Pinariuq II conference starts today in Akiak
I wanted to announce the Pinariuq II conference of the Yupiit Nation Board of Trustees and Council of Elders to be held June 26-27 at the Akiak High School.
The Yupiit Nation Constitution and By-Laws were already approved from the past meetings. YN is going to re-appoint the board of trustees and board of elders at the meeting and update on the charter the first day.
The second day, we are planning to hear from Gene Peltola, CEO of Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., and Myron Naneng, president, Association of Village Council Presidents, addressing the assembly on health and social issues of our Yupiaq peoples.
We are also hearing reports from Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, National Congress of American Indians, United League of Indigenous Nations Treaty, U.N. Declaration of Indigenous Rights update.
We are also going to have a forum for State House District 38 candidates. Tony Vaska, Eric Middlebrook and Bob Herron will be given 15 minutes each on what they plan to do with follow-up questions.
I want to invite all of you to come up and join us for the meeting and our Tribal Gathering activities, raffles, SOBER fiddle dancing and other activities.
If you have any questions, call the Akiak Native Community at 765-7112 or myself at 765-7426.
— Mike Williams,
Interim president, Yupiit Nation,
Akiak
Don’t call me ‘Eskimo’
To Alaska First People and others: By not using slang words such as tribes, Natives, Alaska Natives, Eskimos, Aleuts, Indians, American Indians, Sioux or Navajos to describe ourselves, we help remind the general mainstream public that we are people and human beings. We are not something less than human beings, which is what slang words communicate.
Even the word “tribes” means “herds of animals.” First People respect animal herds, but we are physically different from them, and we do not see animal herds in the negative way white mainstream America sees them.
Slang, stereotyping and white-people-sponsored, intentional institutionalized racial conditioning is an everyday tough bad sin and habit that we all need to interrupt and stop to help promote total community wellness and economic prosperity for our beloved brown people and people of color in communities across oceans, Alaska and Americas.
The business name Alaska Federation of Natives has to go as a first big step to show awareness of the negativity of slang words and to show sovereign community respect.
To presidential candidate Barack Obama, please make sure you refer to America’s First Peoples as sovereign communities and not tribes, which is slang for groups of animals.
And do not call us by other slang terms such as Natives, Alaska Natives, Eskimos, Aleuts, Indians, American Indians, etc. Call us people, or by our pre-Columbus names if you know them.
Thank you.
— Miskaaguluk O’Neill,
Anchorage
Remembering John Malone
To John Malone’s many friends and his close family:
I was more than saddened to hear from Bill Proudfoot of John’s passing (The Tundra Drums, May 15). I knew John best when we were teenagers, and he moved to my hometown of Elkins, W.Va. I kept in touch with him over the years and will always miss him.
He had ideas that were new, exciting and different.
He seemed to possess a constant energy and never tired of telling his stories. He talked often of Jason and Rosie, both of whom he loved a great deal. He was so proud of both of his younger children.
I have heard many times of the accomplishments of Gail Thomas and her abilities to achieve some pretty amazing feats.
I thought he would get well.
— Ann Kump Finley,
Warner Robins, Ga.
Chaninik Wind Group offers thanks
On behalf of the Chaninik Wind Group, first I want to thank God, for nothing is possible without him.
I want to express my gratitude to Gov. Sarah Palin and the Legislature for their leadership in approving funding for rural wind energy initiatives. The funding for the Chaninik will be used to construct a group of wind-diesel hybrid projects in the villages of Kwigillingok, Kipnuk and Tuntutuliak and comes as a true blessing at this time of unbearable fuel prices.
There are many important issues before the governor and the Legislature. To those of us in rural Alaska, no issue is more pressing than the crippling cost of energy. Most communities are entirely dependent on diesel fuel, and prices have risen $1 per gallon in the last month, with no relief in sight.
Sen. Lyman Hoffman and Rep. Mary Nelson deserve special thanks and support from all Alaskans for their wisdom in recognizing the importance of funding projects like Chaninik as a pathway away from dependency on fossil fuel and toward a future of lower energy costs, stable healthy communities and new opportunities.
Our first goals include constructing our projects as soon as possible, offsetting 30 percent of the electrical generation with wind, and lowering our electric rates.
Our second set of goals aims at expanding the use of wind to displace 40 percent of the fuel used for power generation and for home heating. If we are prudent, with energy conservation, improvements in efficiency and by developing and sharing our resources, there is a way forward.
