Husky News

There have been a number of articles about Alaska in the media since Sarah Palin was selected for Republican VP candidate. And she herself has spoken up with her version of Alaska on a number of occasions.

None of it yet seems to contain the following basic information, which even dumb me (who has been up there a few times) knows:

Alaska is not just the largest state in the Union, it is twice the size of Texas. Alaskans like to joke that if their state was divided into two, then Texas would become the third largest state. The vast area of Alaska does not belong to the government, it belongs to the people. Public land is “people’s land.” In this case it belongs to two sets of people Ð 1) the citizens of the United States, and then 2), various native corporations. This is tribal land, with a modern business twist.

Also, the American public has not been given the information that although Anchorage, Fairbanks, and a couple of other population centers are primarily Caucasian Americans, the rest of the vast extent is mostly native. The native people are Athabascan Indians, particularly in the basin of the Yukon River, Inupiaq along the north coast, and Yup’ik down the delta of the Yukon and along the west coast of Alaska. And then Aleut people (anciently related to the Yup’ik) out along the Aleutian chain. South of Anchorage and down toward Homer is the old homeland of another branch of Athabascan or “Dene” peoples.

The Alaskan native people have been playing a strong and significant role in Alaskan politics and society for the last half century, and this should not be ignored either. Alaska is home to a still active and vibrant body of followers of the Russian/Greek Orthodox Church. Many of them are native people, who both support and maintain traditional culture as well as following an old membership in the Orthodox Church.

And finally, there are plenty of Alaskans, both native or originally from the lower 48, who love nature and wildlife, who are students of the languages, are artists, religious practitioners and philosophers of considerable depth and skill. There are fine writers of prose and poetry, and the exciting witty detective novels of John Straley.

There are still plenty of bold backcountry explorers by canoe, kayak, or dog sled, who have clear eyes and a gentle heart. Think of the Iditarod race every year: One time one of the dog teams was a team of poodles.

Alaska also has a sense of humor. The “end-of-the-road evangelicals” are but one small part of the story.

Gary Snyder is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.

Source: The Union