Western Alaska makes the LA TIMES. Sarah's not going to like this.

[Blue_In_AK]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rural-alaska25-2009jan25,0,6182382.story

In rural Alaska, villagers suffer in near silence

Kim Murphy / Los Angeles Times

Nastasia Wassilie waited alone for days with little food and no heat before villagers in Tuluksak, Alaska, came to offer what little help they could spare. Bush residents struggle to balance the need for food with the need for fuel -- the building blocks of survival in a frigid winter that has months to go. Some call for massive airlifts of aid.

By Kim Murphy
January 25, 2009

Reporting from Tuluksak, Alaska -- As the temperature plunged to minus-40 degrees last month, Nastasia Wassilie waited.

The 61-year-old widow had run out of wood and fuel oil, and had no money to buy more. Nor was there much food in the house. But people here in rural Alaska try to take care of themselves. Her sister would come to help. Surely she would.

Nearly three days later, when neighbors learned of Wassilie's plight, the Tribal Council put out a call on the VHF radio that is the lifeline for most of the far-flung Yupik Eskimo villages along this remote stretch of the Kuskokwim River.

People who had enough gas for their snowmobiles immediately set off across miles of tundra, hauling firewood back to Wassilie's small house. A few offered helpings of dry fish, which most families keep in the larder for winter.

There was little more they could do. Nearly every one of Tuluksak's roughly 500 residents is performing a perilous balancing act between food and fuel -- the building blocks of survival in a frigid winter that still has months to go.

<snip> ... more

Wassilie was making her way to the village post office the other day -- her slight, shuffling figure smothered in a dark parka, moving like a blackbird on the snow.

Asked why she had waited so long to seek help, she shrugged, and smiled, and blinked, and didn't answer at all.

Tucker says he's seen the same thing all over. Shame. Pride. Silence.

"You would think a Yupik village like this would be aware of its neighbors' needs, but we weren't, because people were so shy and quiet," he said. "They were suffering alone. Like one of them said during our testimonials with the state officials, 'I thought I was the only one.' "

[Andy823]

1. It's a shame

The the governor of Alaska is to busy trying to position herself for a run for president in 2012 that the people in her state are suffering like this! It's perfect example of the kind of leader Palin is, and it's not a pretty site! I hope this gets plastered all over he MSM, and Palin has to get her head out of that dark place she has it, and do something for the people of her state instead of trying to cut book deals, and trashing everyone in order to make her loss the fault of others instead of taking the blame herself!

[rainbow4321]

21. She took time to fill the empty positions of legislature director &

a coordinator for the Alaska Gasoline Inducement Act BUT neglects to fill the office of Rural Advisor. Guess if you don't plan on doing shit about the rural problems, there is no need for an advisor. And given that she has now placed a state government "hiring freeze", does that mean she will NOT be hiring a Rural Advisor any time soon??


http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/14/sarah-palin-lies-about-bloggers-while-we-save-a-town-she-lets-die/

Governor Sarah Palin has left the office of Rural Advisor vacant since early October. There isn't an interim person. Attorney General Talis Colberg is supposed to be handling the slack, but his office hasn't returned any of my calls.

[Ken Burch]

32. It's not that hard to understand. Sarah Palin and her party don't WANT Rural Alaska to survive

If they had their way, they'd have Kit Carson reanimated just to poison the wells. Or maybe Andrew Jackson to force a new Trail of Tears.

The Alaska Republican Party is basically the Manifest Destiny Fan Club.

[beac]

49. I guess their usefulness to her is ONLY when she can claim the First Dud's

1/16 Eskimo blood makes the Palins "victims" of discrimination. :eyes:

[Ken Burch]

60. I'm surprised she hasn't pulled strings to get them to say he meets "blood quantum".

(Or maybe we just haven't found out yet?)

[The Wielding Truth]

56. Who's that Alaskan Governor, hmm? Who's not doing their job?

[louis-t]

2. The woman has no gloves on!

Minus 40? She's a lot tougher than I am. Why would ANYBODY want to live where it's that cold 6 months out of the year?

[uppityperson]

10. It's not that cold 6 months out of the yr, and maybe because it is where she was born, her ancestors

were born and lived, etc.

