April 30, 2009
Thursday

Someone please tell me what has happened to us, have we become so corporate that we have forgotten how important our food sources are to us as Alaska Natives. I ask again, where is our leadership to stop this greedy money grubbing theft of our traditional food sources. I usually don't write in the Sitnews unless I'm discussing Gaming and all the money that is made in almost every State but Alaska with the exception of Metlakatla and they could make so much more if they really addressed gaming the way it should be, but that's another subject.

It is usually my friend Don Hoff who addresses these type of issues but I am sick that we are allowing another food source to be taken from us for money, can we take seaweed when we want, where is the Abolone that Francis Dunne and I used to get from the rocks at low tide with our knives, where are the sea cucumber? It just goes on and on and now the crab. One of my fondest memories was when Uncle George and Aunty Mary took us kids to get crab from Bostwick. Are my grand kids going to be able to do the same, I doubt it because someone has to make money on our food source. Where is KIC and Tlingit & Haida Central Council?

In my more radical days I would be advocating stretching boats and skiffs across the crab grounds and stopping this. Now I ask the Alaska Native people both Indian and non-Indian to rise up and stop this insanity to take our food sources. Fish and game won't be happy until we lose all Alaska and what it was and is and that is our unique ability to still subsist off the land and especially the ocean.

Let's stop making money off our Alaska food sources and save some of the real Alaska for our children and our grandchildren.

I have owned three businesses and run multi-million dollar casinos so I understand business and making money -- although gaming may not be acceptable to everyone you have a choice to gamble or not. We do not have that same choice with our own food sources, others make the decisions for us so they can allow a few to make money and we all must pay the price without the ability to say NO.

Isn't it time we took Alaska back from those that would see it become the memory and footnote as the last frontier because those bureaucrats don't understand the unique reason many never leave Alaska and those that do, always have Alaska in our hearts and souls. Let's start working together to keep what's left of Alaska's food sources safe for Alaskan's now and in the future.

Randy Williams
Omak, WA

About: " Alaska Native, commercial fisherman"

Received April 28, 2008 - Published April 30, 2009

Viewpoints - Opinion Letters:

Webmail Your Opinion Letter to the Editor

SitNews ©2000
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska