Life Under a Palin Administration

[Kanastrous]

It's what they're presently experiencing, in Alaska. My, but what a bullet the rest of us dodged.

---

(CNN) -- Thousands of villagers in rural Alaska are struggling to survive, forced to choose between keeping their families warm and keeping their stomachs full, residents say.

Harvested nuts and berries, small game animals, and dried fish are the only things keeping some from starving.

To get to the nearest store, Ann Strongheart and her husband, who live in Nunam Iqua, Alaska, take an hour-and-15-minute snowmobile ride to Emmonak, Alaska. Their town does not have a store of its own.

Normally, they would each ride a snowmobile, in case one broke down. But now, they can't afford to waste the fuel, so they just take one and hope for the best.

At the store, the Stronghearts buy groceries and supplies for the family for the week, which cost more than $400. They buy only as much as their snowmobile can carry.

In many stores, 2 pounds of cheese costs between $15 and $18, milk costs $10 a gallon, a 5-pound bag of apples costs $15, and a dozen eggs costs $22 -- more than double the price in the area just two years ago.

Many area residents don't even bother with fruits and vegetables, which can be damaged by freezing on the trip home.

After shopping, the Stronghearts pack their groceries into boxes, tie them to the snowmobile, and begin the 25-mile trek home, passing moose, rabbit and fox tracks along the way. Video Watch how transportation is a challenge in rural Alaska »

The trip sets them back about $50 in fuel alone.

On top of high food prices, some residents are paying nearly $1,500 a month to heat their homes.

The Stronghearts live in one of a group of Native American communities along the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

They and other residents of these villages of 200 to 800 residents are feeling the impact of a devastating perfect storm of events. See where the towns are and learn more about them »

Commercial fishermen couldn't make money from the seasonal king salmon harvest this year, because there was barely enough fish for subsistence. In fact, most fishermen lost money.

Then a brutal early winter brought the longest cold snap in five years. In September the temperature in many villages dropped as low as 20 degrees, a record low for many, according to the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.

The 1,200-mile Yukon River, which the villages use as a highway, froze completely in September, at least two months earlier than usual. That left residents cut off from some basic necessities, and forced them to have pricey bulk fuel flown in.

These residents and their ancestors have lived for hundreds of years in the Yukon Delta, which Emmonak resident Cindy Beans describes as something out of National Geographic. Video Watch how rural Alaskans celebrate their culture »

Though they send their kids to school, many speak the native Yup'ik language, and live a much simpler life than even urban Alaskans.

They have always had the comfort of food around them -- whatever they can pick, catch and hunt.

"But in order to have access to all the subsistence food, you have to be able to get out there and hunt for it," Beans said.

And that requires them to go out on their snowmobiles, which means using more fuel.

The community is always gathering food, Beans said.

"All summer long we are putting away fish for the winter, by fall working on moose, then setting nets under the ice for winter time. But now, this food which used to supplement groceries is all that people have, since they can't afford to buy food at these prices."

So residents have been forced to rely more on these subsistence methods.

Beans said her brother walks three miles in 20-below-zero weather to check on nets under the ice for fish. The fish is a staple they need to keep themselves fed.

"The life out here has always been hard, it's just that its a lot harder now," she said.

Emmonak resident Nicholas Tucker wondered if others were feeling the impact, so he broadcast an inquiry via VHF radio, one of the common ways to communicate in the village.

Tucker said many residents sobbed as they radioed him back.

"His family has been out of food for quite some time now," Tucker wrote about one resident in a letter sent to legislators and the media. "Their 1-year-old child is out of milk, [he] can't get it and he has no idea when he will be able to get the next can."

"There are days without food in his house," Tucker wrote.

A single father with five children choked back tears as he told Tucker of his struggle to help his kids.

"Right now, we can't eat during the day, only at supper time," Tucker wrote of the man. "If there had been no school lunch our kids would be starving."

Many of the tribal leaders said they are begging the state and federal governments to do something to help.

George Lamont, tribal administrator in Tuluksak, Alaska, said because of the crisis and villagers' inability to pay their utility bills, he fears many may have their electricity shut off. Video Watch how heating the house is a daily struggle for one family »

Alaska has given many residents $1,200 energy rebate checks, but residents say it barely helps them with one month's heating costs. Aid agencies, including the Red Cross, aren't an option right now -- the Alaska Red Cross said they couldn't help unless a disaster is declared.