Part of the problem is people have grown away from traditional living and rely on things like stick built houses and snow machines rather than living in small (don't know what they lived in traditionally, tents with brush?) and using dog teams.

Here is NWS page for Yukon delta, just for fun: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=AKZ214
Emmonak Is on the Yukon, while Tuluksak is on the Kuskokwim, but they are similar as far as climate http://www.weather.gov
/data/obhistory/PAEM.html

Bethel is the biggest "city" nearby. Here is wunderground link, nws doesn't want to give me theirs: http://www.wunderground.com/US/AK/Bethel.html

[Blue_In_AK]

26. I don't know what the people out there traditionally used as shelter

but the Alutiiq people from here in Southcentral used to build very cool underground houses which the Russians called barabaras. The Natives had complex cultures going on here for 10,000 years and did just fine until the arrival of Europeans. The amalgamation of subsistence and modern ways that they're being required to live under now just isn't working. Some people here say they should just let the villages die and the people move into the towns and cities, but that just creates a whole new set of problems.

I personally think the demise of the villages would be a very sad thing indeed.


Here's a poignant story of a village girl trying to "make it" in the big city. http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/anchorage/newcity/story/666808.html

[uppityperson]

28. paritally subterranean permanent winter homes...

http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~epsadm03/yupik.html
During the summer edible greens and berries grow prodigiously, and spruce and birch trees are common along streams. Unlike far northern Eskimos, who built igloos for shelter, the Yup'ik used these trees and driftwood to build partially subterranean, permanent winter homes. In the spring and summer groups of families moved to sealing and fishing camps, but returned to the permanent camps for the winter.
(clip)

The Yup'ik have also seen major changes. Modern houses with electricity have replaced the qasgiq and enet. Small towns with churches and schools have replaced the traditional winter communities, and airplanes supply the residents with modern supplies. While many residents fish and trap for a living, the economy of the communities is also dependent on public monies in the form of wages and salaries to government-employed workers, creating a situation of dependence on government rather than the traditional practice of self-sufficiency. ...(lots more)

------------------
Fishing camps in the summer

[Blue_In_AK]

30. They still go out to fish camp.

That was an issue last August when the primary for our House candidate was held. Alaska Native candidate Diane Benson lost some votes because people out in the Bush were at fish camp instead of in their polling places. We worked really hard on absentee early voting, but it wasn't enough...the city Dems nominated Ethan Berkowitz who then lost to Don Young, who is seen (I don't know why) as a friend of the Natives. Diane took the Bush handily, but the total numbers just weren't there for her. Alaska and the U.S.'s loss, in my opinion.

[sasquuatch55]

39. .....did just fine until the arrival of Europeans.

It's the same all over. Look at what they've destroyed throughout the world.

[uppityperson]

3. k&r for keeping this in public view.

[Lint Head]

4. Isn't 'Palin Comparison' doing a wonderful job as Governor of

'I'll Ask Her'. Go ahead GOP assholes. Run the washed up beauty queen as a presidential candidate. "Merika needs more meth babies" could be her motto.
:dem:

[DCKit]

5. Sarah Palin: "Let them eat Moose-cake" n/t

[jpak]

12. Queen Sarah's Katrina Moment?

:shrug:

[LakeSamish706]

6. Hey, don't you all be bothering Sarah.... She has much harder things to do....

like killing Beluga whales... :sarcasm:

I will never understand the thought process of Republicans... This is just disgusting.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

54. nope. She's picking out designer garbage bags to store her clothes in.

$180,000 worth of clothes.

[TWiley]

7. Oops, the policy of corporate welfare FAILED ..... No Trickle-Down Firewood !

Why was anyone suprised to hear that the party of an oil-baron president would nominate a governor from an oil-rich state? More odd is the total lack of media coverage on the relationship between Palin and oil-company interests.

[LakeSamish706]

8. Blue_In_AK: Do you know if there any donation sites set up to donate to? n/t

[Luminous Animal]

16. Donation info from Daily Kos

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/16/102821/811/81/676218

UPDATE: Via Kossack peacearena, here is some contact information for a local community organizer named Fannie Bates. Send food, money, anything you think would help get the people of Emmonak through this hard winter.

