For those of you who take offense to my blog, take heart in knowing that I understand that every village is different. I, in no way, mean to infer that every village in Alaska is as I experienced Kwethluk. I have friends who were in other villages - Quinhagak, in particular - who had very different experiences. I have been told that I just got a "bad" village. I also understand that villages, like people, go through phases and I seemed to have hit Kwethluk during a "down" time.
These are my experiences. They happened just this way. I cannot change that and you cannot change that. However, I hope that by enlightening others to the situation I found myself buried in Kwethluk, I can be a catalyst for change, for hope, and for optimism. For now, it is what it is and I will not be silenced.
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I read this on someone's blog today (they are referring to a nearby - across the bay - Aluttiq village)... "Nanwalek feels more li... -
A 17 year old girl from our village committed suicide in a neighboring village this past weekend. Two of her siblings are students in our hi...
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Your experience in Kwethluk was not at all out of the ordinary. I wish I could say that it was but in my time teaching in the region, I saw village after village of the decay you discuss. There is one bandaid after another applied to cover the wretchedness of life there. How can these children grow and prosper when all around them are drunk and neglectful. I cringe when I remember what I saw out there. Since I maintain a high profile position in the State I will remain anonymous but don't let these posters second guess what you felt. That being said, it is their reality and when the culture crumbles and the natives are forced to truely live the lifestyle they espouse or move to the cities, they will be forced into urban third world hell. They will wish that they had not blown it out there on the tundra with the alcohol and neglect. Another generation wasted.
ReplyDeleteyou're the poster child of ignorant america.
ReplyDelete