidence on your phone and you need to save it and forward it to the proper authorities so that the bully who is harassing you can be charged to the fullest extent of the law!
Contact GCI customer service at 1-800-800-4800 to report all cell phone harassment incidents. Teenagers, think twice before attempting to harass your fellow classmates/frenemies or anyone else for that matter with your cool, new cell phone…you will not escape punishment without the greatest of difficulty.
This applies to emails as well, especially school email. Students sign an agreement at the beginning of every year that states they will not abuse the district email system by making/and or sending threatening emails to others. If you get an ugly email don’t delete it, instead forward it immediately to your site administrator or the site tech coordinator. The student who sent the email will instantly lost all email/internet/computer privileges for a period of time. Take the time to explain these issues with your school-age children and to anyone with a cell phone to help take a bite out of rural cyber-bullying crime.
-A concerned parent, Elaine C. Andrew, Nunapitchuk.
Lonely outside Bethel
4-9-09
by Kholoud Al-Shaar
When we read stories or watch movies about people who got stuck in the middle of the snow without help during harsh and cold weather, we feel sympathy for them. These sad events always seem to happen in isolated places when people lose their way home or run out of gas. It is very odd and unusual to hear a story about people who got stuck in low temperatures, fifteen below zero, in the middle of a city like Anchorage. I thought that it was very important to share with you what happened to me and my family in Anchorage during our vacation this past winter break.
On Friday we went to the mosque for Friday prayer. On our way back to the hotel after the prayer, our car stopped in the middle of the street. My husband tried to start it several times, but it didn’t start. Luckily, a nice man came and pushed us to the closest parking lot. We tried to call a cab; they kept us on hold without any response. We didn’t know what to do. Finally, our car started, but it only went as far as the parking lot’s entrance which was further away from the nearest building. Calling the hotel and getting the shuttle was my last idea to get help.
While we were waiting, a water delivery man stopped to help us. He tried his best but without any luck. It was getting colder in the car; ice was building up on the windows on the inside. My son bent his feet under him to keep them warm; my daughter started complaining about her feet too; the baby was sleeping. By rubbing her feet with my hands and blowing some warm air from my mouth, I tried to keep them warm. The kids tried to be calm and helpful. They were shaking and their faces were pale.
After half an hour without getting any help, we were all reluctant to realize that we needed to walk to get help. A café’s sign was our first hope, but when we reached there our hope vanished because it was closed. We found a lady and a man in their truck; my husband asked them to give us a ride to the hotel. Hesitantly, they said, “Yes, if we could all fit in the back seat.”
Suddenly, another lady arrived; she had lots of room in her truck. My husband asked her the same favor; her answer was that she was busy. I will never forget my husband’s valiant efforts to ask her again, “Please just take my wife and my kids; we have a baby.” Her answer was colder than the weather, “I can see.”
I saw a look of indignation in my kids’ eyes because both trucks left, and now they needed to walk more. We were desperate, fatigued, and our legs were aching. Even my hands were stiff because I was holding my sleeping baby; I insisted on holding her. I wanted to feel her breath in my face; by this I would know that she was still alive.
While we heavily shuffled our legs, the same lady who refused to give us a ride was driving her truck slowly behind us. She could have given us a ride to the nearest building, but our bad situation did not convince her to help us.
Finally we reached the nearest building and went inside. Everything changed after we entered that warm place. My kids smiled at each other triumphantly and my husband checked the baby’s breath. Fifteen minutes later, the hotel’s shuttle arrived and took us to our hotel.
In my isolated town, Bethel, you don’t have to know the people to get help. Moreover, people voluntarily help each other. I have had several experiences that prove how people in this town are very helpful. I’ll never forget my first week in Bethel when my kids and I decided to explore our new neighborhood; it wasn’t a good idea. For one, our clothes weren’t suitable to Bethel’s weather. But the most important reason was that we weren’t used to seeing unleashed dogs. We were chased by four dogs. We did not have to beg people for a ride. Easily we squeezed ourselves in a crowded car that was owned by a man who we had never met before. Our being new in this town did not stop him from helping us.
Speaking of help, I need to thank those two gentlemen who helped me in front of the AC store when my car’s tire went flat. Those kind men lay down under the car. They went home to get the tools they needed, and worked hard in the cold weather just to help me without me even asking them.
We don’t need to live one hour in the cold to realize that there is no place like my small town, Bethel.
Let us rebuild the Moravian Childrens’ Home
4-1-09
by Melvin P. Andrew
During Synod 2009 at Bethel, Alaska the concern for the Children’s Home was intensely and emotionally discussed. The Children’s Home is otherwise known as “Nunapicngaq Camp”.
The Alaska Children’s Home is an orphanage facility that was founded by Moravian missionaries in 1939 three miles up river from the town of Kwethluk, Alaska located 12 miles east of Bethel. Kwethluk is a town inhabited primarily by Yup’ik population. This facility was founded in an effort to provide care and education for children who were orphaned for various reasons ranging from children’s loss of parents due to significant tuberculosis outbreaks in the region, abusive relationships between children and parents, or because of the child was deemed unruly.
Moravian missionaries had been in the Kwethluk area since the early 1880s, establishing a congregation and other facilities like the Alaska Children’s Home. The Alaska Children’s Home ceased operating in 1971.
The Nunapicngaq Camp has lain dormant for years now. The Camp was the center of summer Bible camps for the Alaska Moravian Church after 1971. The Camp has not been in operation and is now in destruction and ruins. The rotting wood, the vandalized windows and doors, the Chapel, the dorms, the kitchen, and the meeting hall all lay quiet and in ruins.
Manny Konig, who grew up at the Camp, gave emotional testimony and support to the delegates to reopen the camp, to reconstruct the camp, to bring it to life again.
The Camp can be used for seminars, workshops, gatherings, and again as a summer Bible camp for young and old. It will take enormous funding to reconstruct and rebuild the property.
God is not interested in money though, He owns all the world! He is interested in God-fearing and people with faith like Manny to bring this wonderful place to life.
I see in the future, the Alaska Moravian Church Synod conducting their annual meeting at Nunapicngaq Camp. I see energetic teenagers hungry for the Word of God singing praises and enjoying the summer nights around a campfire. I see pastors and lay pastors gathering together at the Camp drawing nearer to God and gaining power to preach, reach, and teach!
We need the Camp, we need this hallowed ground to work God’s wonders again. Let us pray diligently and ACT towards re-building this property for the Glory of God!
The Bible says when a building becomes empty, destruction follows, and ruin takes over, and soon dies away. It is like our body when it is devoid of the Spirit, it shall perish. (John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Jude 19) We need to be born again! We need the Camp born again! We need activity, visiting, planning, preparing, designing, rebuilding, and then occupying!