Send to:
Fannie Bates
Emmonak Public School
100 School Drive
Emmonak, AK 99581

City of Emmonak, [phone]/1249
(They will take donations by credit card. Please specify the donation is for heating oil!)
Emmonak Tribal Council, [phone]

or send a check to:
Emmonak Tribal Council
P.O. Box 126
Emmonak, AK 99581

[LakeSamish706]

17. Thanks! n/t

[hughee99]

9. This is a great example of what's wrong with Palin...

because people in states run by Dems don't have to choose between food and fuel (or have neither).

[jpak]

11. And how much money did her chic designer wardrobe cost?

:puke:

[Inspired]

13. Maybe Palin can donate some of that 11 million advance she's so desperately seeking...

to helping Alaskans who desperately need it, also.

[Frustratedlady]

15. Or from the sale of her red "Yellow Brick Road" shoes on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sarah-Palin%27s-Red-Naughty-Monkey-Heels_W0QQitemZ270333037673QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090121?IMSfp=TL090121155003r37292#ebayphotohosting

[uppityperson]

18. "aunt sarah"s shoes? $1200? good grief

[sunnystarr]

36. What struck me more was .....

Reserve not met

Makes me wonder what the reserve is. Guess it wouldn't be cool for Sarah to put them on eBay so she had her niece do it for her.

[LynneSin]

43. Did you see the bid history on these shoes. Niece doesn't seem too bright either

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=270333037673

She starts the bid at $500 and who knows where the reserve is set but at more than double the original bid ($1200) the reserve is still not met.

This is why I hate 'reserve not met' bids. If you know you want a certain price for the item then set the starting price at that level.

[bahrbearian]

23. Appropriately Named "Sarah Palin's Red Naughty Monkey Heels'

[LynneSin]

34. I thought those clothes were to be returned or donated to charity

How is donating these shoes to her niece to put on Ebay a part of charity

[rucognizant]

40. If you read through all

The shop in Juneau where they were purchased BEFORE the VP selection, writes a note of authentication!
BOY are they UGLY! and "double dare naughty monkey shoes"?????????
That she bought them..proof she's NOT FIT to be any kind of leader.....how precioussssssss.

[LynneSin]

42. Yeah I saw that

I highly doubt those shoes are NOT worth $1200 or whatever the reserve value is.

[uppityperson]

48. But they were on "HER" feet!!!!!1111 swoon

[Kittycat]

51. You can buy them new for $70.

[tanyev]

58. Oh, there must be lots of freepers willing to pay $1200 to sniff Sarah's shoes.

But first one of them has to successfully persuade Mom to let him use her credit card.

[Blue_In_AK]

27. That's what I was thinking. n/t

[Jamastiene]

14. Poverty is such a problem in so many places.

People literally having to choose between food and warmth in the dead of winter....:cry:

[malaise]

19. Glad to see this making national media

K & R

[eirteacher]

20. "C" word from the Klondike's Katrina

I hope this will be the "C" word from the Klondike's Katrina

[Chulanowa]

22. I'm so glad I left that state...

"Stories about Emmonak prompted a number of angry comments to the Anchorage Daily News, some noting that rural families often collect tens of thousands of dollars from the state's annual oil dividends and from annual tribal corporation payouts, and asking why city dwellers should subsidize them even more."

Tens of thousands of dollars my brown ass. Maybe five grand a year, in a really good year. But that's beside the point. "They're freezing do death, why should I have to help them out"? WHAT THE FUCK.

[Fireweed247]

24. hey, I love this state!

But yeah some of the people are nuts. I frequent the ADN to fight back with common sense.

The thing is, the state has so much money, why can't the government help out a bit? There is also the Native Corporations who I cannot for the life of me figure out why they aren't helping.

And the most obvious solution would be next year, let the native people fish before the out of state commercial fishermen...duh!!!

[Chulanowa]

25. Oh, the state is fine. The people that live there scare me

It's not that the government can't, it's that the government won't. The trailer trash degenerates running the state are of the same mind as that LTTE writer.

[Blue_In_AK]

29. I frequent the ADN, too.

There are some real hard cases around here, for sure, but I would say that the majority of the responders have their hearts in the right place, at least judging from the recommendations. I want to throttle that "Mdntsn" dude or dudette. What an asshole.

