An Open Letter from Rural Alaska to the Parnell Administration
~~CC Strongheart happily plays in a late summer puddle in the Village of Ugashik, while her mother Ann seeks answers about her future from the State of Alaska.~~
Dear Governor Parnell, Mr. Moller, Ms. Jollie, Mr. Black and others;
After reading the article in the Dispatch I am gravely concerned and worried even more so than before about what this winter will bring to rural Alaska .
Not only is the lack of both subsistence and commercial fishing, greatly diminishing our ability to put away fish for the winter but also the lack of funds brought in from commercial fishing is now making it hard, if not impossible, for rural Alaskans to put away other subsistence game.
Moose season is now. The birds are flying now. Now is the time to be out hunting for seals and whales. All of these types of game are critical for us to survive this winter. If we cannot purchase gas to go out and hunt then I fear this winter we will have a crisis of much greater proportions than last winter. Last winter we were able to depend a little bit on other game that we had put up for the winter since we were lacking fish.
It looks like this winter that option will not be available to many rural Alaskans because they simply cannot afford the gas and other necessities required to go out hunting.
I am quite confident in saying that none of us want to again have to rely on food and fuel drives to keep rural Alaska from having to make the choice between feeding their families or heating their homes this winter. Additionally, I am certain that ADF&G will NOT open up commercial fishing of Coho Salmon to try to help rural Alaskans earn some money for fuel. Even if they do, there might not be a market for them and the money that might be made probably won’t do much to avert another crisis this winter.
So what can we do??? I know that a fisheries disaster declaration went to Washington DC . But let’s be realistic, even if a disaster is declared the help and funds will be slow to come. Although these monies and aid will help, they will not bring back the birds, the seals, the whales and other game we need to put away for winter.
There has to be something we can do NOW. Fuel vouchers for gas so we can hunt now before the game heads south? There has to be some type of emergency funding available to help rural Alaskans now, so we can try to put away enough game to make it through the winter.
Last winter the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) stepped in and helped. Who can help NOW? I refuse to think that there isn’t something that can be done now. We have been seeing the warning signs for months. Winter is fast approaching. Help and solutions need to happen NOW before people have to make the same life threatening decisions they had to make last winter.
Step up NOW, help NOW! Come up with solutions NOW before we have a much bigger crisis than last winter.
Rural Alaskans will tell you NOW is the time we need help, NOW is the time to help prevent another crisis this winter. NOW, before winter sets in is the time to do something, not later when we start getting reports of families going without food or going cold this winter.
Please do your jobs, help your people! We are telling you NOW that there is a high risk for a repeat of last year’s crisis only this year it looks to be much worse than last years. Don’t ignore us, don’t wait until we are freezing and going without food to hear us. Help EMPOWER us NOW, to keep us from having another crisis this winter. Last winter was hard; this winter looks like it’s going to be worse. We need to start coming up with solutions for not only this winter but also what about next year and after that? Plan ahead, come up with solutions now, let’s not keep going through the same thing year after year. Don’t ignore us and placate us until we are in a full emergency crisis winter after winter.
Coming up with solutions and preventative measures now will not only empower us but also will save hard earned taxpayers money now and in the future I am sure.
Quyana Cakneq in advance for your attention to this serious matter. I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you. This letter is an open letter to not only all of you but also will be posted on my blog and cc’d to various media and blogs.
Ann Strongheart
Ugashik Village
I’m sorry Rural Alaska. We can no longer subsidize your so-called “subsistence” lifestyle. Your ancestors did not have fuel vouchers, yet they survived.
Many of us would like to live out in rural Alaska, but must live in cities and large towns in order to survive.