But the state hasn't declared an emergency yet, and it can't because of a state statute that requires the average income levels in the villages to drop below $26,500 -- regardless of the cost of living.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's office said the state is trying to find a way to free up government help.

"Local government specialists in the state Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development continue to crunch numbers and seek creative approaches to finding a statutorily acceptable way to justify a disaster declaration, which would open the door to federal aid, as well," deputy press secretary Sharon Leighow said.

Leighow said Palin is sending her new rural advisor, John Moller, to the area next week, accompanied by representatives of the Alaska Food Bank.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs to step in and help the towns most in need.

"I find it ironic, tragically ironic, that it takes an economic downturn in the rest of the country for this Congress to consider an economic stimulus for Indian Country," she said during a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs economic stimulus hearing.

The villagers hold out hope that the state or federal governments can come through.

"People have really been looking forward to some emergency assistance," Lamont said.

After hearing the stories from his neighbors, Tucker said it's clear help is needed now. "We have remained quiet, cried and suffered in silence," he said.

"So now, this is our simple cry to others for help."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/09/rural. ... pstoryview

[Erik von Nein]

Much as I hate the woman, how is this tied into Sarah Palin's actions?

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Err, what, precisely, does this have to do with Sarah Palin being governor of Alaska? This sounds more like a combination of bad economy + inflation + unusually hard winter + especially retarded state law = people starving.

[Thanas]

While I loathe the woman, I fail to see how this is her fault.

[Kanastrous]

As governor, it's in part her responsibility.

Does this look like the consequences of good leadership? Maybe I'm missing something.

[Erik von Nein]

I don't see how, unless she wrote the state statute about declarations of emergencies. I suppose she could have given more money to them, depending on how soon they actually went to the state with their problems it could be because of her that they're still suffering.

[Korvan]

Looking at those costs, you have to be rich to be poor in Alaska.

[Omega18]

Looking at those costs, you have to be rich to be poor in Alaska.

In the interests of accuracy that statement should mostly be confined to bush Alaska.

I'm currently living in Anchorage, Alaska at this time, and while food costs are a bit higher than the lower 48, its nothing remotely like what was reported in the article. The huge difference is items are transported in to Anchorage of large transport ships which keeps the additional transportation costs somewhat limited, and this helps keep food costs more reasonable. (You also have Anchorage as a very major transport hub for air cargo going from the rest of the US to Asia and vice versa anyways, which tends to lower costs a bit for goods that need to actually be flown in.)

Basically anywhere in Alaska besides the Anchorage area food prices and costs go up, but its the remote areas in the state and particularly anywhere you actually have to fly in the food and fuel at least part of the year where costs tend to go up enourmously. It generally costs more than some other areas to live even in Anchorage, but you're not paying the kind of housing prices (or rent) you would living in San Francisco or New York City either.

[Sea Skimmer]

Maybe I’m just crazy for thinking people shouldn’t be trying to live a modern existence in a fucking Alaskan wilderness with no roads near the artic circle in the second most expensive state in the union. I’d be all for assisting them, to move to a more sustainable area. Having the state simply pick up the tab so they can keep living in such a remote area hunting from snowmobiles seems ridiculous.

[Illuminatus Primus]

I agree with Skimmer. All this bullshit so feel-gooders can convince themselves some Natives are still practicing their "culture" in the middle of nowhere is pointless and unsustainable.

[Count Chocula]

By this logic, David Paterson, New York State's governor, is responsible for the starvation of homeless people in Manhattan and the poverty in the Bronx.

Hell, by this logic, ANY governor in ANY state where there's someone starving is to blame. This whole damn posts just looks like another excuse to say "I hate Palin! Wooo!"

[Rogue 9]

It's what they're presently experiencing, in Alaska. My, but what a bullet the rest of us dodged.

Oh, come off it; Palin being Vice President, or even President, wouldn't turn the rest of the United States into a frozen fucking wasteland, which is what is causing their problem. What, you think she's the White Witch or something?

[Aaron]

Oh, come off it; Palin being Vice President, or even President, wouldn't turn the rest of the United States into a frozen fucking wasteland, which is what is causing their problem. What, you think she's the White Witch or something?

