To 'Eskimo' or NOT TO 'Eskimo'

THAT is the question! Video from New Zealand depicts some of the cultural differences.



http://www.youtube.com/user/Qayaq

Canadian Inuit woman at centre of tempest for denouncing name of New Zealand treat

April 23, 2009
Petti Fong
Western Canada Bureau Chief

VANCOUVER–By her own calculation, Canadian tourist Seeka Lee Veevee Parsons is one unpopular woman in New Zealand right now –just because of what she insists she is not: an Eskimo.

The Inuit woman is garnering headlines – and animosity – for suggesting a favourite New Zealand candy, the Eskimo Lolly, is racist and improper.

Veevee Parsons said yesterday she has been shocked at the hostility she has created in the country she loved from the time she arrived two months ago by simply raising the issue of the candy she saw recently in a New Zealand store.

"Calling someone an Eskimo is no longer responsible," said the 21-year-old Parsons, who is from Nunavut but has been on an extended work holiday in New Zealand.

"When I was a kid, they used to call me a dirty Eskimo girl and it's a term that shouldn't be used anymore especially on a candy. Is it right that people go around eating shapes of people of another culture?"

The Eskimo Lolly, described as "cherished" and a "treasure" to New Zealanders, is a multi-coloured marshmallow candy in the shape of a person wearing a thick hooded jacket in front of an igloo.

Veevee Parsons, who is working at an organic farm near the city of Rotorua, said she made the comments to a television station after being interviewed at a tourist information booth she was visiting.

Ever since the story about her complaint aired on one television station earlier this week, Veevee Parsons has been interviewed nearly a dozen times and viewers and readers have been responding by the thousands to her concerns. Most of the response has been personal attacks against Veevee Parsons, with a few telling her to go home and others insisting she shut up. "I eat jelly babies. It doesn't mean that I like to bite small children. It's just confectionary," wrote one reader. "If you don't like it, how about you don't buy it!"

Daniel Ellis, spokesperson for Cadbury/Pascall, the maker of the candy in New Zealand, said in an interview that he's been surprised by the strong public opinions provoked by Veevee Parsons' comments. In the 54-year history of the Eskimo Lolly, there have been only two complaints about the use of the term, Ellis said.

"People felt one of their favourites was being discussed in such a way that they've had to voice their opinion," said Ellis. "New Zealanders are very patriotic."

The company, while it takes the complaint seriously, doesn't intend to change the name.

A non-sports fan, Veevee Parsons said she didn't even know there was a CFL team called the Edmonton Eskimos until her family pointed out to her that that's her grandfather's favourite team.

Veevee Parsons plans to return home to Canada in June and said she intends to send the candy to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in hopes he'll bring the issue up.

University of British Columbia social work professor Frank Tester, who researches Inuit social history, said the term Eskimo, which originated from the Cree language and translates as eater of raw meat, has never been an appropriate term. He said despite complaints, Eskimo Pie is still for sale and one Vancouver bagel shop shows a toothless Inuit poster to tout its soft bagels.

Veevee Parsons' uncle, David Veevee, who lives in Iqaluit, said he's been surprised at the uproar created over his niece's statements about the use of the word Eskimo.

"It doesn't bother me if people down there in the south use the word Eskimo," said Veevee. "They just don't know any better. So maybe if what she's doing is educating them, that's all right. It's just a candy, after all."

Zulkosky Goes to Begich...

Bethel mayor to resign to work for Begich

Posted by thevillage

Posted: April 13, 2009 - 12:47 pm

Sen. Mark Begich just announced that he’s hired Bethel city mayor Tiffany Zulkosky as his rural director.

Zulkosky, who has been mayor since October, will resign from the job to join Begich’s team, the announcement says.

The news came as a surprise to Bethel city clerk Lori Strickler, who I called today to find out more about Bethel’s city government. “I’m kind of shocked,” she said

Zulkosky graduated from Bethel Regional High in 2002, and earned a Bachelor's from Northwest University in Kirkland, Wash., in 2006.
City of Bethel photo.

Strickler said Bethel has a strong manager/weak mayor government. (Unlike, say, Anchorage, where the mayor acts as a kind of CEO.)

According to the Bethel city Web site: The mayor serves as the ceremonial head of the city and the presiding officer at all council meetings.

Zulkosky has been serving a one-year term.

“She was voted by the people as a council member, and then the council voted her to the mayor’s position,” Strickler said.

Zulkowsky also works as a public information officer for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., according to Begich’s office.

Bethel council members, including the mayor, don’t get a salary, Strickler said. I don’t know yet how much Zulkosky will make working for Begich.

