Senator Akaka's reasoning on voting for ANWR

http://akaka.senate.gov/~akaka/speeches/2005316943.html

"Mr. AKAKA--Mr. President, I rise today in support of Alaska's indigenous peoples, the Alaska Natives. I will oppose the Cantwell amendment. My position is based on my experiences in Alaska when I visited the village of Kaktovik in 1995 and spoke to the Inupiat peoples who greatly desire this opportunity for economic self-determination. My position is not new -- I have remained firm in the position for the last 10 years. In developing this position I have met with individuals and organizations who have advocated on both sides of this issue.

For me, this vote is not a vote just about preservation of the environment versus development. It is a vote about the self-determination of an indigenous people and their homeland. The Inupiat, who live within the boundaries of the coastal plain, are a people with strong cultural values, and are deeply in touch with their environment and everything that lives there. It is the Inupiat who have been the caretakers of the Arctic region for thousands of years.

To some of my colleagues, the debate about ANWR is about energy. To others, it is about the environment. To me, ANWR is really about whether or not the indigenous people who are directly impacted have a voice about the use of their lands. The Inupiat know every mile, every curve in the landscape of the coastal plain, and every animal that must survive there, for their own survival depends on this. They have the greatest incentive of anyone to preserve their environment, including the plants and animals that live on the coastal plain, in order to maintain their way of life.

They too depend on the caribou and they have participated in the protection of the caribou while monitoring and working with the oil industry at Prudhoe Bay. Their experience has demonstrated that a careful balance is possible, and that preservation and development are not mutually exclusive. My colleagues, I do not live on the coastal plain. For that reason, I trust the wisdom and knowledge of those who have lived and cared for the land there for many, many generations.

I will vote to provide the Inupiat with the opportunity to provide for themselves and their future generations. They have spoken and have been steadfast in their position for many, many years. I am confident that they will protect their homeland and utilize its resources with the native values that have served them well since time began. Their position is supported by the Alaska Federation of Natives, which represents 110,000 Alaska Natives, and the Native Village of Kaktovic.

Mr. President, this has not been an easy decision for me given the fact that this is one of the few times that I am not voting with the majority of my colleagues in my party. As much as I would like to vote with my colleagues, I must remain true to myself and my values. For me, this is an issue about economic self-determination. This is an issue about allowing those who have lived on the coastal plain and cared for the coastal plain for many, many generations, to do what they believe is right with their lands."

those who have lied and raped the land for many, many generations.

Sorry, but I'm not buying his bullshit. If the Natives he is talking about are like most Native Americans, they are so poor they'll buy any snake oil (no pun intended) sales pitch that might improve their situation.
I'd bet a bundle that if given the choice about saving their environment/natural resources, and still being able to earn a decent living some other way, they'd pick the latter.

oil company employees.

Economic self determination indeed.

He is nuts. "Their experience" is a different world from the "experience" of major oil corporations and the intent of the bush administration to ride roughshod over all environmental concerns.

He thinks he is being eloquent, but he's manipulating the truth and twisting it to serve his own interests.

Kaktovic. Had he talked to some G'wichin he would have heard a different story. Or maybe he could ask his Inupiat buddies what they think of offshore drilling. I guess it is all about whose ox is being gored. Hypocritical bastard. I hope they discover oil off of Hawaii someday soon. Some oil wells would look pretty good out there.

taken from them. If those of the very northern part of America wish for this, they should get it, as they had it wrongly taken it away from them.

They should also get all of the profits, which won't happen. This is what calls for revolution. Akaka had the correct reasoning, but as long as he is part of a government that oppresses the indigenous people of the Americas, he hasn't gained any good ground. The indigenous people must unite to remove any oppresive power, like our ancestors did.

There are probably 40 adult men in this village. They hunt whatles, caribou, muskox, birds, fish, polar bears. They have had a subsitence lifestyle except since "Americans" came. What was wrongfully taken from them was the ability to continue to pursue this lifestyle. Global warning is destroying their habitat and making it difficult to get their food and bringing more polar bears to the village increasing the potential for someones to get eaten.

None.

Akaka, Inouye, and Landrieu are why I will not donate to the DNC!

...is what AILs America!

exchange for his vote. His reasoning sounds like super-sized horse shit. Hope this comes back to bite him in the ass.

in effect selling out one indigenous people for another.

'A'ole makemake, E Akaka! (I don't want that, Akaka!)

as indigenous peoples. Which they don't want, at least the ones I have talked to don't want it. It will lump them in with Native Americans and they don't want to be seen as "Native Americans" The native Hawaiians I know would NEVER support Akaka on this, the ones that I know have a deep respect for "the aina"(the land) and would not want it destroyed anywhere. I smell a rat and a huge payoff. I have meet Akaka before and know some of his staffers. Fuck you Akaka. I will do everything within my power to see that you are not reelected in 2006.