Jesus said, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” We need salt at the Camp!
The leadership of the Alaska Moravian Church needs to concentrate more on God’s most important purpose; to lead them back to Him and nurture them with His Word. Let us not worry about the budget, AYE, assessments, and allow ourselves to be defeated by the enemy. We are God’s children and we have victory through Jesus Christ! Let us take back what the enemy has stolen and give all the Glory to Him!
God allows evil to happen when we disobey Him (Is. 45:7), but He is merciful and very helpful. I urge all members, congregations, pastors, and church workers to stand up, put on work clothes, and begin building the Alaska Children’s Camp for the Glory of God! Let us repent and return to Him, confess our sins and forget them, allow Jesus in our lives and live for Him!
Never forgetting our spiritual heritage beginning in Acts 2, renewing on August 13, 1727, and again renewing our spiritual things, allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us and begin worshiping in Spirit and in truth. God is renewing us today, do not disobey Him!
Manokotak Moravian Church was dying and its members were declining. There was hardly any youth or young people in church. The church treasury was at its lowest point in the church’s history. We were barely paying bills, assessments, and budget to keep the church open. We had forgotten the Spiritual things of God.
God never forgot the reason why the community of Manokotak was created. The founders of the community wanted to get together in order to build a place of worship. And they did. Spiritual renewal began in October 2006, 2007, 2008, and one scheduled for 2009. Since the first and culminating thereafter the power of God shown through the Holy Spirit has revived Manokotak. Increase in church membership, church attendance, marriages, baptisms, sinners repenting, forgiveness, increase in church treasury, Bible Study group, catechism class, and the list of God’s blessings continues.
God makes examples of disobedient and obedient people and is recorded through His chosen nation, Israel. God is serious about us obeying and fearing Him and still blesses us and also curses us. Which of the seven churches are we in the Book of Revelation? Jesus gives a commendation (exhortation), complaint (warning), and solution (edification) to each of them. All churches and believers must be willing to HEAR what the Spirit is saying to the churches. The Word of Jesus Christ must be a guide to all His believers and churches. Churches must continually examine their spiritual condition before God. The Holy Spirit will truthfully guide us to truthfully examine ourselves in our beliefs and activities and renew our spiritual lives. We need to correct our degree of worldliness and immorality among us.
Spiritual decline can be stopped in any believer and church or group of people only if there is sincere repentance and a diligent return to the original love, truth, purity and power of Jesus Christ’s Biblical revelation. (Revelation 2:5-7, 16-17, 3:1-3, 15-22)
LET US REBUILD NUNAPICNGAQ CAMP FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!
Nehemiah fasted and prayed, weeping and mourning, before God in heaven. He confessed to God for the sins of Israel for not keeping the commandments, statutes, and judgments of God. Nehemiah remembered a commandment that God gave through Moses, “If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.”(Nehemiah)
Let us fast and pray to God, asking for forgiveness for our sins. Let us return to His ways and allow His Holy Spirit to work unabated and without walls. Let us rebuild the walls of Nunapicngaq Camp and fill its buildings with Words of PRAISE, God’s Word, and God’s love so we may have thee JOY OF THE LORD!
Please pledge a service, a weekend, a month, a tithe, a special offering, and most important, YOU AND I to rebuild!
I Pray In Our Blessed Jesus’ Name that we rent our stony hearts broken into flesh and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Forgive me for not following Your Word and disobeying Your commandments. I repent of my sins, my families sins, the sins of Manokotak, and the sins of Alaska Moravian Church. We have not followed your Word and your commandments, and your judgments. Return to us the land, the buildings, the Chapel, the dormitories, the kitchen, and meeting place of Nunapicngaq Camp. Give me a willing heart, a receptive ear, and open my eyes to Your Word. Our people need the place of worship to bring Glory, Honor, and Blessing to You, O Lord.
In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!
Melvin P. Andrew is a resident of Manokotak, AK.
Tribal Leaders Summit testimony
3-26-09
by Ivan M. Ivan
The following is the testimony of Ivan M. Ivan, Chief of the Akiak Native Community, Vice-Chairman of the Constitutional Steering Committee of the Yupiaq & Athabascan Tribes of the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta, former President and Chairman of the Association of Village Council Presidents, former legislator and former Chairman of the Calista Corporation before the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs during the Tribal Leaders Summit on March 5, 2009 in Washington, D.C.
My name is Ivan M. Ivan and I am the chief of the Akiak Native Community, a federally recognized Indian tribe in Alaska. It is a privilege and an honor to be able to say a few words on behalf of our elders, our children, our grandchildren, and those yet to be born.
Our tribes in Alaska are among the most impoverished in the United States of Americal. The unemployment rate in most of our villages is at 80%, if not higher. We suffer the highest rates of domestic violence, child neglect and abuse, alcoholism and drug abuse, and our children are at the bottom nationally on educational achievement – and most tragically, our young people take their lives at rates that are the highest in the nation. For many reasons our young people are losing hope and are rejecting the quality of life that we are offering them as a people, and this is our heartbreak.
Yet, we cannot give up on ourselves, we have to continue to do all we can to give them a better life, a brighter future. But even here we are limited in what we can do as we have become almost exclusively dependent on federal and state governments to provide for even our most basic needs: to assist our families, our children, even our governments.
And although we should count on our status as federally recognized tribes as a powerful weapon in fighting to free ourselves of these sorrows, our tribal governments have been hamstrung by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and a variety of Executive orders, the State of Alaska and adverse court decisions, which have but negated whatever rights and powers that status might otherwise have afforded us.
That is why we were so hopeful when the President and the Congress decided to pass the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009, but even here it turns out that we may not receive the monies that our villages and families so desperately need because of our tenuous status and because of laws and Executive Orders that have been enacted and ordered against us by previous congresses and Administrations. The monies may instead go to the State of Alaska (for schools and detention centers) or to Alaska Native profit and non-profit corporations that have been given near tribal status by previous congresses and administrations while our families and children literally go hungry and cold in our villages.
Mr. Chairman, honorable members of the Committee, we ask that you hold hearings in Alaska to complete the work that Senator Daniel Inouye started when he got the Congress to empanel the Alaska Natives Commission whose report and recommendations were never acted on, recommendations that if followed would go a long way toward correcting the injustices that our people have been subjected to since 1867, and we would ask that you do all you can to relieve the suffering of our children while empowering us, their tribal governments, so we can once again fulfill our responsibilities, the most important of which is offering hope and a better life for our children and our grandchildren.