Here’s the announcement:

---

Rural Director Joins Begich Senate Staff
Bethel resident to focus on rural issues and outreach

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich has hired Bethel resident Tiffany Zulkosky to serve as his Rural Director. An Alaska Native born and raised in Bethel, Zulkosky will resign her current position as Mayor of Bethel to join Begich’s staff at the end of the month.

“Filling this position is a priority for me given the tremendous challenges facing rural Alaska today,” Sen. Begich said. “Tiffany will be my eyes and ears throughout rural Alaska and will work closely with my staff in D.C. to address those challenges.”

Zulkosky has been serving as Mayor of Bethel since October 2008. Prior to that she served one year on the Bethel City Council and has served on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. In June 2008, she was hired as the Public Information Officer for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation serving as the liaison between the corporation and the news media.

“I’ve had a passion for public service since high school, and am thrilled to get the chance to continue that by working for Senator Begich,” Zulkosky said. “My sense of wanting to do more for my community can now be expanded as I work with Alaskans across the state to make the lives of Alaska Natives and all rural residents better.”

Graduating with honors from Bethel Regional High School in May 2002, Zulkosky then attended Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington and graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Communication in May 2006.

Zulkosky will work out of Sen. Begich’s Anchorage office.

Rosenfeld Announces Candidacy

Opposition to Governor Palin - Rob Rosenfeld announces his candidacy for Governor of Alaska

Rob Rosenfeld, a long time spokesperson for social, economic, and rural issues, has formally announced his campaign for Governor on Channel 2 KTUU TV on Friday, February 6th, 2009.

Rosenfeld is a long term political strategist, facilitator, community development worker, rural advocate, soccer player and downhill skier.

Rosenfeld has worked in the non-profit sector for 27 years. He is a long term resident of Alaska who lives on the Kenai Peninsula. He arrived in Alaska in 1989, when he began working on a commercial fishing boat - which later brought him to Kodiak Island, where he remained to work with emotionally disturbed youth and eventually on the Exxon Valdez oil spill clean-up.

Rob has spent the past eleven years working with tribal leaders to create the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council. He served as Director for more than 10 years and currently works as the International Policy and Development Advisor to the 66 indigenous communities of the Yukon River Watershed. Rob is known for his passion and his unwavering commitment to rural issues. The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council (YRITWC) has received two awards from Harvard University, where Rosenfeld has been a guest speaker. His speaking engagements have been many, including a speech at a NAFTA conference on the topic of Cross Border Environmental Cooperation. With Rob’s leadership the YRITWC has moved more than 8 million pounds of hazardous waste and recyclable materials from the banks of the Yukon River, often doubling the lifespan of rural landfills. The YRITWC is known for its innovative solutions in addressing solid waste, sewage and energy issues. Recently the YRITWC succeeded in installing the first hydro-electric/run-of-the-river turbine in the United States in Ruby, Alaska.

Rosenfeld has a Masters Degree in International and Sustainable Development and an undergraduate degree in Teaching Adaptive Physical Education K-12. He has worked for 15 years with people with disabilities and has lived in two Central American countries, travelled on 6 continents, and has been to more than 10 countries in Africa.

Rosenfeld will strive to obtain the Democratic nomination for Governor and run against Governor Sarah Palin. He is “running to lead Alaska during difficult times, to address third world living conditions in rural Alaska, and to demonstrate the interdependence of rural and urban Alaska.” His primary areas of focus will be: Economics, Energy, Rural Issues, Education and the Environment. Rob’s many years of development experience qualifies him to be a Hands-on-Governor. His skills are sorely needed in both rural and urban Alaska to effectively address the multiple challenges created by the current situation.

Rob firmly believes that there is “ no silver bullet” to effectively address the energy challenges in Alaska. He will advocate for combined investments in hydro-electric, while maximizing wind, solar, wave, tidal, biomass, and geothermal. In addition, Rob agrees with the importance of utilizing Natural Gas and Propane. Regarding rural issues, Rosenfeld intends to focus on rural issues while demonstrating the interdependence of Rural and Urban, Alaska. “What happens in rural Alaska, almost always has an impact on urban Alaskan social and economic realities.”

Listen to Rob on APRN, Feb 16, 09



Economic issues will be paramount during Rob’s campaign as he will focus on sustainable initiatives that will offer jobs, environmental protection, and improved quality of life for all Alaskans. He will also promote greater involvement with the Arctic Council, with the end goal of forging new trade agreements with Arctic and sub-arctic countries.

Rob serves on the Renewable Energy Alaska Project Board of Directors, the Alaska Forum on the Environment Planning Committee and the Hesperian Foundation Board of Directors.

Rob is disappointed in Governor Palin’s work attendance and follow-through. He promises to show up for work 100% of the time, and to establish an oversight committee for the Governor to ensure checks and balances regarding financial expenditures, travel and work attendance.

