|
|
9-4-08
Bird Photo
In case your readers are interested, I thought I’d let you know that the bird pictured on page 3 of the August 20 edition of The Delta Discovery is probably a Ringed Turtle-Dove. It is a domesticated species that frequently escapes from captivity. In most situations, however, they are unable to sustain themselves in the wild without food provided by humans. It has been domesticated for so long that scientists are not even sure what wild species it was originally derived from (possibly the African Collared-Dove). Most individuals have lost their fear of humans, so the doves can be easily tamed. In North America, there are only a few feral populations that seem to have established themselves. All are in the southern U.S., including cities in California, Texas, Alabama, and Florida.
Brian J. McCaffery
Bethel, AK
Holy Cross Elders and Youth Conference
I really appreciated the Holy Cross Denakaanagaa’ Elders and Youth Conference at Holy Cross this June. It included Tanana Chiefs Conference and Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation and of course all the people who assisted in making it such a successful and fun Gathering.
The local peoples cooked up such delicious native foods at the potluck and of course a variety of fruits and vegetables. I thank the Tribal Chief and Tribal Council for their air transportation they provided for all in Anchorage. I was honored to perform with our Holy Cross youth and my brother Phillip Demientieff with our Holy Cross Deghit’an Athabascan native dance songs. Our honorable guest, Nancy Morgan from Aniak was given an ovation at the beginning of our songs. Our honorable guest native dancers who also represent their families and danced with us were: Lucy Hamilton, Shageluk; MaryAnn Vaska, Kalskag; MaryLou Williams, Kalskag; and Winnie Pitka, Russian Mission. I want to say thank you to you, the staff and editor of The Delta Discovery for all your work you do in such a fine newspaper for all peoples!
Marie Randall
Big Lake/Holy Cross
Calista Corporation
Calista is owned by shareholders whom live in 56 villages hundreds of miles away from the multi-million dollar office building in the center of Anchorage with golden trimming. It looks 30 stories high, like a billionaire’s building. The City of Bethel, Alaska is the hub city for the majority of shareholders. Without question, the office needs to be moved to Bethel. Fixed salaries and bonuses definitely need some changes. Seems like Calista’s personnel are becoming millionaires at the expense of the shareholders. That is definitely wrong.
Nick O. Nick, Jr.
Nunapitchuk, AK
Term limits
Since this has been brought to you in the last paper quoted by Margaret “Penni” Abraham, I so do agree that this is a major problem regarding our elected officials, be it City or Tribal councils, corporations, and others. I guess when a person is in there too long it makes them think they own the company. The same goes for those whom we elect for our Alaskan delegation. I guess we Alaskans have to have some sort of ballot measure to cover this. On village corruption concerning nepotism etc., there needs to be some sort of complaint center where we send in our complaints where those who deal with investigations, like the FBI, can look into them. I do agree with Lucy Olick and others who write about these sorts of things – something is going on, especially in our villages. People sense that something not right concerning our village elected officials.
Alex Evan
Marshall, AK
Devil in a bottle
There are many reasons why people run to a bottle for relief. And for how good it feels of being high. But these are just temporary escapes from reality in life. No matter how much you drink, the problems will still be there when you get back from your temporary escape. Alcohol is never a good answer to problems in life. And never will be.
No matter who you are, alcohol does more bad than good, even if you’re the wealthiest man down the street. Alcohol has been weighted more bad than good and has the same traits as the Devil himself - for it breaks up families, friendships, and relationships.
I have seen and heard what alcohol is capable of doing and I never did see what good has come of it. Alcohol has a bad reputation to starting fights amongst families, friends, and have ended relationships that were built up since childhood. And has done more than what people have seen in their personal lives.
Things may not happen to the person that is doing the drinking, but it has an affect on the people surrounding them, and those are the things the drinker is not seeing. And they may not see that they are hurting the loved ones surrounding them. No matter who they are, the drinker hurts the ones around them.
Children are known to follow or imitate the ones around them, and drinking is one of them. I have seen and heard children as young as 7 and 8 that started drinking and the reason is a family member was known to drink around them. And those children peer pressure their friends into drinking. The cycle continues to their brothers and sisters, to families and friends and so on. They may also affect the others that are innocent of drinking, like the lies or deceitful words that comes out of a person while intoxicated from drinking.