Mr. Chairman, I wish I had a better report, I wish we did not have to come to our nation’s capitol to once again ask for help, but our pride takes second place to the true and crying needs of our elders, our women, and most importantly, our chidren. Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Proposals to eat and feed your family!?
by Timothy Andrew
My name is Timothy Andrew. I’m the Director of Natural Resources for the Association of Village Council Presidents in Bethel, Alaska. I’ve been very fortunate to serve the Yup’ik people of the AVCP Region as their advocate for their subsistence way of life for twelve wonderful years. In talking to many of the region’s elders, who have inherited this way of life from their ancestors, I’ve learned to appreciate how much different life was back then and how it is now. Over the years, I have advocated for various proposals before the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, Federal Subsistence Board, the Alaska Board of Game, and the Alaska Board of Fisheries. This process is the subject of my discussion before you.
In a perfect Yup’ik utopia, we would be free to hunt, fish, and gather the resources we need to feed our families, communities and loved ones, but that is not the case. The world we live in today, under the democratic and “equal rights for all” government, we will never be able to enjoy the way of life our elders enjoyed in the past. When our people, Yup’iks, need to eat, we submit a proposal to the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, Federal Subsistence Board or the Alaska Board of Game or the Alaska Board of Fisheries asking for a season, increase in bag limit, etc. We have to ask permission from a regulatory system which is alien to our way of life. The local fish & game advisory councils or committees deliberate the proposals along with staffers from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. After comments and positions are derived from the councils or committees, the regulatory agencies deliberate the proposals whether to adopt or not or adopt with amendments. Other considerations come into play during deliberations to include, but not limited to, customary and traditional use determinations, amounts necessary for subsistence, harvestable surplus, etc.
“This subsistence was not very easy to begin with. It has been tough before that [Alaska Statehood ] because the Fish and Wildlife [Service] has been looking out for us way before that, way before 1971. Sometimes, it gives us three caribou for a season, and look how much that lasts with a big family. It don’t last. In the springtime, when we try to go hunt ducks and geese, we have to hide out like the ducks and geese from the Fish & Games so they don’t catch us.” (George Cleveland, The Village Journey 1985)
“This land and sea is our grocery store…” (Mike Utteryuk, Scammon Bay – Personal Interview)
Let’s turn the tables to view the situation from an Alaska Native perspective. The grocery store being the essential resource for the “subsistence way of life” for urbanites and non-natives. We now have instituted a “Grocery Board “of six people from rural Alaska and one from urban Alaska to develop regulations on the operation of all grocery stores. The Grocery Board by a vote of six to one has instituted the following regulations:
•There is only ten thousand pounds of beef for sale in all urban grocery stores. According to the household studies conducted in 1960s, the amounts necessary for beef is 3,000 pounds in urban Alaska regardless of population growth and alternatives. The remaining 7,000 pounds is the consumable (harvestable) surplus. The grocery board allocated the consumable surplus to rural residents because rural residents generate the largest amount of revenue per user to the State’s coffers due to the higher cost of living. Furthermore, because of delivery and competition matters, the grocery board has determined the only method of shopping (harvest) shall be by shopping permit which costs $300.00 per person in the family. In addition to the shopping permit, a person conducting legal shopping must possess a state shopping (hunting) license. The only means of shopping (harvest) shall be by walking. All the proceeds from the sale of shopping licenses and permits shall be allocated to rural subsistence research and wild fisheries and rural wildlife conservation programs.
•The grocery board has determined that shopping for each item in the grocery store shall be available for purchase (seasons) only at such prescribed times as follows:
-Coffee: Coffee, and the sale of coffee through all subsidiary processing shall only be conducted from July 1 through September 30 of each regulatory year. Shoppers can only purchase three pounds and possess no more than ten pounds.
-Sugar: The sale of sugar shall only be allowed from February 1 to February 28 per regulatory year. Maximum amount purchasable is five pounds. Maximum possession is twenty pounds.
-If one is shopping for turkey, domesticated goose, domesticated duck, chicken, quail and all domesticated fowl, one must possess a shopping license and a federal and state shopping (duck) stamp. The shopping season for domesticated fowl is from March 1 until June 30 for each regulatory year. A shopper may purchase up to five domesticated fowl and must not possess any more than ten in any regulatory year. Any other fowl made available for sale is prohibited from sale until the Grocery Board promulgates regulations, develops customary & traditional use determinations, seasons, amounts necessary for shopping, shopping limits, means and methods of shopping.
-Special shopping permits beyond the normal shopping limitations are available by permit only for occasions like parties, family gatherings, and funerary occasions.
-All other purchases, please consult your Grocery Regulatory Book or call the Alaska Department of Grocery Stores near you.
-Any violations of the Grocery Board Regulations can be reported to the Alaska Grocery Board Enforcement Division near your location.
Imagine the consequences of instituting such restrictive regulations for shoppers? There would likely be riots, civil unrest, and lawsuits. Now you know how an Alaska Native Elder or person feels in the village trying to support his/her family within this restrictive and competitive regulatory system.
Timothy Andrew is the Director of Natural Resources for the Association of Village Council Presidents.
Yukon salmon returns low
due to Chinook bycatch
3-18-09
by David Bill, Sr.
Since 1991 the Bering Sea pollock fishery has taken nearly 800,000 Chinook salmon as bycatch. In the past few years, salmon returns to the Yukon River have gone down and last year our people along the Yukon had restrictions on their subsistence harvest. The Yukon commercial fishery closed. This has been an especially harsh year because people have had to choose between food and fuel.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is meeting during the first week of April to vote on whether or not to control Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. They have several options to choose from but their preferred option is to set the Chinook bycatch cap at 68,000 fish. This is much too high.
Throughout the Bering Sea coast our people deeply rely on salmon. There is nothing more important to our way of life than subsistence. Industrial activity that harms subsistence is a compromise we are not willing to make and should not have to make.
It is possible to have a profitable pollock fishery without so much salmon bycatch.
Chinook salmon that is taken as bycatch by the offshore pollock fleet is fish that will not return to our rivers. There is no such thing as “surplus” fish that can be sacrificed for bycatch because every fish that returns to our rivers is important for meeting our subsistence needs, for supporting our small commercial salmon harvest, and for contributing to continued migrations of salmon and future generations of our people.
The Chinook Salmon EIS does not recognize our subsistence way of life and history. The EIS considers the potential effect of reducing Chinook bycatch on the pollock fleet’s ability to catch more pollock. It does not consider the effect of salmon bycatch on our ability to feed our families and teach our children how to live our Yupik way of life. If the pollock catch is reduced it costs money to the fleet. If salmon do not return to our rivers, we don’t have enough to eat. When the offshore fleet takes salmon without appropriate constraints, we are the ones to pay the price – we forego commercial opportunity in the lower rivers and are restricted in how much we can take to feed our families all the way into Canada.
