Native Insight Competition Winner: Methanie Ongtooguk

AMERICA AND THE WHALE: STRENGTHENED ECONOMY THROUGH SMALLER COMMUNITY

I am Inupiaq and my children are Inupiaq, but we live cut off from traditional life. We read about it and we garner what we can from relatives. We are the legacy of a western system that used education as a tool to sever our connections as Alaska Natives. I am neither fluent in my Native language, nor capable of recognizing plants native to the land of my birth. But I believe that I am responsible for my heritage because now it is not only my history, but it is the foundation of my children’s lives.

The history of Native Peoples in America is marked by continual, methodical marginalization. While progress continues, we still find ourselves largely excluded from western society and economy. Alaskan Natives who have chosen to live or who were born in urban centers are particularly marginalized because we have limited opportunities to participate in our culture. The continuing disconnection between urban and rural Natives reduces social and economic ties of both groups, and makes it difficult for ambitious young Natives in urban and rural centers to justify returning to and strengthening rural life.

When Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, it stated in section 2(b) “the settlement should be accomplished rapidly, with certainty, in conformity with the real economic and social needs of Natives….without establishing any permanent racially defined institutions, rights, privileges, or obligations, without creating a reservation system or lengthy wardship (ANCSA, 1)” This defined the purpose of the legislation as meeting the needs of Alaska Natives, both economically and socially. Since the passing of ANCSA, Native owned corporations have helped achieve the goal of generating income, but they have not been very successful in strengthening ties between rural and urban Natives. While avoiding the pitfalls of reservations and their legacy, corporations are not sufficient for meeting both the social and economic needs of Alaska Natives. The creation of a process to formally join regional tribes, recognizing and including both rural and urban Natives, would redefine the social and economic connections between urban and rural Alaska. This would go a long way toward establishing a sense of economic and cultural responsibility to our people.
The problems afflicting the Alaska Native economy are of values first, dollars second. The decision of where to spend money is a moral decision and one that America has largely forgotten, especially with the onset of globalization and free-trade markets. The destabilization of the United States’ economy is a symptom of a greater dilemma, based in the devaluation of social costs or benefits resulting from economic decisions, as well as a lost sense of genuine community. Native communities have thrived on a traditional, holistic system of sharing which generated a sense of belonging, purpose, and responsibility in everyone. Within whaling communities this was the distribution of the whale; in other parts of Alaska it was the distribution of salmon, caribou or moose. In western communities, farmers’ markets and community shared agriculture programs are becoming increasingly successful, in part because of their contribution toward drawing community together. In order for Alaska to contribute positively to the overall economy of the United States, its local economies need to be strengthened first. The most viable avenue for rapid change is to focus on the health and stability of small communities.

Inclusion and recognition of community members is essential to strengthening the social, cultural, and economic reality of Alaska, yet many regions of Alaska are still without formal processes for tribal membership. In a study by Stephanie Martin and Alexandra Hill, as of July 2009, there were an “estimated 20,000 to 25,000 Alaska Natives living outside Alaska, including some who are attending colleges and universities” out of an estimated 122,000 Alaska native people (Hill and Martin, 2). Tribal distinction would allow those members of Alaska Native communities to recognize and be recognized more easily outside of their regions, providing support and a sense of culture regardless of their environment.

Additionally, tribes provide pathways between the urban and rural, both socially and economically, by ensuring a sense of responsibility and belonging between each. In few other parts of the United States is there a greater difference between members of the same culture as between those from rural villages and Fairbanks or Anchorage. Estrangement between urban and rural Alaskans weakens the cultural and social connections and thus the economy, since there is little encouragement to bring skilled workers or college graduates back to rural Alaska. There is limited support for new businesses which would strengthen local economies through job creation and there is little incentive to keep dollars within the community. If there is only a vague sense of who participates in a given community and who those dollars impact, then those who experience financial failure or financial success are removed from each other, unable to see that each of their decisions has the potential to impact or improve the other’s way of life.

Cultural responsibility lends itself to economic responsibility. When community is distinct and defined, economy is distinct and defined. Individuals are no longer choosing between investing their money in strangers: choices arise between friends, relatives, tribal members, fellow Alaskans or multinational corporations. Jobs, education, medical care and the quality of these services become personal, laws become personal, and governance becomes personal because the individual is responsible to specific members of the community and not to strangers. When a person is judged by their contributions and ties to the community, above what they own, we will find a healing community and a healing economy.

