Alaska Federation of Natives Convention Starts Today
22 10 2009HERE is the link for live streaming of the AFN convention. This will be the 43rd gathering of the Alaska Federation of Natives.
It’s a wonderful celebratory time for Anchorage when we welcome visitors from all over the state. Many attendees travel to Anchorage only once a year, and use this time to connect with family, catch up on the news, meet with old friends, and do a lot of shopping.
You can download a complete schedule of the convention from this page.
Keynote speakers are Willie Hensley and his daughter Elizabeth Hensley.
His new book Fifty Miles from Tomorrow is excellent, and I highly recommend it if you want a moving and engaging read that paints a vivid picture of growing up Native in rural Alaska in a time he describes as being “without safety nets.” He grew up in a land of dog teams, and sod houses with no furniture, and the transition of Alaska Native people into the modern age.
Today there will be a special screening of the new one-hour PBS documentary For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska. The film chronicles the struggle of Alaska Native people in their struggle for civil rights. The film shows at noon, and admission is free.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:15 AM
I hope all the AFN attendees have a productive convention. Wish I could be up there to do some holiday shopping!
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:33 AM
I was lucky to meet Willie Hensley very briefly one day last month — introduced by an acquaintance-in-common. Somehow the Finnish half of my ancestry came up, & he told me was recently in Finland — his daughter married a Finnish guy (not sure if that was Elizabeth though). Just a meeting in passing, but it was pretty terrific. A very gracious man. I’ll look forward to reading his book.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Fifty Miles From Tomorrow certainly looks to be a wonderful read!
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:07 AM
Adding the book to my library list!
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:17 AM
I too met Mr. Hensley lately through and acquaintance. I had read his book as soon as it had come out. It is a great book, written by a great man. It was and honor to meet him.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Sorry to throw this in OT……..there hasn’t been an open thread for 2 days and I thought folks would like to know:
Some catharsis for those frustrated by Ted Stevens’ case
For those following the debacle of former Senator Ted Stevens’ prosecution, the big news today was that the head of the unit at the Justice Department who handled the case, stepped down, moving back to Massachusetts for “family reasons.”
For those that diligently followed the Stevens’ investigation this is something of a catharsis. There were a lot of things that went wrong with the government’s case against Stevens. To refresh: there was a huge typo in the indictment; the Justice Department withholding of evidence in discovery (which led to it being excluded) and the affair the Justice staffer supposedly had with the government’s key witness. And that’s not even counting the other distractions in the trial, like the juror who skipped deliberations to head to a horse race in California.
But there’s one more, less publicized, bit of relief for those eager for justice to be served to those involved in Stevens’ shady dealings: the prosecution is finally asking for $750,000 fine and 46 months in prison for Bill Allen, their key witness in the case. This is exciting because, well, there’s been a fair amount of speculation about whether Allen would ever be sentenced.
Even though Allen was found guilty in 2007, he’s been jetting between Alaska and New Mexico, where his son Mark owns a horse ranch (Mark was a co-owner of the horse who won the Kentucky Derby). While he did give the Justice Department almost a half-dozen corrupt local officials and provide the majority of the case against Ted Stevens, the sentence is still significantly less than the time given to those Allen brought down. Rep. Pete Kott got 6 years on far lesser offenses than Allen was convicted of, and the same goes for former Rep. Vic Kohring, who was sentenced to 42 months after accepting a couple thousand dollars in bribes from Allen.
Allen’s attorney’s are obviously arguing for a reduction in sentencing, but it seems to me that a mere 46-months isn’t quite enough for the man that brought down Alaska.
http://trueslant.com/kateklonick/2009/10/22/some-catharsis-for-those-frustrated-by-ted-stevens-case/
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Was able to watch part of the AFN Convention. A big contribution to Lu Young. Nice song that followed by a young native.
I listened to your Gov talk about increasing safety in the rural Alaska. Wants to hired 15 VPSOs/yr for the next 10 years for added Security. Reading the chat, they were saying that they (VPSO) are not real Policemen or women. He reinterate about the College Scholarship.
The ICC (?) chairman was talking about substinance. How everyone is a Criminal (for trying to survive). I’m assuming for fishing for survival when you are told not to. Sounds like they are still fining Natives.
The homemade awards were nice. Was hoping to see the Native Dance but they were behind schedule.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Fifty Miles from Tomorrow..is an excellent title..in many ways. May the powers of health and wisdom..cling warmly about the shoulders of all attendees, and the joy of fellowship..light their way. Peace.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:42 PM
Any sessions on the lack of fuel issue? Lack of support from the state government issue?
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:23 PM
would love to watch the PBS documentary…have to look out for it
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:09 PM
I’ll be buying ‘Fifty Miles from Tomorrow” as soon as I find it. I think there is a lack of knowledge of all our native Americans’ history, even more for the Alaskan native people. If we become more familiar with people and their culture, maybe then we can stop the abuse and anger against them. I would think books like this should be mandatory reading in the Alaska school system. All schools for that matter.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:10 PM
A friend and I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Anchorage. Everywhere we went (restaurants, stores, and the hotel) there were many native people from all over the state. What a delightful addition to our outing so see all of the beautiful smiling faces, happy families, and people full of friendly conversations among themselves and with us. The native people all seemed so happy to be in Anchorage and meeting with friends and family from all over the state and we just got to experience and enjoy all of the goodwill. What a wonderful time to be in Anchorage!
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:42 PM
I read the book several weeks ago and really learned a great deal. I strongly recommend it. After reading the AK blogs faithfully since August 29, 2008 (sound of thunder and ominous music), I found I knew many of the politicians he wrote about. I’m jealous of those of you able to meet him.
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:21 PM
@ Martha
Today’s open thread is the story of Buf!
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:58 PM
I attended a book club after reading Hensley’s book, and the guest of honor was Willie Hensley himself! I was a bit overwhelmed and spent all my time listening rather than talking. He is a powerful presence.
The link up there in the blog will take you to the Mudflats Amazon Shop where you can order the book online if anyone wants to.
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:11 PM
Regarding Willie Hensley’s book: The title intrigues me and so does your recommendation. I will definitely be adding it to my growing “to read” list.
Can you provide any information about when the PBS special will be airing for the Rights of All?
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 PM
read the book—-it was awesome—–worked with Willie years ago—-he was awesome….thanks for the post hyping the book…..
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:45 PM
The LiveFEED is great. Keep it on for background. Dancing now.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:06 PM
Today was the first day of AFN’s convention, but earlier in the week, Monday and Tuesday was the Elders and Youth conference by First Alaskans Institute. A great two days. The workshops on language were inspiring; watching the elder Native language speakers looking on with such pride to see the youth embracing the language. The indigenous languages of Alaska are going extinct, and the future existence of the languages rests now with the youth. To watch these “emerging leaders” such as Liz Hensley and so many others, is to know the future is in good hands.