The one message I have taken away from this reading is that the United States seems to have a terrible track record when it comes to making decisions affecting the Native people. They thought that the entire population of Native Alaskans lived in "fixed abodes" based on the small amount of knowledge they had from Tlingit-Haida Natives living in Southeast Alaska. The fact was that many of the Western and Northern natives, such as the Eskimo, were migratory.
Another embarrassing example of the American judgement system in Alaska is Project Chariot. Project Chariot was the idea of setting off a nuclear device(?!) in order to create a harbor near Cape Thompson to ship minerals. One can only imagine the implications such an act could have had on the local wildlife Natives relied on. While I do believe that this project could have had positive effects the fact still remains that the government made no effort to consult the local Natives. It's not hard for me to understand why many natives were opposed to ANCSA when even up to the Statehood movement many Natives were not even aware that their homeland was under American ownership. When someone comes into your homeland and tells you, "Ok, well, we actually own this land so were going to dig holes in the ground and disrupt the entire ecosystem but don't worry you might get some money out of it." This is one of those sensitive issues for me when it comes to American history, as far back as it goes little has changed when it comes to original inhabitants of "American" soil.
Dan, the nuclear explosion to make a port had me saying "what!?" too. Whose idea was that one? Were they even thinking about the ramifications that would follow. Some things just aren't good ideas no matter how helpful it would have been in making the port.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day people will treat each other with the respect they deserve.
It is always looking back at history to find the mistakes of mankind. Our knowledge as a nation continues to be more culturally effective. What about the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan during WWII? Was that a mistake? Decisions have to be made and we can only hope that we have as much of the relevant information available. Just as we should remember Pearl Harbor, the Japanese should remember the tragedy that occurred on thier land. After the events of September 11th Americans thought terrorism is horrible and must be stopped. In reality terrorism is comparable to conventional warfare. It is just another decision that must be made in order to accomplish a goal.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it seems so obvious now that the Government screwed up on dealing with Alaskan Natives as one group of people that were generally all the same.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, this is a hind-sight-bias.
They made the best guess into the unknown with what information they had at the time. Was it a good guess...? At the time that guess was the best they had.
I am not surprised by the governments desire to build a nuclear plant near Alaskan villages. That is still happening today, except with nuclear waste. And the people living near that area are seriously dying. Alaska was lucky this time...
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the Government was going to detonate a nuclear weapon to make a harbor! Maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture, but I don't get how that would have been a good idea at all.
ReplyDeleteBeing from Nevada, I know a lot about nuclear testing and nuclear waste storage.
Some small towns in Northern Nevada have been hugely affected by nuclear testing sights that the military had in roughly the 1960's. It has led to so many cases of childhood Leukemia. Also in southern Nevada there has been much debate about the nuclear waste storage in Yucca Mountain, which is very close to Las Vegas.
I know that's not about Alaska, but it would have been a bad idea.
The U.S. government seems to come up with all sorts of outlandish ideas when a large, sparsely populated piece of land comes into its possession. The Slattery Report, produced by the Department of the Interior in 1940, proposed establishing havens for Jewish refugees in four locations across the state of Alaska. Unsurprisingly, the plan did not win widespread support from either American Jews or gentiles.
ReplyDeleteFor more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slattery_Report
The Slattery Report inspired a book called "The Yiddish Policemen's Union," which speculates on what might have happened if a Jewish territory had been created in Southeast Alaska. I haven't read it (too busy studying ANCSA), but one of my friends recommends it highly.
Check it out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yiddish_Policemen%27s_Union
I empathize with the Alaska native historical experience.I African American and my ancestry suffered greatly during this country's infancy. I cannot begin to imagine what the collateral damage would have been as a result of detonated A-bomb. I can guess probably not good. Have you heard about the Tuskegee Project, check it out.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's not a matter of who own the land anymore but what compensation can be gain for it now. Even in our society today we have this immenent domain system in play. If the government deem it necessary for the progress of society your property will be taken away and used for such purposes. The ANCAS was not perfect but it allowed for the Native people utilize the land they have to profit and to make sure this does not happen again in years to come.
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ReplyDeleteIn several readings about how Westerners interacted with Alaska Native people, I noticed that many decisions were made that would affect the lives of the Alaska Native people, but the decision makers did not consult them before making the decisions. The fact that there was a plan to detonate a nuclear device for the purpose stated does not surprise me. My experiece has been that too often those in power make decisions based only on their agenda without regard for others that may be impacted.
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