Essential to the establishment of formal processes of tribal membership is the inclusion of those who have been raised both in and out of traditional lifestyles. Being successful in the Western world does not mean that traditional life has to be forfeited and being successful in the rural world does not mean that Western success is impossible. Urban Natives raised in the Western world need induction into traditional life, beginning with a working knowledge of traditional language. Without language, culture has limited context and more importantly, connection is disrupted to elders and esteemed members of the community. Providing urban centers with childcare facilities that teach and maintain Native languages is essential, as well as incentives to encourage Native language speakers in public schools throughout both rural and urban Alaska.

In New Zealand, the Mäori have created Te Kohanga Reo, also known as a “Language Nest.”  It functions as a children’s learning center taught entirely in traditional language and “covering cultural, spiritual, social, economic, and educational aspects of Mäori life (Te Kohanga Reo, 3).”  Parents are strongly encouraged to join and participate. It is essential for this program that everyone involved have a sense of belonging and acceptance, and as a result, self-determination, which strengthen Mäori values and culture.

Books in native languages are now being published and provided for students in third world countries on behalf of the Room to Read Foundation, created by former Microsoft Senior Executive John Wood. While visiting schools in Nepal, he realized he could help establish strong, sustainable schools by publishing books in Nepalese with content relevant to Nepalese life. This concept surfaces occasionally in Alaska, but often without sustained funding or dedication. Many books written in Alaskan Native languages are now out of print, despite the need for them. Supporting writers, illustrators, publishers, and editors from the Native community would strengthen not only traditional language and culture, but also local economy.

With the teaching of language and the conveyance of meaning, a genuine sense of culture and belonging is created which does not exclude on the basis of proportion of Native blood or place of birth. With Native language skills, Alaskans have another way to teach children, passing on values from elder members of the tribe. In this way, another layer of community is created, strengthening our culture. Communication skills are essential to build ties within families and between families. Through a healthy sense of shared history and being connected and committed to our culture, our communities will become closer knit and more stable.

The United States loves its image as a nation of many nations, the refuge of varied and distinct cultures. Yet it is a failure of foresight to believe that as Americans, we must separate and insulate our cultures; honestly, in Alaska it’s impossible. America settled itself upon us. It is us and we are it and there is no separation. It is essential for the United States to strengthen its social and economic fabric with the values of the Native peoples living here, and it can do so by learning our history, our basis for economic distribution and social status, and the value we place upon members of the community. Stronger, smaller communities, the traditional model for Native people, can create thriving economies, opportunities, and a sense of responsibility in those who are searching for sincere belonging.

The creation of tribal citizenship in Alaska —politically, historically, and socially— as well as a recognized process to join tribes and the ability to speak and understand our language is essential to my own and my children’s future. It is not enough for my family that the economy alone recovers; our family needs more. My children and myself need a path toward tribal participation and recognition, we need to know that no matter how far we travel or wherever we decide to live, we are representatives of our Alaska Native community, responsible not only to each other, but also to our extended families, elders, friends, and fellow tribal members.


Works Cited

ANCSA Resource Center. “Congressional Findings and Declaration of Policy: 43 U.S.C. 1601”. 18 Dec, 1971. Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP. 7 Feb. 1998

http://www.lbblawyers.com/ancsa.htm#arts


Hill, Alexandra and Stephanie Martin. “The Changing Economic Status of Alaska Natives, 1970-2007.” Web Notes Vol. 5. July 2009. Institute of Social and Economic Research. www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu


Te Kohanga Reo: ko te reo mauri o te mana maori

http://www.kohanga.ac.nz/aims.html


Additional Sources

Room to Read Foundation

www.roomtoread.org


Teaching Indigenous Languages

University of Northern Arizona

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/TIL.html



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* This was a winning essay from the recent "Native Insight" competition sponsored by the Alaska Federation of Natives organization.

Nearly 300 Native thinkers from across the nation submitted "Native Insight" essays about the economy and prospects for recovery. Women submitted 58 percent of the 280 eligible Native Insight entries, and men submitted 40 percent. Alaska Natives made up 32 percent of the applicant pool, with American Indians submitting 48 percent of the entries, and Native Hawaiians 16 percent.

The competition was open to Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and American Indians of all ages. The 500-1,600 word essays were due September 15, 2009. Essays addressed one or more of three writing prompts focused on how the Native community can support economic renewal, what it will take for the American economy to rebound and what the American leadership can do to jumpstart recovery.

The Native Insight Winners’, Finalists’ and Semi-Finalists’ ideas will be shared with members of the Obama Administration and published here at nativetimes.com as well as other Native news outlets.