You can help by signing a petition to show the North Pacific Fishery Management Council that Yupik people support strong reduction in Chinook salmon bycatch. If you have a computer, you can sign the petition on-line at: http://www.bsfaak.org/petition/petition.cfm. If you don’t have access to the Internet, you can sign up by calling toll free (888) 927-2732.
Please sign the petition by March 31. Quyana.
David Bill, Sr. is the Chairman for the Bering Sea Elders Advisory Group. Bering Sea Elders Advisory Group formed in 2007 to address the northern bottom trawl boundary. As the Chinook bycatch situation has become increasingly more urgent to our people, the Elders Group wants to support member Tribes in their call for a bycatch cap of 30,000 Chinook salmon in the pollock fishery.
Culverts are hinderance
to winter plowing
by Edward Lackey
Thank you State of Alaska for creating one more hardship on us Bethel citizens. Edward Lackey of Ed’s Auto – over 20 year resident – has lived at 871 Third Avenue for 20 years and this is the first time my front yard looked like this, thanks to a big useless culvert. This culvert has made it impossible for simple plowing around the house. I spent thousands of dollars over the past to improve my foundation to prolong expensive house leveling. One thing we’ve learned – the less water under the house, the better.
Where do you think snow-water will go? I met the engineer and a couple of other people in front of my house. While they started to dig I asked, “Do y’all have an idea what we have to do for snow removal in the wintertime?” This is the truth. He replied, “Do you get a lot of snow out here?” I just wanted to slap him. Then I asked, “How far is this culvert going?” He said, “Past your property to the telephone pole.” I said, “What about my water and sewer delivery?” Obviously no one did their homework about how life goes on in Bethel.
I had to jump through a couple of hoops filling out papers to get a piece of pipe where the City could access my services in the same place they’ve been doing for the last 20 years.
I heard rumors that the airport manager told these smart guys that he does not have the manpower to take care of all the additional culverts. He said, “Simply raise the road 8”, eliminate the culverts – this makes sense to me.” The reason for the culverts is better drainage to help the road last, ha ha!
Citizens notice from BIA Cutoff road to Watson’s Corner there are 137 cracks across the road 1” to 2” wide, but how deep I am not sure. This highway is 18 months old. Watson’s Corner to Slough has a lot more cracks. This road is only 6 months old, that is 15 million dollars well spent. So much for the big culvert in my front yard that is supposed to help save the road. There is so much our state boys here can do. The poor quality of work redoing the road in the last 2 years will cost them more extra time than they have and more tax dollars that we want to spend. Is there a warranty in this workmanship or is it us taxpayers out again?
These culverts presented another problem this winter. Next door Harry Faulkner Jr. rentals is now all culverts with no reflectors or cones. After a light snow 2-3” in makes everything look the same. Villagers coming to town to shop or visit traveling the same route are suddenly stopped in a bad way. I personally have seen 4 snowmachines and 2 four-wheelers hit this culvert pretty hard. Good thing no one was seriously hurt. Sue Harry? Don’t think so. It is the State’s doings. Sue the state out of our own pocket again. It is a no-win situation for everyone.
Edward Lackey is a resident of Bethel, AK.
Finding our Hearts in Alaska
3-11-09
by Allison Bernadette Simeon
We are all different individually; we are all different in groups. But we do still look at our culture the same way, and look at it as one, look at it as a whole. Yet we must still rise above hate, evil, alcohol, drugs and struggle together as one.
In the past we have suffered and endured and came about the new way. So what had happened to our people we once knew? They had turned to another way in life. They turned to alcohol for an answer and they turned to tobacco products along with other illegal drugs for an excuse to have fun and to be happy in the villages of Alaska.
Our youth are so plugged into the Rap and Rock music, they have forgotten about the native way of life and they forgot about our culture. The youth are deaf from the sound of hatred and evil and blinded from the fighting, abusing and whatever else that goes on in our world. Were slowly losing our values, we’re losing our tradition. They disrespect our elders who once taught us the native way in life. They have lost faith and the feeling of pride in being native. They are losing their tradition, they are losing their culture, but most of all they are losing their pride in which they really are.
What has happened to when we would look to the land for answers and survival? What has happened to when we would look to our elders for the answers to succeed in life? But yet it is not only our youth who are hurting our community. It is not only our youth who are losing pride and joy to being native. Our adults have a big impact on our community and our health. They are also some of the ones who show the Young that drinking and fighting is the right thing to do, they are also the ones who show hatred and evil to the young and new.
What needs to be done is that our adults need to sit down with our teenagers and teach them what is wrong and what is right, what is good and what is bad. They have to teach our youth the native ways and learn how to live off the land where we once came from. We have to look at our Youth to keep our traditions alive, and keep the heartbeat of Alaskans going.
We must encourage the young to help the old and talk to our elders before they are all gone. But we must move quickly, because we are losing our elders one by one, day by day. The clock is ticking so we must start the race and keep a steady pace to get our values and traditions back alive. We must get involved with our elders and learn from their wisdom they have to offer, grow strong together as one, and succeed as a whole.
Allison Bernadette Simeon is a student from Aniak, Alaska.
Sen. Murkowski announces release of emergency funding for Emmonak
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced last week that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has released $20,000 that the Emmonak Tribal Council requested to help residents who are struggling with high home heating fuel and food costs this winter.
Emmonak had requested $20,000 in emergency assistance and the BIA signed off on the funding today.
“I had asked BIA at a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing in January to find assistance to help Emmonak residents get through the winter, and I am glad to see that the agency has finally responded,” Murkowski said. “A poor fishing season this year combined with sky high fuel prices left many families facing the tough decision of whether to put food on the table or heat their homes.
“As ranking member of the Senate Energy Committee and as a member of the Indian Affairs panel, I remain committed to finding ways to provide long-term, affordable energy solutions for rural Alaska.”
A BIA official today confirmed that the funds are being transferred to the agency’s Alaska office, which will forward them to the Emmonak Tribal Council for distribution to local families.
“If Emmonak residents discover that they need additional funds to make it through the rest of the winter, I will be glad to support their request and the requests of other villages experiencing similar difficulties,” Murkowski said.
Alaska Natives respond to
Jesuit bankruptcy announcement
3-6-09
by Elsie Boudreau
The day has come for Native people to free ourselves from the bondage of shame and secrecy that kept us powerless within the Catholic Church. We are no longer a people sitting idly at the sidelines while the Jesuits continue deceptive maneuverings to shield heinous crimes of the sexual abuse of our innocent children. We are speaking loudly and clearly. The era of gross and deliberate human rights violations by those neglectful and careless men hiding behind the cloak of Christ has come to an end. We, as a Native people, will no longer tolerate the scarring of our souls by those entrusted to protect and nurture our spirituality.