"... support for his Hawaiian recognition bill" might be confusing to some.

You are correct in asserting that the "Akaka bill" provides at best only a very watered-down version of actual sovereignty. My own senior Hawaiian affairs advisor is as adamantly against it as are those you describe. She informs me, for instance, that only those with a certain percentage of Hawaiian ancestry will be considered part of the new entity, a notion repugnant to Hawaiians, who follow sort of the "one-drop rule" in reverse: anyone who has a Hawaiian ancestor is Hawaiian.

And, as you allude, the idea of raping someone else's 'aina to get yourselves recognized is utterly hypocritical.

The Hawai'i Connection
As members of the Senate's Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska and Daniel Inouye of Hawai'i have long partnered to bring millions of dollars of military expansion funds and other federal moneys to their states.
Chuck Neubauer and Richard T. Cooper of the Los Angeles Times reported, in a 2003 article entitled "Senator's Way to Wealth Was Paved With Favors," that "Federal spending in Alaska, known locally as 'Stevens money,' runs as much as 70 percent above the national average on a per-capita basis."
The Times reporters also noted, "For more than 20 years, Stevens has been chairman or ranking member of the Senate's Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Since 1997, he has been chairman or ranking member of the full Appropriations Committee, which must approve every dollar of federal discretionary spending each year."
Hawai'i residents are well aware of Sen. Inouye's similar success in bringing federal pork money to our state.
Senator Akaka's push to implement the "Native Hawaiian Recognition Bill," now known as the Akaka/Stevens Bill, has similarly called on the Hawai'i delegation's close ties to Alaska.
The Akaka/Stevens bill would begin the process for Native Hawaiians to be recognized by the U.S. government as an indigenous people. It would establish the beginnings of a framework for Native Hawaiian governance. That government would then be empowered to negotiate with the United States and the State of Hawai'i over the disposition of Native Hawaiian assets. But some Native Hawaiians fear that the Akaka Bill will lead to a Hawaiian model reminiscent of Alaska's native corporations. Established in 1971 as means of settling Native Alaskan land claims, the corporations manage huge tracts of "native" land for profit - sometimes to the detriment of subsistence villages and often to the profit of oil companies and of politicians, including Stevens.
Among other allegations, Neubauer and Cooper note that Stevens has a very close relationship with Arctic Slope Regional Corp., the Inupiat "owned" corporation the manages the trust obligations given to it by the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). Arctic Slope is the sole tenant of a building owned by Stevens, paying $6 million a year in rent on a twenty-year lease. Arctic Slope stands to gain immensely if exploration is allowed in the refuge.
"Arctic Slope is no ordinary tenant," claim Neubauer and Cooper. "A $1-billion-a-year business, it is the largest Alaskan-owned company in the state. More important, the company - along with 12 other regional Native corporations - was created through legislation the senator took the lead in drafting. And it has prospered through his continuing efforts in the Senate."
Although Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman John McCain, (R-Ariz.) recently came out in clear opposition to the Akaka/Stevens Bill, Frank Oliveri of the Honolulu Advertiser's Washington Bureau reported on January 12 that there will be hearings early this year and a Senate vote on federal recognition of Native Hawaiians.

<more>
http://hawaiiislandjournal.com/2005/02a05b.html

CHILDREN, and create DEFORMITIES in fetuses.....


added PLUS: they can all work for their MASTERS, the corporate OIL companies, who NEVER clean up the environmental disasters left behind...the remote location BEGS for the addition of a 'company store'....


how big was the BRIBE for that vote? a vote for ROBBER BARRONS....

that happened during the alaska pipeline job...workers came to hawaii to thaw out, and they spent millions of $$$


Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

They "snowbird" down there. I lived in a community with a lot of people that come down from Alaska. They are such a joke they are fiercely conservative and boast about their strong convictions about being independent, rugged souls. What a crock of shit. Alaska is the biggest welfare state in the nation(next to Hawaii), rugged individualism and independence my ass, if those people up there didn't have those monthly welfare checks from the oil companies they would all freeze to death. It appears that Hawaii has a partner in crime in Alaska though, their politicians are all corrupt, money-grubbing assholes. Yes Akaka, this means you!

Their position is supported by the Alaska Federation of Natives, which represents 110,000 Alaska Natives, and the Native Village of Kaktovic.

Surprise! The village of Kaktovik is part of something called the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, created in the '70s. It rents its offices for a hefty fee from -- none other than Ted Stevens! So a village entity that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ted Stevens Evil Incarnate Unltd. supports drilling? I'm shocked. Shocked!

