Native Alaskans in the frozen north

 

A writer asked me to write something about the situation of Native Alaskans in my next blog post. Many people are familiar with different parts of the Native American history in this country but probably never knew that there are native people in Alaska. The history and treatment of native Alaskans follows many of the same characteristics of native people in the United States.  A recent example of this was  the topic of a 2010 PBS program entitled "Need to know".

Through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA), Native Alaskans were allocated land and the ability to form for-profit corporations to govern it. This PBS episode examines whether this program, intended by Congress to help native Alaskans, has delivered on its promise. In cooperation with the Washington Post, "Need to Know" examines whether a plan to promote the welfare of the disadvantaged and disenfranchised has instead enriched non-native executives and shortchanged taxpayers.


Please use this link  to watch this short PBS episode: 　
**"From the beginnings of Russian America to the present, Alaska Natives have experienced periods of rapid change, often with tragic results such as epidemics and culture loss. But there has also been a revitalization of Native traditions and a growing grass-roots movement to consolidate self-governance at the village level."

"But contrasts between Alaska Native cultures, state and federal policies, and regional economies is only part of the story. There are also deep ideological divisions between Alaskans, particularly among non-Natives, regarding the future prospects for Native societies."

"With regard to minority rights, those who emphasize the rights and responsibilities of the individual and healthy competition between different interests are less likely to support what they perceive as privileges belonging to Alaska Natives. Those who accept the premises of the federal-tribal relationship are more willing to consider the collective rights of tribes."


"Nevertheless, many Alaska Native villages are sweeping aside the ambiguity and establishing or strengthening their own institutions: tribal courts, tribal councils and schools. Through their own actions, they are contributing to the complex evolution of minority rights in Alaska."

　
**Alaska Native languages

Language family	Language
Eskimo-Aleut	Aleut
	Alutiiq
	Central Yupik
	Siberian Yupik
	Inupiaq
Tsimshian	Tsimshian
Haida	Haida
Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit	Tlingit
	Eyak
	Ahtna
	Tanaina
	Ingalik
	Holikachuk
	Koyukon
	Upper Kuskokwim
	Tanana
	Tanacross
	Upper Tanana
	Han
	Kutchin

**AN EDITED TIMELINE OF ALASKA:

1741- Vitus Bering sights Mt. St. Elias on Alaskan mainland.

1784- First white settlement in Alaska on Kodiak Island.

1790- Aleksandr Baranov becomes director of Russian settlement


1799- Czar Paul claims Alaska as Russian possession. Baranov named first Russian governor of Alaska.

1818 Russian navy assumes authority in Alaska.

1867- The sale of Alaska by Russia to United States - which rightfully belonged to neither .

1880 Gold discovered near Juneau.

1906- Act Authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to allot homesteads to the natives of Alaska.

1906- Alaska Native Brotherhood founded the first modern Alaska Native organization.
　
1914- Ben Benson, who as a boy 13 years old, designed Alaska’s flag, was born of an Aleut mother at Chignik. Upon the death of his mother in 1918, the orphaned boy and his younger brother were sent to the Jesse Lee Home at Unalaska.


1924- Indian Citizenship Act grants citizenship to Native Americans, including Alaska Natives, without terminating tribal rights and property.


1931- Control of education among the Natives of Alaska was transferred to the Office of Indian Affairs. Became known as the Alaska Indian Service.

1945- Alaska passes a law ending legal segregation in Alaska.

1959- Alaska Statehood Act includes provision to not take lands of Native peoples.

1961- Alaska Natives organize to protest "Project Chariot" - a plan to use nuclear weapons to blast an artificial harbor into existence in Northwest Alaska.

1962- The Tundra Times established, the first state wide newspaper devoted to representing the views and issues of Alaska Natives.

1966- Alaska Federation of Natives formed in Anchorage, Alaska.
1971- Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act becomes law. ANCSA

1972- The Marine Mammal Protection Act becomes law with the important provision that Alaska Native would be able to continue traditional use of marine mammals.

1974- A lawsuit filed against the state of Alaska on behalf of a 14-year-old Yupik student, Molly Hootch, (Tobeluk vs. Lind) for not providing local secondary schools in villages, led to dramatic changes. Due to the lack of secondary schools in rural Alaska, village students had to be sent to Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools in southeast Alaska or other western states.

1987-8 A total of 7,781 Alaska Native students were enrolled in bilingual education programs, the majority located in the Yupik and Inupiaq regions. A major obstacle to providing bilingual education is the shortage of Native speakers. According to one linguist, most Alaska Native languages (with perhaps the exception of Yupik) are spoken by few or none under the age of 40. It must also be mentioned that rural education remains dominated by non-Natives. Only 2.8 per cent of all teachers in the state are Alaska Native, and the percentage of Alaska Native school administrators is even lower.

1991 Amendments to ANCSA take affect .