The Oregon Province filing for bankruptcy is a clear admission on their part that our Native people have been the recipients of an evil so great, so inconceivable, so out of this world, it would bring Jesus Christ to tears.
Our ancestors’ wisdom tells us we do not treat our people that way ~ we take care of our people. Why then would we tolerate the abuse of those entrusted to save our souls? It is time for our Native people to hold onto our teachings and secure a place of honor and respect for our children for generations to come.
Elsie Boudreau of Anchorage is the SNAP Native American Outreach Director and victim of clergy sexual abuse. She is a Yup’ik Eskimo and Alaska Native.
[ Comment ]
More on air Pollution
by Rosalie Kalistook
Gases are chemicals that hang in the air. Many gases are invisible. Oxygen, is the gas we need to live, and is among the gases we breathe. Most of the oxygen we breathe is given off by plants. Other gases in the air come from volcanoes, lightning, and decaying plants. But we also put many gases into the air. And some of them are harmful. They come from cars, power plants and other sources. The six most common ones are: Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon Monoxide, Ozone, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) and Hazardous Air Pollutants.
Carbon Monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas. It is left over when wood, gasoline, coal, and other fossil fuels are burned completely. Cars give off more than two thirds of the man-made carbon monoxide into the air. High levels of carbon monoxide are often found in the air of big cities because there are lots of cars. Tall buildings in cities trap the gas and keep it from blowing away. Carbon monoxide is given off when wood and charcoal are burned. It is also given off when plants decay. Carbon monoxide lessens the amount of oxygen that enters our blood through our lungs. It can slow our reflexes and make us confused and sleepy. In large doses, it can even cause unconsciousness and death.
Sulfur Dioxide: Fossil fuels like coal and oil contain sulfur. When fossil fuels are burned, the sulfur forms sulfur oxides, including sulfur dioxide, an air pollutant. A large amount of sulfur dioxide is emitted from power plants that use coal or oil as fuel, oil refineries, and mills. Volcanoes are a natural source of sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide can cause airways to our lungs to narrow. This can make people who already have coughs, colds, or lung diseases feel worse, especially if the people are very young and/or old.
Nitrogen Oxides: These gases are made when fossil fuels are burned in cars, power plants, and factories. These gases also help make ground-level ozone. They are made in nature when forests burn, lightning flashes and plants decay. Nitrogen oxides can make children susceptible to respiratory infections in the winter.
Ozone is found in two layers in the atmosphere. The troposphere reaches from the ground to about ten miles above the earth. Ozone in this layer can make breathing hard for athletes, children, older people, and those with lung disease. The stratosphere is high in the sky, about 10 – 30 miles above the earth. Ozone in this layer is too high to hurt our health. In fact, high level ozone is helpful.
High-level ozone: Ozone high in the sky is there naturally. It protects the earth from the suns harmful ultraviolet light. Without ozone in the atmosphere, the ultraviolet light would increase our chances of being sunburned or developing skin cancer. Ozone in this layer is made and destroyed naturally all the time. But some chemicals we use are destroying high-level ozone too. Some of these chemicals are used to make foamed plastics and air conditioner cooling fluids.
Low-level ozone: When we burn fossil fuels, they give off nitrogen oxides and some unburned hydrocarbons. These gases react with each other to produce ozone, especially during warm weather. This ozone near the ground may damage our lungs. It makes our eyes itch, burn, and water. It also lowers our resistance to colds and pneumonia. Ozone may be the main pollutant that damages plants. It also weakens some materials such as rubber.
Volatile Organic Compound (VOCs): There are many VOCs in nature. Have you noticed the sharp smell of a pine tree? Have you ever smelled a skunk J? If so, you’ve smelled two natural VOCs. We make VOCs when we burn fossil fuels in cars, power plants, and factories. Chemicals mix with the left over carbon from the fuel and oxygen in the air to make VOCs. VOCs also come from solvents, paints, glues, and the chemicals from dry cleaners. They also escape from factories where chemicals are made. VOCs help make ground-level ozone and other air pollutants. Some of these gases can be toxic and some may cause cancer. They may also damage plants.
Hazardous Air Pollutants are many kids of hazardous air pollutants. They can be particulates or gases, and are called hazardous because they can pose a threat to our health. Currently there are new laws in the United States to protect you from contact with 189 kinds of hazardous air pollutants. Each industry had to cut their hazardous emissions by 90-95% in 2000. One hazardous air pollutant you may have heard of is asbestos. There are laws to protect you from being exposed to crumbling asbestos in schools. Other laws protect people from being exposed to asbestos when buildings are torn down and when asbestos is processed into different products. Lead is also an air pollutant than can harm our health. The good news is that there is less lead in the air when there used to be, thanks to lead free fuels. However, lead is still in the environment. It was used in old paint. Peeling lead paint is poisonous to children who eat it. People who scrape off old lead paint can be poisoned.
Quyana, next time we will learn what the three big air pollutions are.
Rosalie Kalistook is the Environmental Coordinator for the Orutsararmiut Native Council.
Why are our Chinook salmon runs failing?
2-24-09
from the Association of Village Council Presidents
On June 23, 2008, the Association of Village Council Presidents issued a press release titled, “Does our subsistence way of life have to end so that the Bering Sea pollock trawl fishery can continue?”
Stated within the press release was our outcry on the continuation of the Bering Sea Pollock Trawl Fishery’s wasteful and destructive practice of killing Chinook salmon bound for western Alaska and its implications on the commercial fishermen and their families.
We stated in the press release the following: “Many of our families have not achieved their subsistence needs for the coming winter. Our commercial fishermen have not and will not meet their cash needs to pay for the bills that have accumulated over the winter. Compounded by high gasoline and home heating costs, this makes for dire situations in most of our villages.”
Mr. Nick Tucker struck the nerve of the situation in an article that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News on January 15, 2009 when he said, “Local commercial fishermen didn’t make any money from king salmon – a staple of the economy…”
Following the Tucker letter, a barrage of news articles and reports appeared in the L.A. Times, Seattle Times, New York Times, and CNN confirming the reasons why people were not able to meet their energy and food needs for the winter, and the lack of commercial fishing opportunity among other things. Absent in the articles and reports is the question, why is our Chinook salmon runs failing?
The Yukon River Chinook salmon stocks have never really recovered since the crash of 1998. Regulators of the fishery, both the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and the Office of Subsistence Management instituted severe commercial and subsistence fishing restrictions on our small group of in-state commercial and subsistence fishermen throughout the entire Yukon River drainage depriving our fishermen with the means of supporting and feeding their families.
Meanwhile, the Bering Sea Pollock trawl fishery continues to ravage our resources in a wasteful and destructive manner.