Just to place some emphasis on this point, the same thing happens in Northern Canada practically every year. Fortunately there aren't that many people up there and the ones that are already get a good portion of their food from hunting.

[Gil Hamilton]

Oh, come off it; Palin being Vice President, or even President, wouldn't turn the rest of the United States into a frozen fucking wasteland, which is what is causing their problem. What, you think she's the White Witch or something?

Nonsense, the White Witch was all about wolves as servants, not things to shoot from airplanes. However, if she became Vice President, she WOULD have turned John McCain into a statue and then make it so it was always Winter, but never Christmas. Presumably followed by abolishing reproductive freedom of the nation's Beavers.

"General Hayden. I want Mr. Tumnus sent to Guantanamo for enhanced interrogation..."

[Flagg]

Dear people in article,

MOVE SOUTH.

Insincerely,
Flagg

[Ekiqa]

I agree with Skimmer. All this bullshit so feel-gooders can convince themselves some Natives are still practicing their "culture" in the middle of nowhere is pointless and unsustainable.

They ain't practicing their "culture" by hunting with snowmobiles. Their ancestors, who they are trying to emulate, never had that wonderful Canadian invention. Give them snowshoes to hunt with.

[Themightytom]

I agree with Skimmer. All this bullshit so feel-gooders can convince themselves some Natives are still practicing their "culture" in the middle of nowhere is pointless and unsustainable.

They ain't practicing their "culture" by hunting with snowmobiles. Their ancestors, who they are trying to emulate, never had that wonderful Canadian invention. Give them snowshoes to hunt with.

Right because the american indians didn't start using horses the SECOND they saw them, cultures never change, they stay the same.

[Drooling Iguana]

Right because the american indians didn't start using horses the SECOND they saw them, cultures never change, they stay the same.

Okay, then, let them change. Use Skimmer's idea and move them to the cities. The problem here is that they're trying to have things both ways.

[Count Chocula]

The problem here is that they're trying to have things both ways

Agreed. In an environment where the smallest step backwards leads to death. A land whose very harshness limited the Inuit population long before the "white man" made Alaska his bitch.

[Zixinus]

I'd like to see detailed reasoning why these conditions are of any fault of Sarah Palin.

[Serafina]

Well, the article says something about food prices doubling within two years.

One COULD conclude that this happened due to Palin.

But then again, its more likely due to raising fuel and food costs, which are hitting remote regions harder.

[Aaron]

Well, the article says something about food prices doubling within two years.

One COULD conclude that this happened due to Palin.

But then again, its more likely due to raising fuel and food costs, which are hitting remote regions harder.

Everything has to be either trucked long distance, shipped by boat or flown into these areas and the further north you get the worse it is. There are communites in the Canadian arctic who have to get everything flown in, milk can cost 16$ a liter. So yes as fuel and food costs rise it's going to get more expensive to live there. If Palin is guilty of anything, it's not asking for relief funds from the Feds, however the article notes that the state requires certain circumstances to act.

[Broomstick]

Ah, the problems of indigenous peoples accepting advanced technology....

These folks - or rather, their predecessors - really have been living in the area for thousands of years. Back in the old days life was pretty damn harsh, so when outsiders showed up with things like rifles the intelligent folks (and most of them were intelligent, as the environment winnowed out the stupid pretty quick) recognized the superiority of same and adopted them, along with various other technological attributes. Of course, this meant the skills like making and using stone tools, bone harpoons, and the like were largely lost, making the Inuit dependent on modern technology for survival. But it didn't stop - snowmobiles replaced dogsleds, airplanes arrived, they installed plumbing, developed a taste for fresh fruit and vegetables all year round... It did make their lives better. I don't think anyone could question that. But they're dependent on the outside in a way they weren't before.

Now, the global economy is tanking. There is not so much plenty to go around, and these remote, harsh areas suffer hard for it. The cost of bringing in stuff from outside just went up. Sure, there are still people skilled at extracting food and necessities from the land, but they are used to using snowmobiles, not dogsleds - hell, they probably don't own suitable dogs anymore - ammunition, and so forth. Which, when the fuel and bullets run out, makes it hard to survive. Not to mention the population is likely higher than before.

Now, these folks could survive as in the old days, but they probably don't want to go back to using stale urine for washing purposes and setting old people out in the blizzard to die in bad years. And who can blame them? Makes for very hard choices, but this is not Sarah Palin's fault.