More here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x113363

(I'm embarrassed to admit that a mainland DUer found this in the Big Island free weekly :dunce: )

When someone says that a village is part of a regional corporation, they're referring to the 13 regional native corporations that were set up as trustees of a massive settlement paid to the natives back in the 70s. Natives within a specific corporation's geographic area are the sole shareholders of that corporation; shares can't be sold and native membership is the only qualification to be a shareholder. The corporation is run by the natives and exists solely to make investments and pay out dividends for its shareholders.

So the village of Kaktovik is part of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation--it doesn't mean the village is fictitious or an evil entity. The fact that the corporation rents space from Ted Stevens (who owns a lot of stuff) is meaningless.

as in Native Americans, or citizens? Where do these corporation members hail from? I'll bet they don't live anywhere near the area that is to be desecrated.

i.e. the indigenous people. I worked for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. The corporation members ARE the members of the tribes.

On another note: Alaska has the Permanent Fund Dividend, which is every man, woman, and child's cut of the oil revenues. More wells equals more dividend money. The year I lived there it was just over $1900 per person, delivered in check form in the mail.

What about the Gwich'in? Who are these people who are benefiting from the rape of the land? I'll still wager that they are not the ones whose lives will be disrupted by the drilling. And I'll further wager that the bulk of the money doesn't reach the citizens that they claim to support. The money from big oil never, never reaches the indigenous cultures. The only ones who will benefit from the drilling of oil are the companies that we will allow to exploit it. The oil mongers will incestuously share the profits at the expense of the inhabitant's environment.

From the Philippines to Louisiana, oil wells and refineries victimize the people and destroy the pristine environments with polluted air which causes skin lesions and respiratory illnesses, and damage from spills which no amount of money can replace or mollify. The land is useless for farming of wildlife after the rigs are set up. The monsters spew their toxic flares of unusable chemicals into the atmosphere and regularly spray the surrounding land and pollute the nearby water sources with deadly residues. The plants and the trees in previously fertile regions turn brown and lose their foliage.

The community's money is often used up with the promise of providing jobs which never materialize.

Among the other companies that are thought to have signed deals to drill in the refuge are ConocoPhillips and BP. BP continues to exploit the world's land and environment for oil and, along with other companies, it has been criticized for operations in the Amazon, where a number of Indian Reserves have been affected.

I simply don't believe that this money is preserved for the people whose lives are directly affected by the desecration of their homeland. Do some get paid off for their complicity? No doubt. But that doesn't justify anything, and you haven't yet demonstrated that those whose lives are directly affected are in fact benefiting from the drilling and exploration, much less from the profits that will flow from the ground if they do manage to find and retrieve the oil. History says otherwise, despite the claims of these corporation shills.

The geographic area of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation encompasses the area in question. Kaktovik is actually located within ANWR. Here's a survey done by the village itself regarding the villager's opinions on drilling: http://www.kaktovik.com/anwr_survey.htm

As far as employment, yes the natives do benefit from the industry. I lived in Kotzebue for a while and many, many natives I met there had benefitted directly or indirectly when the original pipeline was built.

I personally don't have an opinion on the matter--I don't live in Alaska anymore. But if the natives are in favor of it, that's an opinion that should matter. Frankly, your post is pretty patronizing. These people may not live in fancy homes, but they're not rubes. They manage corporations that generate millions of dollars, dollars that get paid out in dividends to individual natives to supplement their subsistence lifestyles. I don't see how anyone who is not a native can have the arrogance to tell them that they're stupid or need to be told what's good for them.

that hawks the views of 68 people patronizing. I stand by my reasoning.

Again, this is incredibly patronizing to Alaska Natives.

I don't think it's the final word--you posted a website by another village that opposes drilling. That's good too--all of their opinions should count. But I don't see the point in demonizing an entire village and native corporation because they support drilling.

They're both Alaska Natives and citizens (the two aren't mutually exclusive). There are blood quantum requirements in order to qualify as an Alaska Native, so they're not rebadged white people.

Corporation shareholders typically hail from the area or still live there. And Kaktovik is probably the closest village to the area itself.

I don't have a personal opinion on drilling, but it is/was their land and they have by far the closest connection to it, in terms of hunting and fishing and other subsistence activities. If they're in favor of it, who am I (or you) to second-guess them?

that was put more succinctly than I could manage.

support whatever they wish happens on their land, whether or not liberals and environmentalist agree with them or not.

I think Sen. Akaka did something very unique, he didn't vote on party lines but he went to the potential drilling sites himself and based on how it would affect those who lived there.