[Control-Z]

31. When I heard about the subzero temperatures across the states,

my first thought was, I hope rescue authorities begin with the poorest and most remote areas. It never occurred to me that no one would even bother checking. It seemed like a no brainer, at least to me.

But since Sarah was all cozy warm, I guess, in her mind, the important people had already been taken care of.

[LynneSin]

33. I bet that $150K spent on the Wasilla Hillbilly's wardrobe would really help out these people

Wasn't Palin going to donate the clothes to charity or do something with it to help feed the hungry of Alaska.

[Blue_In_AK]

35. They ended up in garbage bags at the RNC, I believe.

[LynneSin]

37. I just read that on HuffPost

:grr:

[LynneSin]

44. You do realize the easiest way to prevent Palin 2012 is to get that idiot out of office in 2010

Nothing says "I'm a big old loser" than losing your re-election bid.

[underpants]

38. This article could help. Get 5 or 10 TV cameras out there and Sarah might pay some attention

MIGHT

[Blaze Diem]

41. Might work though. Sarah would waste no time blaming the media, and that would open the door to

MSM doing a piece on this story.
Palin doesn't like bad press, when its about her, and will respond in her defense cuz she's the "barracuda".
We need to make some serious noise for Palin's piss poor governing style.
Maybe Couric would like to do a "back at cha Sarah" for dissing Katie.

We have the power, right here on DU, to make Palin squirm..

Thanks for bringing this to our attention AND maybe DU could start a Donation/Fundraiser for this cause.

What does the new AK Senator say about his constituents back home living in such dire straits?
Where is his voice?
What's the phone # to his DC Office?

Its a long winter in AK and this is an absolute sin for Gov Palin to ignore the basic needs of AK's first citizens.

Thanks for this post.

[northofdenali]

61. Sarah? Pay attention to constituent?

BWAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

:hi: fellow Frozen Northers - going to 45 below here in the Interior this weekend. Lots and lots and lots of ice fog. More than usual because of the tremendous additional number of woodstoves in use this winter. Filled my fuel tank 1/3 in October (thank you PFD) and it was over $1500.00. Needless to say, the thermostats are 'way down all over the North Star Borough and farther........

Donators can also check with Frontier Alaska, Northern Air Cargo, Everts Air Cargo etc. Many times, if the planes aren't full and you can get goods to their terminal(s) in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai, Juneau, etc., they'll do a greatly reduced rate for charitable purposes. I haven't checked myself because a friend who's a a bush pilot just loaded up the last of the donations for Western Alaska that I can afford this year.

Blue, you still going to Nome?

Edited to add: Alaska? Wholly owned subidiary of Big Oil? Naaaah.....

State allows Exxon to drill Point Thomson

Anchorage Daily News

Published: January 27th, 2009 04:15 PM
Last Modified: January 27th, 2009 04:30 PM

The state has reversed itself and is allowing Exxon Mobil to drill wells this winter at the Point Thomson oil field.

http://www.adn.com/money/industries/oil/story/669568.html

[happygoluckytoyou]

45. HECK OF A JOB PALIN ! ! !

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

46. Ironic name, Wassilie.

[Blue_In_AK]

52. The Wassilies were here long before Wasilla.

There are Wassillies, Wasillies, Wasilies, Wassillys, every conceivable way of spelling it. I believe they are derivatives of a Russian name.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

59. Still ironic.

:shrug:

[Sequoia]

47. I clicked on that story a few minutes ago before I open DU and saw this.

A little voice told me to click on the Los Angles Times first before the other on-line papers I go to first. I thought, why are these people living like this with all that oil in their state? See, Sarah...you got your wish, you're still in the media !!!

[Iggo]

50. Dammit! Lay off Sarah Palin's kids!

:hi:

[Bushies gotta go]

53. What's the point of the article?

I mean, Palin will never read this since she's probably never even heard of the L.A. Times and all.... besides that, even if by some strange quirk she has... it's just another liberal lefty heathen outlet for us sinners, is it not?

[Blue_In_AK]

55. She doesn't have to read the article

if enough other people do. The idea is to squelch any possibility of her ascending to a national office. I want her OFF THE STAGE.

[Piewhacket]

57. the title should have been PALIN, FOR SHAME and DISGRACE!!!

followed by:

Sarah,
if you can't help your own people what the f* ARE you good for?
CLOTHES RACK?