Читать книгу Racing Toward Recovery. The Extraordinary Story of Alaska Musher Mike Williams Sr. онлайн

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We consider the fish in the Kuskokwim River to be a resource. Fish has been a stable resource. We have had salmon forever, freshwater fish, whitefish, sheefish, burbot, pike, and blackfish. Fishing has been a resource for us. Moose, caribou, bear, and small game have been a very important staple of our diet, and we have been gathering berries and preserving them for winter forever. These have been ongoing practices from way back. I think my parents’ generation was the first one to experience being punished for speaking the language, and attempts to change them to assimilate into the western way of life.

Alaska became a state in 1959, but the Indian Reorganization Act took effect in 1934. The federal government said that it had trust obligations in Alaska and to the Native tribes and tribal governments that were established. But there always seemed to be a lot of committees within governments somehow messing things up.

In my dad’s generation there were changes. The introduction of alcohol and the opening of a liquor store in Bethel was a big thing. Bethel is less than thirty miles from Akiak by the river and even closer by air. The introduction and availability of alcohol began to affect things in Akiak.