In 2007, the trawl fishery harvested 122,000 Chinook salmon while our people lived with instituted harvest, gear, time, and area restrictions. Additionally, state and federal laws and regulations prohibit us from discarding unwanted species in our subsistence and commercial fisheries with harsh penalties which may include the confiscation of our boats, nets, and harvest.
The Bering Sea Pollock Trawl Fishery, meanwhile, is allowed to wastefully and destructively discard salmon and other species without penalty.
Please join us in encouraging the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council to reduce the annual by-catch of our Chinook Salmon to 30,000 with a goal of zero by-catch. You can send me resolutions and letters telling the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council that you do not endorse and will not tolerate the continued waste of our salmon resources to the following address:
North Pacific Fisheries Management; 605 W. 4th Ave., Suite 306; Anchorage, AK 99501-2252; Fax: (907) 271-2817.
Comment deadline for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement was February 23, 2009. We thank you on behalf of our many families and communities that depend on salmon for their survival and existence for your assistance.
Any questions regarding this release can be directed to Timothy Andrew, Director of Natural Resources (tandrew@avcp.org) at (907) 543-7340 or Myron Naneng Sr. (mnaneng@avcp.org) at (907) 543-7301.
This press release was authorized for release by Myron P. Naneng, Sr., President on this 19th day of February.
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Homeless in Bethel
2-19-09
by Nancy George
Praise the Lord! I thank God for allowing me to visit Bethel on the week of February 2, 2009. People were the same, but Bethel seemed to grow since I’ve last visited back in 2003. And I thank all the Bethel residents for their friendly hospitality while we were there.
On a first night of strolling around in Bethel, I didn’t expect to bump into a person I use to know when I lived in Bethel area for about ten years. Of course this person was the same as when I left the area. But when I found out that this person was not an ordinary “visiting” pedestrian in Bethel, I was shocked and amazed how some people can be so cruel.
This person looked so ragged, had a torn coat and seemed to have everything on. At first, I thought it was because of the cold weather Bethel had that night. Then when I looked closer to this person, the hairs on this person’s face were frozen; the hands were cold and rough; the leggings and the feet were icy and looked skinnier than when I last saw this person. This person walks around town all day and all night, possibly rests at abandoned homes, trucks/cars, and at public facilities. It was like a scene from the movies where homeless people look like… and in Bethel?
This person was “kicked” out from the village, just because this person was a drug and alcohol addict or for some other reason(s) not known. This person respected orders to leave the village and I know that this person’s mom is a widow and elderly. In a village where this person is from, they mainly rely on subsistence hunting, fishing and gathering and some homes may have flush and haul system installed. And this person’s mom lives alone in her village. Possibly, all her children moved away and/or on their own.
What about if this person is found in Bethel frozen to death? Who would be responsible if this person ends up dead? Bethel may be “big” and “growing” but it does not have a shelter for homeless, rejects, or unworthy. Wouldn’t it be like manslaughter if this person ends up dead and that this village who claims to be “hardcore” Christians kicked this person out.
If you are a true Christian and believe that Jesus Christ saves all simmers, why neglect this person? Don’t Moravians practice forgiveness and not being judgmental to others? Don’t they also have to love God first and love one another? And don’t they have to care for the widows, orphans and the poor in need? Practice what you preach!
Open your heart for this person and the widow mother. Quit being lukewarm or Jesus will spit you out too. And remember, when Jesus returns, he will separate the sheep and the goats. He will say to the goats, you have not fed me when I was hungry, you have not clothed me when I was naked, you did not visit me when I was sick or in prison. I don’t know you, flee from me and go serve what you served on earth. For more details on this scripture, read the Book of Matthew chapter 24 (Holy Bible).
Provide something for this person and other persons for that matter before its too late, like counseling, treatments, food, clothing, shelter or practice forgiveness and love for this person and other persons if you don’t have it. If you are the council member or the person responsible for kicking this person out of your village, be afraid; be very afraid if Jesus tells you, I don’t know you. Remember in 1 Corinthians 13, if you preach or do good works if you don’t have love in your heart, it will profit you nothing.
Again, I say Practice What You Preach! Every word will be accountable to you on judgment day.
Nancy H. George is a resident of Manokotak, AK.
Response to Special Convention Request
2-12-09
by Raymond J. Watson
I am writing in response to your January 25, 2009, memorandum calling for a Special Convention from February 4-6, 2009.
As you know, at AVCP’s Annual Convention in October 2008, a motion passed authorizing AVCP’s Executive Board to set the dates for a Special Constitutional Convention. Thereafter, members of the Constitutional Committee met with the Executive Board on December 16, 2008, to discuss this issue. The Board agreed to set aside the dates of January 27-29, 2009, for the Constitutional Convention and requested that the committee provide us with an agenda delineating the purpose of the meeting to accompany the notice that would be sent to AVCP’s Member Tribes. We agreed that when we were given the agenda, we would send notice to the tribes and would follow up with them to see if they would be attending. To date, we have not received an agenda.
AVCP’s bylaws require that in the case of a special meeting, we provide the tribes with the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called. We are also required to provide them with reasonable notice, in this case not less than seven (7) days or more than thirty (30) days before the date of such meeting. We have been waiting to receive an agenda so that we can provide the tribes with the appropriate notice required. However, in the meantime, we requested AVCP to informally poll the tribes to see whether they would be attending a prospective Constitutional Convention. Our poll indicated that a quorum would not be attending.
Holding a convention is a significant expenditure of AVCP’s resources, especially in dire economic times such as these. I’m sure you’re aware of this month’s recent Anchorage Daily News and Los Angeles Times newspaper articles focusing on Emmonak and Tuluksak. These articles describe the immediate struggle facing many of our tribal members—a struggle forcing them to choose between using the little money they have to either feed their families or buy fuel to heat their homes.
With the reality and hardship of half a winter still ahead of us, it is extremely difficult for AVCP to justify spending its scarce resources on a Constitutional Convention without an agenda, and which, for the February dates proposed, seems unlikely to fulfill the quorum requirements of the bylaws. However, once provided with an agenda, the Executive Board will work with the Steering Committee members to set another potential meeting date, and we will welcome your suggestions for determining tribal delegate attendance and whether there will be a quorum.
Please understand that until then, AVCP is actively using its time and resources to work with our Congressional delegation, State lawmakers, Federal and State agencies, AFN, CITGO and others to secure funding that will enable our villages to survive this crisis, including ensuring that we are a part of the emergency economic stimulus package currently being developed by Congress. In fact, AVCP’s President and Executive Vice President have imminent plans to travel to both Washington, D.C., and Juneau to advocate on behalf of our Member Tribes and therefore will not be available for your proposed February convention dates.
Again, the Executive Board believes the work that the Steering Committee is doing is important and we support its work. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me.
Raymond J. Watson is the Chairman for the Association of Village Council Presidents.