Just a point to consider. Rural Alaskan’s ancestors also did not have factory trawlers competing for fishing resources and wasting tens of thousands of salmon as bycatch every year. They also did not have to comply with limitations set by state and federal regulations for game and fish. Are you suggesting we level the playing field and do away with all the things that interfere? Because I’m guessing that if we sent the factory trawlers packing and closed that fishery, there would be enough to open a commercial salmon fishery on the Yukon, thereby giving people an actual income with which to buy fuel. And are you suggesting that all village residents move to Anchorage and Fairbanks and Juneau? How well do you think that would work? AKM
Man_from_Unk
Thank you for visiting here! I read all of your comments at the Alaska Dispatch. Yep, CDQs are on the short list of issues which our group of rural residents & advocates would like to address, thank you for the reminder!
Thank you Ann for coming back to speak for the poor people of Western Alaska. And, thank you blogger ‘TanteF’ for your direct link to Vice President Biden.
Where is the CDQ program in all of this? The CDQ program was formed in the early 90’s with royalities from the Bering Sea Factory Trawler Pollock Fishery. They knew then that the Salmon ByCatch issue was going to have long term effects on the people dependant on the salmon resources in Western Alaska. But, right away the CDQ Managers jumped into the Bering Sea with the biggies. Last winter it was reported that the CDQ programs were in deep trouble with IRS for failing to pay taxes on the profits from their involvement in the Pollock Fishery. Millions of dollars worth that could be helping the people if the monies were managed right in the first place. The poor people of the Western Alaska Coastal Area supposedly own the CDQ millions. Let’s hold them accountable for helping to destroy our cultural and traditional dependance on the salmon resources through their involvement in the Bering Sea Pollock Fishery.
Ann, I love you. And I am so sorry that you have to do this letter writing to bring awareness and change for survival. Goodness gracious, what is wrong with this system. That a group of people who have been here the longest, have to plead for help from a government that took over their land. It hurts my soul. I am so sorry.
ANN STRONGHEART, my hugs and strength to you, I love you and all your family.
Hope they can afford the fuel to go fishing.
———————-
It’s more than likely the processor will front fuel to fishermen… HE was one of the parties involved in the request to have this opening.
Best wishes for a good day tomorrow , neighbors!!!!!!
De-lurking here to correct #27 Tantef: Alaska is the 49th state, my home state Hawaii is the 50th (I now live in Florida).
I’ve only really learned about the tremendous hardships suffered by Alaska’s native people from this blog; mainstream media certainly doesn’t cover it. I really hope Parnell and the Alaska legislature will act quickly. My home congregation in Hawaii sends a group to rural Alaska every summer to spend a couple of weeks in a village (I’m sorry, I don’t know exactly where) doing mission work and bringing practical items as well; it’s been doing it for more than a decade.
Ann Strongheart is a true heroine, and I wish her and her family all the best. I will do what I can to send a little monetary help.
Hope they can afford the fuel to go fishing.
And way to go State of Alaska.
I really think they are trying to listen more than that previous worst-ever-governor. Kind of catches one off guard when they listen and respond. They have been doing more of that recently.
way to go Nick….
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/news/rural-alaska/1820-state-grants-commercial-fishing-for-silvers-on-the-lower-yukon
That whole administration should have responded way last year when it became apparent what was going on with the native population and the heat or food deal and it was not.There has been plenty of time to address this this year and so far as I have read or heard nothing so far has been done.Ann Kudos to you for standing up for not only yourself but your whole native community.
Ann: you are terrific and we are with you. I love that you are continuing your activism in spite of your loss, or perhaps in Segundo’s honor. I hope Parnell responds with the needed vouchers.
On a purple T-shirt/sweatshirt from Cafe Press to serve as publicity for turning this state/nation purple NOW :
I
StrongHeart (<—with a red heart here)
Alaska
Tantef – I love what you said about Ann: Alaskan Native heroine. That she is.
Jay – thanks for pointing out that Ann not only points out problems, but actually offers solutions.
Western AK (and the whole state, for that matter) is lucky to have her. EEEEEEE, Ann!