Once again, I want to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to our smart and hardworking legislators and their many years of effort and understanding and to the governor for her wisdom and leadership in supporting the Legislature.
Finally, I need to thank my colleagues, Harvey Paul of Kongiganak, Sam Carl of Kipnuk and Deanna Paul of Tuntutuliak, and their community members, corporations, schools and fellow workers at the village IRA and Traditional Council Offices, the members of the governing body, and the support of our regional corporation, Calista, and its directors.
— William Igkurak, President
Chaninik Wind Group and Utilities and Facilities Director,
Kwigillingok
Port of Bethel asks for patience
The Port of Bethel will be working on replacing all of the approaches in the small boat harbor beginning sometime in late June and continuing throughout the 2008 summer season.
Port staff will have to shift floats around as the work progresses.
The port apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause but would like to assure the public that the repairing of the approaches in the small boat harbor is for the benefit of the public to ensure safety and provide better access to all users of this facility.
We appreciate your patience and understanding.
— Lee M. Foley,
Port director,
Bethel
Seal hunt article horrific
I am writing with concern about the article in your paper, “Hunters watch for seal” (May 15, The Tundra Drums) by Mary Lochner.
What a horrible article. You should be ashamed to have such an article in your paper — glorifying barbaric murder of helpless animals. Have some decency and think of the people that read your paper.
Don’t allow stuff of this nature to be publicized. There is nothing beautiful about killing animals. I am in shock that your paper would allow this.
Why don’t you do an article on how much torture the poor seals have to endure? Look at the other points of view, not just the hunters that find it fun to kill.
— Sarah Panullo,
Waymart, Pa.
As the school year comes to a close
On behalf of the Lower Yukon School District administration and board, I would like to congratulate all the graduating seniors in 2008. You all have worked hard over the last 12 or 13 years to accomplish this life-changing goal.
You are now free to make other educational decisions, and I hope that each one of you will choose to further your formal education by attending college, vocational school, joining the military or getting on the job training. As each one of you make those choices in life, always remember that once you learn something, no one can take that knowledge away from you.
Many of you may take a year or two off from school to figure out what it is in life that you truly want to do. As you work a local job or around the village or town, seek out information from the City Council, tribal council, corporation or the school district that would benefit you in making choices.
We school districts will always be available to help you out in providing information that you are seeking for guidance in your future endeavors. Should you not get help from your local school or district, contact me at the Lower Yukon School District Office at (907) 591-2411, ext. 204, and I will do my best in getting you help.
For the rest of the young students in our district and region, thank you for concentrating on your studies this past school year. All your efforts will be reflected in the results of the State Standards Based Assessments, I hope many of our schools on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta make Adequate Yearly Progress this year.
I don’t want to leave without thanking the most important people who made this all possible, our parents and teachers. You are all very much appreciated for your work in the success of all our children/students. Have a safe and wonderful summer.
— John H. Lamont,
Superintendent, Lower Yukon School District,
Mountain Village
Let students play regardless of age
My name is Faith Joe. I’m from Hooper Bay. I attend Hooper Bay High School.
I am writing this letter in regards to an Alaska School Activities Association rule on eligibility. From what I’ve heard, we can’t join any sports our senior year if we’re already 19 or soon going to be 19. I am going to be a senior this coming fall and I’ll be 19 years of age.
I have friends that have asked me if I’m going to join sports my senior year. I had to tell them, “No, I can’t join because of the AASA rule.” My friends and I were put down because some of us have not been able to play any sports together as friends.
I really love playing sports, but this AASA rule is stopping me from joining any sports my senior year. I enjoy playing basketball with my peers.
We love to laugh and have good times with each other. I was held back in eighth grade, or I would have been a senior this year. However, I chose a different path.
I know there are others that are going through the same difficulty as me, and I hope that AASA can change the rule about joining basketball and other sports.
There can be other reasons why we’re 19 during our senior year. It can be because we were sick when we were younger, slow learning or went to another place for school.
It isn’t our fault that we are here in school at the age of 19. Our parents encourage us to learn more about education so that we are ready for the future.
Please give us the opportunity to join sports our last year of high school. We only go through high school once in our lifetime. So, please understand.
Quyana cakneq.
— Faith Joe,
Hooper Bay
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