He is further appalled with her divisive history of dividing Wasilla and attempts to divide the country. Most distrubing to Rosenfeld is Governor Palin’s blatant attempts to fan the flames of hatred, fear and racism during her Vice Presidential campaign. Rosenfeld indicated that Sarah Palin crossed a line when she fanned the flames of hatred in mischaracterizing President Barack Obama.


For more information contact: robrosey@xyz.net or 907-235-7528


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Stevens' Farewell Speech

Sen. Ted Stevens ended his four-decade congressional career today, ushered out by his Senate colleagues with a dignity not shown by jurors in his corruption trial or by the voters in Alaska who declined to return him to Washington for an eighth term.

Alaska Gas Prices

Economy
Alaska Towns Freeze Gas Prices

by Angela Denning-Barnes

Listen Now [4 min 30 sec...link to NPR]

Morning Edition, November 16, 2007 · Gas prices in Bethel, Alaska, a remote bush town, range from $5 to $7 a gallon. The only saving grace for residents there and in many of the remote towns in western Alaska is that gas prices aren't going up. They were locked in during the fall when an entire winter's fuel supply was shipped in by river barge and stored.

Angela Denning-Barnes reports from member KYUK in Bethel, Alaska.

Top 10 villages with the highest gas, heating fuel prices

____________

MARCH 18, 2009 - 11:15 AM

A recent report on Alaska heating fuel and gasoline prices shows what many villagers already know: That as oil prices dropped this winter, the costs in many rural communities remained high.

Of the 100 communities that the state Division of Community and Regional Affairs surveyed this February, here are the 10 with the highest gasoline prices and heating fuel prices:

Top heating fuel costs as of Feb. 2009:
1. Arctic Village (Interior) -- $9.50 per gallon.
2. Point Baker (Southeast) -- $8.80 per gallon.
3. Emmonak (Western) -- $8.71 per gallon.
4. Hughes (Interior) -- $8.55 per gallon.
5. Kokhanok (South Coastal) -- $8.11 per gallon.
6. Koyuk (Western) -- $8.06 per gallon
7. Saint Michael (Western) -- $8.06
8. Atka (South Coastal) -- $7.99
9. Stebbins (Western) -- $7.99
10. Gambell (Wesern). -- $7.88

...

Top gasoline costs as of Feb. 2009
1. Arctic Village (Interior) -- $9 per gallon
2. Point Baker (Southeast) -- $8.80 per gallon
3. Hughes (Interior) -- $8.50 per gallon
4. Kokhanok (South Coastal) -- $8.40 per gallon
5. Deering (Western) -- $7.82 per gallon
6. Saint Michael (Western) -- $7.80 per gallon
7. Toksook Bay (Western) -- $7.74 per gallon
8. Wales (Western) -- $7.73 per gallon
9. Stebbins (Western) -- $7.71 per gallon
10. Koyuk (Western) -- $7.71 per gallon

(Remember, these numbers only represent the villages that the state surveyed.)

Yukon Healing Journey - YRITWC

Yukon River Healing Journey to Begin on June 22 Opening Ceremony Hosted by Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation in Moosehide, Yukon Territory

1,500 mile canoe journey aims to unite cultures, protect environment, and address climate change concerns.

LINK TO: YRITWC HOME/WEB PAGE

At 1 pm on June 22, 2007, the Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation will host opening ceremonies at Moosehide, Yukon Territory, to initiate the Healing Journey, a celebration of culture, a call to action, and an urgent message to the world. The 1,500 mile canoe journey will head to St. Mary's, Alaska to celebrate the 10th Anniversary YRITWC Summit from August 9-13.



Moosehide, a traditional village, is located near Dawson, on the Yukon River.

Fulfilling an ancient prophecy of uniting the indigenous peoples through water travel, the Healing Journey participants will shove off with traditional canoes and contemporary boats and paddle for approximately seven weeks, visiting all indigenous communities along the way.




Visits will include a traditional meal and cultural exchange, dancing and drumming, and a talking circle to begin to mend the past and forge a commitment to a common future based on environmental stewardship and healthy communities. In honor of the Healing Journey, a traditional T’lingit dugout canoe has been carved by the Yakutat T’lingit Tribe and will be dedicated to the YRITWC in July during the nearly two month long Journey.



As the Healing Journey travels downriver, each participating community will share observations and concerns related to climate change, which will be documented and brought to the Summit in St. Mary’s. The Healing Journey will also draw attention to innovative solutions such as renewable energy and resource management based on traditional knowledge. One of the canoes will have a water quality probe that will take a continuous water chemistry profile of the entire journey as it travels downriver.