Call me naive, but he justified his vote based on who will live with the consequences, and it really should be as simple as that. We have no right to criticize the very people who live on that land, just as we have no right to tell the Native American Tribal Nations what they can and cannot do on their reservations.

They are actually the ones who will have to live (or die) with the consequences. People can be relocated. Other species can't.

Gwich'in Nation of Northeast Alaska, whose villages are located along the migratory paths of the caribou. The area where they live is virtually the same as the range of the caribou and their villages are strategically set along the migratory routes of the caribou.

http://www.alaska.net/~gwichin/index2.html

drilling?

http://www.earthisland.org/eijournal/new_articles.cfm?articleID=590&journalID=64

"We fixed some traditional food - caribou - but Murkowski said he didn't have time to eat. He was very disrespectful of our hospitality.

When he said that we needed jobs, we said, "We already have a job. We have always taken care of this part of the world and that's our job. We always took care of the caribou and in return they took care of us, so we are the manager of the caribou already and that's not a new responsibility.

"We're not poor. We know where we came from. We still have clean water, clean air, we still live a healthy life and the land is still healthy. There's no price for what we have. So we're not poor, we're richer in our hearts for who we are. That's being rich in a different form."

We've been successful because of people's power. We believe we can win. We're not going to compromise because this is the right thing to do. We want small-scale development for our future generations. That way everybody benefits."

The Gwinch'in people may be devastated if drilling wipes out the caribou, because they are self-sufficient and their livelihoods depend on the caribou.

"local hire" will be nonexistent for our indiginous people. The pipeline and oil workers will, again, be imported from Texas and Oklahoma, and the only local hire jobs will be basic day labor, cooks, maids etc.

It won't change this time.

deformed children....cancers.....what more could you ask for?



the medical costs alone will exceed the profits from the OIL...you can watch the slow development of HUGE increases in terratogenic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic effects on HUMAN BEINGS, and on their FOOD, the cariboo...all KNOWN to be caused by the OIL projects....


it's sort of like when the American Government gave smallpox-infected blankets to the Native Americans....seems like a benefit at first...but devastatingly toxic in the long run....

There are Democrats. And there are Democrats.

Oh, well.

We're drilling ANWR for Kaktovik????? Give me a fucking break how stupid is this? Economic self determination for Inupiats living on the North edge of North America? ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!

constituents in Hawaii, pure and simple. That's what all the "native" people bullshit is about in his bantering. Since when did any of those assholes care about native's self determination.
I would love to punch that fucker in the nose.

n/t

and others.

The Gwich'in Nation of Northeast Alaska and Northwest Canada have a unified longstanding position to seek permanent protection of “Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit” The Sacred Place Where Life Begins, the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The coastal plain is the primary birthplace and nursery for over 120,000-member Porcupine Caribou Herd. Our Gwich’in villages are located along the migratory paths of the caribou. The area where we live is virtually the same as the range of the caribou and our villages are strategically set along the migratory routes of the caribou.
http://www.alaska.net/~gwichin/index2.html

The current administration and the Alaska delegation persists in promoting drilling in the birthing grounds as a universal remedy for everything from ending dependence on foreign oil and inflated promises of jobs. The Arctic Refuge will only provide the U.S. with 6 months of oil 10 years from now according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

We must be sufficiently equipped to fight riders in congress. The scheme currently floating in the U.S. Senate is to use royalties from drilling for health benefits of retired mineworkers and their survivors.

Many believe that if the Refuge falls it will open the door to the desecration of sacred places important to tribes elsewhere.

Please help us to protect the last intact Arctic ecosystem in America, the Gwich’in culture and our future generations.

http://www.alaska.net/~gwichin/index.html

Just as a casino is no better on a reservation than in Las Vegas, destroying the enviorenment is not more defendable if the people profiting include Alaska natives and Big Oil.

we're going to be inundated with Arkansans and Lousianans and Oklahomans and all the other -ians that come with oil field companies. Locals don't get hired. He's hiding behind native people to cover his collusion with the oil companies.

They won't hire inexperienced natives.

... it is about protecting wild places from human development. It is also about preventing a precident for selling off America's public lands to special interests. Oil drilling is still oil drilling whether it is done by whites or by Eskimoes. The effects of the destruction of the natural world affect everyone. Just because a specific tract is in someones back yard does not mean they can forget about the world as a whole. Environmental protection necessarily means telling a lot of people that they cannot do what they want with their own particular tracts. We only have one Earth and if we cannot get away from these fuedal notions of land ownership and use, we are all pretty much doomed. Anyway, we have only this Senator's word for it that they even want this project.