What’s terrific about Ann’s letter, among other things, is that she offers numerous solutions. Most immediate and empowering would be gas vouchers. Being from the lower 48, I had no idea how critical the timing of hunting is each year. I hope her plea is answered fast. Perhaps HuffPo will pick up on this letter and post it, resulting in more nationwide attention.
I just sent the following to my ex Senator, who also happens to be our new Vice President: Hope it helps.
Dear Vice President Biden,
Wow ’tis nice to type that. I worked on your first campaign and was pleased to be your constituant for all those years. Being from Sussex County I appreciate your representation of all the people of Delaware, including us liberals. I am contacting you from the 1st State with a request that you look into a coming problem in the 50th State. Below I have linked a letter from an Alaskan Native heroine that was sent to the state
government and also to some concerned blogs. If something is not done within the next few weeks the Native Peoples in Alaska are going to be in worse shape than they were last winter, when some of us in the lower 49 were sending flat rate food boxes to get them through. I wanted to bring this to your, or your staff’s, attention to see if you could perhaps grease the wheels of the process to get some help to these people. Please have someone take the time to go read Ann Strongheart’s letter and the comments left on the blog. This is a kitchen table issue of mammoth proportions.
Thank you for your service, past and future. (Al)Frieda
I hope that it is a good thing that it is Parnell and not Palin who received this letter. At a time of extreme difficulty, Ann Strongheart has made the situation clear.
I think Parnell may be more effective on this front, Palin was always distracted by the cult of personality surrounding her. He is a nice man, but not really a leader – I’m positive he possesses more practical management skills than Palin.
I think he’s going to be stunningly weak against the oil companies and surprisingly responsive to the needs of the general population. After the year we’ve spent in Palin’s shadow I’m not sure the balance shift will be all bad. Taking on Big Oil takes a lot of time and energy away from issues that affect our families in the here and now.
Diane: Actually I hear the Parnells are really nice people. They also support their children and they value their family life. They are responsible parents and they don’t exploit their children for personal political gain.
Unfortunately Mr. Parnell served with Alaska’s worst governor. That lady was so awful that if Alaska was a state for a thousand years she’d still be the worst ever. His administration is largely a legacy of that mess with all its baggage. We scratch our heads and wonder how that former governor person ever conned her way into being entrusted by voters . . .
He’ll be campaigning, and he’s probably already started. Alaska will need to start its next administration with a clean slate and I doubt he’ll be part of that. During the interim we will need to watch his rural actions carefully and weed out the ones that are just campaign maneuvers. I’m fed up with politicians exploiting rural Alaska for their personal gain.
Does Gov. or Mrs. Parnell bake cookies and do they belong to a church??
It is good that Ann’s written this heart-felt letter now to the new governor. Thank you AKM for publishing it here.
When I saw this letter earlier (unless I was bleary-eyed from trying to keep up with posts), Little Miss CC was not headlining this post. CC is certainly adorable playing in the mud!
Through it all, I thank God for Ann Strongheart in her love for people in need. We can learn a lot from love in action.
Ann, by your actions, you demonstrate the directive to love one another and to treat people the way you want to treated as a matter of righteousness. Bless you.
Ann-
You know what? I have a million things I could say, because I’ve been working on getting information out of the State for weeks, months! It’s enough to cause one to pull out their already very fine hair. I could go on about intentions, the politics of pretending to be proactive, and the inability of the State to do anything quickly except form more panels, task forces, and subcabinets which are ineffective or forgotten. But I won’t (although I did a bit, sneaky me!) because I just want to say:
YOU ARE AN INCREDIBLE PERSON!
You can chew someone out and smile a very confident smile while doing it. You can hold their feet to the fire while tickling their toes to make them twitch. There is toughness & determination, no question – but just as important – you share a part of inner self in your public voice. Giggling to myself, I just doubt that those state muckety mucks (yes, they are until they prove themselves useful) sit around going “Gee, I wonder who this Ann somebody is?” ROFLMAO!
