I was under the impression that CNN was ready to go with the story if we could fly Dennis out there to get the footage and story.
I have only seen the single clip from Dennis in the elementary school. Is there other footage or maybe it’s in CNN’s vault.
It’s amazing how short our attention spans can be.

No matter how skilled these villagers are at timing the purchase of oil, people with a median (per capita?) income of $8,000 really can’t afford to stock up. I’m not sure this big outlay really solves the problem.

$135,000 per family is a lot of money. Maybe that is part of the normal give aways in Alaska, but from Oregon it sure sounds like a lot.

From what little I have been able to gather Emmonak has been more proactive in planning than many communities all over this state.
I am impressed.
I am also depressed at the lack of action from the state, over the years, to address the plans small communities have for themselves.
I hope, somehow, we can establish parity between urban and rural Alaska . Somehow we have to bring all Alaskans to the table with the equal footing they are entitled to.
Best wishes, neighbor.

I love your comments, your perspective and how you get right to the heart of things!

Bristol Bay is the region south of the YK, but it is Todd Palin’s region, so it is an ironic fall-out. I wrote on AmericaBlog that what made Sarah Palin dangerous to Natives was that she claims her connection when convenient (like how blue-eyed Todd and their children ‘live’ with discrimination in Alaska?) But since Alaska Newspapers owns them all, it is a moot point.

As for the CDQ groups, they are partial owners of the pollock (not pollack) fisheries and they have the unenviable challenge of merging economic force and infrastructure with traditional Subsistence practices. To their credit, many of them have annually barged in firewood for their villages to use, but other than that, I think many federal rules prevent them from doing anything beyond fishery related investments. They do provide boat / ATV shops and mechanics at a subsidized rate to keep fishermen’s boats and motors patched and running.

I do not keep up with their newsletters, so I don’t know what other forms of relief or investment projects they administer to directly support the communities.

I think it is horrible how the officials kicked Dennis out. It was a public meeting, but when you are in the hinterlands, the first amendment and such gets lost (who are we kidding, their boss the journalist, doesn’t even know what the First Amendment means.) As is the tradition among Native groups, we usually initiate Native only talking sessions, but it should have been their call to keep or ask Dennis to leave, not the State.

Emmonak has always been proactive in planning compared to many other rural communities. It is a shame that it has been a futile effort for so long.

I am so heartened by the bloggers and readers who have done something, actually done something to help.

Quyana, thank you. And may your generosity for strangers at the edge of the world come back to you twofold.

Sounds like someone didn’t think through these issues during the planning, permitting and construction processes. If there’s no village water system, why did they even fund it, let alone commence construction?

The state could, at the very least, match the funds raised by bloggers.

Thank you for the update. I almost felt like I was there listening to it.
I still find it amazing “some bloggers” raised $5000.00 in a night and What’s Her Name hasn’t done Jack.
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But Jack ain’t complainin’

On state spending per capita: You have economies of scale in Calif. that we don’t have. Our population is 660,000 or so. Yours is millions.