Direct Funding of Alaska Native Tribes under American Recovery & Reinvestment Act
from the Yupiaq and Athapascan Tribes of the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta Constitutional Steering Committee
2-4-09
An Open Letter to Senator Murkowski:
Thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule on January 22, 2009 to meet with us regarding the continuing need for the Healing of Alaska Native Tribes and Families and to get our input regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which is even now being constructed by yourself, your colleagues in the US Senate, the House of Representatives and President Barack Obama.
Without a long introductory, because I believe you already have a firm grasp of the issues involved up here in our state, this is a direct appeal to you to secure direct funding for our tribes under this bill instead of funneling those desperately needed funds through our ANCSA corporations, the non-profit native corporations, or even through the State of Alaska. The reasons for this are many and varied, but the most telling is this - our villages, our families, our young people, our children are in the midst of a depression, not a recession: culturally, physically, spiritually, politically and economically. They are in dire straits and are in desperate need of some ray of hope, some of which can be provided through this legislation.
In our villages live the most economically depressed people in the nation where true unemployment is as high as 80%. This year, this winter, is especially harsh due to the high cost of fuel and transportation, the crash of our commercial fisheries and because of the isolation of our communities. As you well know we also suffer the highest social pathologies of any group in the nation including the highest rates of suicide among our young people.
We realize that we will not solve all of these problems through this legislation, but we believe that we can gain some relief, some breathing room for our villages and our families even as we continue to plan for the healing, the recovery, and the restoration of Alaska’s Native tribes and families.
Without in any way criticizing the merits of Julie Kitka’s proposal to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, that the ANCSA corporations become eligible to receive funds under this bill, I have to bring out the fact that these corporations are corporations, not people, and that they represent less than half of living Alaska Natives. The Alaska Native tribes and villages on the other hand, represent 100% of Alaska’s native people and that they are the ones who live with their families and literally feed, heal, help, and even bury them when the time comes.
Senator Murkowski, these tribes, these villages are the ones that need the economic stimulus, the ray of hope, being offered by this timely legislation, they are also the ones with the “shovel ready” projects that the bill is seeking. Please consider ensuring that the funds for Alaska Native tribes under this bill go directly to them. After all, it is for people like them that this bill is being drafted. Thank you for considering our request.
Harold Napoleon is the Chairman for the Constitutional Steering Committee.
Small villages share
Emmonak's crisis
1-21-09
by Roderick Phillip
I feel deeply troubled with Emmonak’s crisis and what their people are going through. We the people of Kongiganak are also facing the same problem here and everywhere else in Alaska.
The problem with villages is that there are limited jobs in our communities and some families do not have any income to support themselves with food and fuel.
There is hope for our community through 3 projects going on here in Kongiganak. The new school project, the airport project, and the water/sewer project. The problem with some of these projects is that local people from Kongiganak will not have a chance to work in these projects.
The school project, AMI, told us that they will hire only 10 people from our village and the rest will come from the lower 48... about 20 out-of-state workers. We have many certified carpenters, welders, plumbers, electricians, and equipment operators and only a handful will work in these projects.
What is wrong with this? Our legislators say that these projects are supposed to give our villages jobs, and the people from Alaska.
The water/sewer project is great example of local hire preference. About 90% of the workers are locals and the rest are from elsewhere in Alaska. The airport project will start sometime this month but I have no information on how many of the local people will get hired in that project.
I recently emailed several of our legislators about this problem and this particular project, the school project, but have not received a response from them. I also talked with the Tribal Administrator and Traditional Council about this problem regarding the local hire preference but have not received any information. They will have a meeting with the school project supervisor sometime in the near future.
I’ve seen families in our village suffer with food and fuel, similar to what the people of Emmonak are facing. I’m trying to seek help for these people with jobs that are available here but only a handful will get a job. We are not a priority in the eyes of the school project... the people from out-of-state have higher priority than local people. This is not right!
Roderick Phillip is a resident of Kongiganak, AK.
Recycling: Past, Present and Future in the YK Delta
by Dave Stovner
Past: The recycling center in Bethel has had a varied past, which I know very little about. I have been told that Brian Glasheen who was called the “Can Man” was probably the firt person to do any type of sustained recycling here in Bethel. I am told that he was a guy that was highly motivated and dedicated and always sought to do the job with nearly no equipment and/or resources at his disposal.
From there it went to volunteers who were dedicated but like Brian, had very little to work with. Then for two years the city hired a couple of people which both stayed for about a year apiece. I believe my predecessors had the use of two free cargo containers from Northland Services Barge Company, which would be transported for the City for free.
As you see, I personally know little about Bethel’s recycling program in the past before I took over the present one-person job two and a half years ago.
Present: When the last person left I was delivering water for the city and kind of got railroaded into taking the job. The day I came to the recycling building I got a real shock because of all the material piled everywhere inside and around the building.
Outside of the building there were tires, an old twenty foot flat with various pieces of iron on it, wood, car batteries, old aluminum boats and used wire all mixed together.
Inside the building there was a pathway through the piled up paper, plastic, aluminum cans, old smelly vegetable oil, cans of motor oil, computers and just plain junk.
It took me literally three months to clean up and sort out the usable materials so that I could actually start the process of recycling. My foreman Gary Koester and his boss at the time, Wayne Ogle, gave me free rein to organize and work out a plan to change the recycling center into an efficient workable environment where we could actually do recycling.
One real positive thing that the person before me did before he left was to get a grant to purchase our large baling machine which would enable the city to do commercial sized bales which in turn would give a better cash return on recyclable items we sent out and would cut down on the man hours to make the big bales, instead of making a bunch of small bales. That baling machine was installed in the recycling center the first winter I had the job.
Then while in the process of installing it, John Sargent, the City’s grant manager and myself worked out a grant to obtain four storage containers and a Case skid steer loader from the Denali Commission so that we could move the heavy bales that we baled and then store the materials until we could get them shipped out of here.
This last spring John and I came up with an additional eight new 20-ft. storage containers, a snow bucket, a snow blade, and a set of chains for the skid steer from the Denali Commission.
The other major thing that happened was that I was able to obtain an additional two free shipping containers from Northland Services and two from Alaska Logistics. So that gives us at the present six free shipping containers that are picked up at the recycling center building and taken to the port and shipped to Seattle for the City, for free.
Last winter we baled (Tundra Correctional Facility people that were required to do community service hours) one hundred and sixty five thousand pounds of cardboard, twelve thousand pounds of paper and plastic bottles, and another thirteen thousand pounds of aluminum cans and scrap. These all went out on the barges this last spring and fall.