Alcohol contains the same traits as the Devil himself. It breaks up families, friendships, and relationships. It is also killing the person that is doing the drinking. And not to mention it kills uncles, aunts, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, girls, boys, babies and unfortunately the unborn fetus of a pregnant woman. Alcohol may not have been directly related to their death, such as fights, crashes, firearm accidents, drowning and even self inflicted deaths. But these are just a little of how alcohol can cause a death. It happens all over.
Even if the drinker is not drinking amongst families or friends, it hurts someone. That someone is the drinker. Alcohol causes sicknesses and affects the liver as well as other things. It causes high blood pressure, heart disease or even heart failure. It weakens the immune system, which leads to more illnesses that are not related to alcohol. Those are a little of what it can do to the drinker.
Alcohol is never a good thing, even for the occasional drinker. While drinking seems to relieve stress, it also creates them. It even causes people to lose their job as well. Alcohol is well known to make the problems worse than to fix them. It even causes pregnancy amongst teenage girls when they do not intend to get pregnant. Presently, accidental teenage pregnancy is more likely to be caused from alcohol. And it even marks the pregnant girl with a bad reputation.
Presently and in the past, young children are known to be deserted to fend for themselves because of alcohol. While they are too young to cook or clean, they eat what is available and sometimes have nothing to eat. They tend to not be bathed for weeks on end and pop up with sores and infected wounds. Babies are known of being out of diapers and milk to drink while the parents are out drinking or drunk while the children are marked with the image of their parents being a drunk. They are hurting their children without thinking.
Alcohol affects the mind. It also affects what the drinker does and even lets them do what they did not mean to do. It embarrasses or even hurts the drinker along with family members. Children deny they are their parents while the children suffer from a childhood that is corrupted by alcohol. And children take it into their own adult lives, which tends to carry on and on to their continuing descendants.
Pregnancy, suicide, crashes, depression, child neglect, murder, homelessness, loss of jobs, mental illness, liver infections, cancer, child abuse, arrests, loss of custody of children, accidental deaths, drowning, child deaths, and many others are the results of alcohol. But these are just a dent of the facts of what it can and does do. The Devil is very strong to the weak and may have them in his hands already. So remember, be cautious and stay away from the “Devil in a bottle”.
James Minock
Pilot Station, AK
Wake up and see for yourselves
Have we forgotten who we are and where our origins come from? Undoubtedly I think we are a tad bit off the path of being who we are meant to be. The sense of being truly what and who we are meant to be has dissipated into an obscured picture of the trueness of being C/Yup’ik people and native peoples. The values of our ancestor (civuliamta) and the alerquutet they had passed down through the endless pages of time have been followed to an extent in some part of our lives and then discarded when we have no longer become aware of who we are. We have become severely distracted by the hardships in life and insecurities of our modernized way of life. Which also includes addictions to harmful substances i.e.: alcohol and drugs, abuse of all kinds, sicknesses of the mind, soul, and body, corporation leaders and leaders who lead us nowhere or who seem to care less or don’t care at all for the people “their people (C/Yup’ik people)” and many more. It is a shame that we all must bear together.
The way we live as a community, people, a human being, a person of a highly rich cultural background would not mirror the way our ancestors lived. Though we are changed through westernization and civilizing through the decades we still had maintained a society that still thrives on our unique cultures. But there are people out there that have been put through measures either through society, family, friends, themselves, and other influences to disregard the cultural beliefs, practices, protocol, and other customs to be forgotten or to be modified. The inclination of our culture has been proved through carelessness of ones’ self and a people through disdain actions toward the land, the community, the waters, animals, our culture, our people, and many other facts. We must put a stop to all this before something becomes out of order in the pages of time and history or we may see the inevitable.
I know for a fact when you read this some of you would agree and some of you would not and would probably consider this offensive. I don’t intend for this to offensive but a wake up call to let you see and become aware of what might or might not be true. But look closely, have we, in some part or in our lives looked the other way on our cultural beliefs and traditions? I’m too am guilty in some part of my life. I look back and see what I did or did not do.
But I am glad there are people out there that took that step and said, “Stop, let us bring back the true meaning of who we are meant to be to our younger generation and to our people. Let them learn the ways of our people so they would not forget who they are and where our origins come from.” To those people I thank you for your contribution to the rebuilding and preservation of our culture. Taking the necessary steps in the renewal of our cultural foundation through these problematical times has instilled in the book of time the names of these cultural conservatives. The survival of our people and culture is most important and the only way that it is going on the right track is because someone stood up and made it happen. Quyanaqvaa cakneq niicugniluci!
Allen Ulroan
Chevak, AK