P. S. Since I worked for the SOA in admin, I reserve the right to call bureaucrats who make stuff up and pretend they didn’t, muckety mucks. They are spending far too much time telling the press how much they’ve done, how accessible they are, how lofty their goals – instead of just going to work, getting their hands scuffed up a bit, and actually asking Rural Alaskans for ideas in which the State can actually assist and be effective for these Alaskans.
YOU GO GIRL!
Ann – you have more strength than I can imagine. We support you, your family, and your people. I hold out hope that Gov. Parnell will respond.
p.s. CC is adorable.
I am an outsider. Every state has its challenges, but we took Alaska as a state, we should provide for Alaska. What you are describing is a third world concern in the United States of America. Your letter needs to reach Washington and beyond.
Thank you for all of the villagers affected by this potential devastation. You are a true hero. Many blessings.
Very compelling and urgent letter, Ann. The rural community is lucky to have you as their very vocal advocate. It would be surprising if a response was not obtained. Hopefully, it will be adequate and timely.
What a gorgeous li’l mudpuppie that CC is! :>)
Ann, you are a ‘Strong of Heart’–and mightly so. God bless you.
Good luck, Ann.
I told everyone last year to save up for this year.
You are truly inspiring. Thank you.
Ann, what an amazing and compelling letter. I find it sad that it has to even be written at all. This issue, being such a disaster last winter, should already be on the radar and things should have been proactively put into place in anticipation of a recurrence.
I like Empish’s idea!
Warm thoughts and hugs to you and CC. Please keep us all posted on what response you get from your letter.
I can’t vote for you Ann, but I agree with Empish. Run! Rural Alaska needs an intelligent, vigilant and caring person such as yourself to give them a voice. I also agree with Ripley, you are amazing. And CC is pretty dang cute, too!
Governor Parnell needs to be pushed into putting people like Ann Strongheart and Nick Tucker on the Rural Action Sub-Cabinet. Clearly the needs of the villages are being neglected and they need local representatives to ensure that the issues facing them are addressed.
Run for office Ann! I think you have what it takes. I think I can safely say that hundreds of Mudpuppies will be behind you 100%,
Little Miss CC is absolutely adorable… 😉
Ann You are remarkable…They have been forewarned…((hugs)) to you and cc
It is nice to have such a brave, intelligent, and compassionate woman to look up to. Ann, your are an inspiration. Please let us lower 48ers know what we can do to help. I am in awe of you – your focus and determination brings tears to my eyes.
So good to hear your voice again Ann…and with such compassion & strength of purpose. We love you dearly ~ and will always be here for you all; in and out of season.
Take good care.
Ann Strongheart thank you for your courage.
Bless you Anne – you are a shining example of what I would like to see for all our young ladies.
This is a shame. The state has taken away so many of the rights from our native people in favor of commercial capitalism. This needs to change!
Is there a fund set up so we can make donations? There are many, many people that would be honored to help in whatever way we can.
Right now there is a fund set up specifically for Ann, her daughter CC and the new baby that is on the way to help them through this difficult time after the unexpected passing of her husband Segundo. You can see the link up on the top of the sidebar that says “Strongheart Memorial Fund”. Donations to villages of funds and supplies happened last winter, and I will give specific information about that for this winter as soon as it becomes available. AKM
The ball’s in YOUR court, Parnell.
Do the right thing.
OK, I guess I have never understood why native people are thought of and treated as less than human. I truly do not understand. I was able to have the privilege of getting to know some Pueblo families. Their respect for the land and harmony with the seasons was a real learning experience.
Ann, keep on going, even in this tough time for you. Yes, I will also say, you are one amazing woman.
Warm hugs and prayers to you, Anne Strongheart.
What can we Outsiders do? Maybe this should be mailed to every Alaskan State Legislator, to the Alaskan Congresspeople- posted in all state newspapers…
It is very sad that Ann has to write a letter to Gov Parnell to even look into this situation, he should have been looking after this as a preventive measure long time ago, even at a Lt Gov.
Ann Strongheart, you are one amazing woman.