Future: As far as the future goes there may not be a recycling program in the future of the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. I have been informed that there is a plan to eliminate the only employee (which is me, Dave Stovner) from the recycling center and try to get some volunteers to run the recycling program like they did five or six years ago.
This idea does not seem like a very reasonable solution to me. Actually, it seems ridiculous to put so much time and effort into this project, let alone all the grant equipment, planning and city finances, then to just say we are through and discard the whole project. I wonder how our insurance company is going to like that. People running equipment unsupervised and untrained.
I can foresee the free shipping containers going away and the whole program crumbling down around someone’s ears. Why get a program going where it is actually doing some good and then cut it from the budget? I am told it is because the recycling program does not pay for itself. This is a true statement. It does not pay for itself, however, it is still the right thing to do.
The reality is that the City would save some money by throwing out the recycling program in the short term but would lose out in the long term. It would lose out in the long term both financially and ethically. If the City ever wanted to start recycling again I can assure you that it would be a real tough sale to ever be taken seriously again by the agencies that issue recycling grants. When we got the two big grants, there was an implied promise to keep recycling in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta in Bethel.
Not only would the City lose out in the long term financially, but what would we tell the school kids that are being taught to recycle? In reality, we all lose out if recycling is trashed and ends up in the trash with the rest of the garbage.
So what is the solution for those in the delta that think recycling is a good thing to do and would like to see it in our future? If you are one that cares about the recycling program, I would strongly encourage you to make your feelings known to the city council and the city manager or it will be gone by the end of March in this current budget cycle. I guarantee that it will be easier to stand up now and keep going at its present level, then it would be to try and get it back after it is cut from the budget.
For those that think I am just writing this because I am about to lose my job, let it be known that I will still have a job within the city, I would just prefer it was this one. I have put a lot of my heart and soul into this job to turn it around and make it what it is today and I hate to see it all go back to how it was when I took over.
Thank you for hearing me out. Keep in mind that this is your recycling program, so if you want to keep it going you need to step up to the plate and hit a home run by contacting the people you voted for on the city council and let them know of your concerns and desires for the future of the recycling center. Thank you for doing your part.
Dave Stovner is a concerned citizen of Bethel and the Recycling Center Manager.
Loving Grandmother
1-9-09
by Janice Andrew
The best role model I ever had was my grandmother. She may have passed on during my lifetime, but her morals and her loving nature will stay with me forever.
My grandmother’s full name was Emma “Cungauyar” Andrew. She lived in Tuntutuliak in southwestern Alaska, most of her life. She originally was from Qinaq, a really old village before Tuntutuliak was built and the people from there moved to the present site of Tuntutuliak. She was half Eskimo and half White. Back then she was a tall woman and very fit. She married twice because her late husband passed away and she had to remarry. With her first husband, she had three children, and with her second husband, she went on having six more. Because of what she went through with her first husband passing away and having to care for her three children alone, she became a very loving and caring person throughout her years. She knew what was best for her whole family. Things also may not always have gone the way she had planned, but she used to hold on to a string of hope for herself, her family, and other troubled people. She always had hope and faith for people who needed her help. This is also one of the reasons why she was my most favorite role model.
My grandmother was a very strict and caring person at the same time. She taught her children about our way of life in having total respect for others, and she taught the process of seasonal subsistence living, and she disciplined her children. In return, she expected her children to do the same for her grandchildren. I also recall that when I visited her, she sometimes tried to teach us social manners in dealing with others. For instance, when we did something without asking, she would say that it is disrespectful to people not to ask before doing it in their house, and would tell us a story of how they used to really discipline children “back then.”
For example, they sat the children down and carefully watched them until the children got what the adults were trying to get across to them. We got scared about how we saw ourselves as being mischievous somewhere in the future, and tried to follow what she told us. She also showed this strong, yet tender care through passing on her knowledge of right and wrong ways to a new generation. In the spirit of great optimism, she went to the school as much as possible to urge the students to follow traditional and spiritual morals. Sometimes it may have sounded as if she were scolding us in a disappointed or fed up manner, but it was because she deeply cared for us.
Although she was firm in her moral teachings, she deeply enjoyed making little children laugh. She showed both soft and strong humor in many of her stories. I cannot specifically recall what stories she told. If the children were getting too sleepy to listen, she told some humorous stories to get their attention. She enjoyed leaving them with a laugh or two. She seemed to leave with a smile when she knew she at least cheered up one person.
Finally, her real personality would be evident in the firm, moral teachings she gave the new generation, such as myself. She taught and passed on many things to me and my fellow cousins and relatives. One of the things she transferred to us was the importance of always listening to any Elder. In addition, she admonished us to keep going to church, read the Bible, and follow its many teachings. Seeing more and more of the mischievous children worried her because she wondered how things might turn out in their future. So she set strong strict morals within our family. Whenever setting strict morals, she had a firm, strong look in her eyes, and she told us to pay attention to her mouth when she spoke. It also seemed that she might be frustrated or angry, but she always clarified herself by saying, “I do this because I care about you.”
Before she passed on, I used to feel very safe around her. Seeing her made me feel that there was not one problem in this world that we live in. I admit that I grew up in a bad environment where sometimes it would not feel like home. So whenever I spent the night with my grandmother, all this bad energy would always be released while spending the night with her. I cannot clearly explain how she helped me in that area, but it worked like a blessing every time.
My grandmother will always be with me and others through her words, her love and her blessings. I hope to do the same for my children in the future, and hope that they love and respect me the same way that we loved and respected my grandmother.
Janice Andrew is a student at the Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel, AK.
Be a Warrior
12-22-08
by Evan Egoak
When we are warriors, we have to protect our family and our relatives because we have to protect our children’s lives, protect them from the evil. We have to teach them survival skills that we’ve been taught by our father. We have to teach them how to drive up to three- step or drive up to Heart Lake. When we teach them about our culture, we have to talk about what we did back in the days or in our future.
We have to teach our children about our tundra and getting lost. We have to tell them stories about what we did and what happens if we get lost in the wilderness. We have to tell our children about what is dangerous and what is good to eat. When we tell our children not to play with guns, we have to teach them how to take out the shells from the gun and how to stay dry when it is raining, wet snow, and snow.
We have to be a warrior and fight back to our enemy before it destroys us and leave us disabled and paralyzed. We have to be a warrior to our family and our elders. We have to teach our children how to commercial fish with relatives or friends. We have to teach them how to go fishing with a net and ice fishing net too.
We have to teach our children how to become a dad and how to hunt geese, bluebills, caribous, and moose. We have to teach our children to be brave and not fight with other people.
We have to teach them to listen to their teachers in school and listen to our elders. When we are teaching our children about all those things, they have to follow the directions that we taught them.
Evan Egoak is a 10th grader at the Ket’acik & Aapalluk Memorial School in Kwethluk, AK.