Harold Gatensby, a founding Board member of the YRITWC from Carcross-Tagish First Nation, stated, “The Healing Journey is the result of many years of hard work and commitment to clean water and healthy communities. We could not carry out this Journey without the support of all the First Nations and Tribes who are part of the Watershed Council.”

LINK TO: YRITWC BROCHURE (.pdf)

Jon Waterhouse, YRITWC Assistant Director and lead paddler in the Healing Journey, is from the Jamestown Sk’lallam Tribe in the coast Salish region. He said, “We hope to feed the interest of the youth to carry on this tradition of traveling by water and protecting our environment. The Healing Journey is for the whole watershed and beyond.”



The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council is an indigenous grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of the Yukon River Watershed. The YRITWC conducts research, provides technical assistance and training to facilitate the development and exchange of information, and strives to raise awareness about opportunities to promote the health of the watershed. The YRITWC is comprised of 65 Tribes and First Nations in Alaska and Canada who rely on the Yukon River basin for survival.

LINK TO: YRITWC STRATEGIC PLAN (.pdf)

The Healing Journey and Summit are being sponsored in part by National Geographic Society and IBM’s Genographic Legacy Fund, First Nations Development Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Alaska Conservation Foundation.

Text originally published by John Graham
Photos from YRITWC website
View more photos from Matt here!

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Listen to an audio transcript...Associate Director, Alaska Region, of the YRITWC speaking of the Journey...YRITWC appearing on Native America Calling, Aug. 2007.

Food for Thought

Posted on November 23, 2006, Printed on November 25, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/story/44661/

One indication of moral progress in the United States would be the replacement of Thanksgiving Day and its self-indulgent family feasting with a National Day of Atonement accompanied by a self-reflective collective fasting.

In fact, indigenous people have offered such a model; since 1970 they have marked the fourth Thursday of November as a Day of Mourning in a spiritual/political ceremony on Coles Hill overlooking Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, one of the early sites of the European invasion of the Americas.

Not only is the thought of such a change in this white-supremacist holiday impossible to imagine, but the very mention of the idea sends most Americans into apoplectic fits -- which speaks volumes about our historical hypocrisy and its relation to the contemporary politics of empire in the United States.

That the world's great powers achieved "greatness" through criminal brutality on a grand scale is not news, of course. That those same societies are reluctant to highlight this history of barbarism also is predictable.

But in the United States, this reluctance to acknowledge our original sin -- the genocide of indigenous people -- is of special importance today. It's now routine -- even among conservative commentators -- to describe the United States as an empire, so long as everyone understands we are an inherently benevolent one. Because all our history contradicts that claim, history must be twisted and tortured to serve the purposes of the powerful.

One vehicle for taming history is various patriotic holidays, with Thanksgiving at the heart of U.S. myth-building. From an early age, we Americans hear a story about the hardy Pilgrims, whose search for freedom took them from England to Massachusetts. There, aided by the friendly Wampanoag Indians, they survived in a new and harsh environment, leading to a harvest feast in 1621 following the Pilgrims first winter.

Some aspects of the conventional story are true enough. But it's also true that by 1637 Massachusetts Gov. John Winthrop was proclaiming a thanksgiving for the successful massacre of hundreds of Pequot Indian men, women and children, part of the long and bloody process of opening up additional land to the English invaders. The pattern would repeat itself across the continent until between 95 and 99 percent of American Indians had been exterminated and the rest were left to assimilate into white society or die off on reservations, out of the view of polite society.

Simply put: Thanksgiving is the day when the dominant white culture (and, sadly, most of the rest of the non-white but non-indigenous population) celebrates the beginning of a genocide that was, in fact, blessed by the men we hold up as our heroic founding fathers.

The first president, George Washington, in 1783 said he preferred buying Indians' land rather than driving them off it because that was like driving "wild beasts" from the forest. He compared Indians to wolves, "both being beasts of prey, tho' they differ in shape."

Thomas Jefferson -- president #3 and author of the Declaration of Independence, which refers to Indians as the "merciless Indian Savages" -- was known to romanticize Indians and their culture, but that didn't stop him in 1807 from writing to his secretary of war that in a coming conflict with certain tribes, "[W]e shall destroy all of them."

As the genocide was winding down in the early 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt (president #26) defended the expansion of whites across the continent as an inevitable process "due solely to the power of the mighty civilized races which have not lost the fighting instinct, and which by their expansion are gradually bringing peace into the red wastes where the barbarian peoples of the world hold sway."

Roosevelt also once said, "I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth."

How does a country deal with the fact that some of its most revered historical figures had certain moral values and political views virtually identical to Nazis? Here's how "respectable" politicians, pundits, and professors play the game: When invoking a grand and glorious aspect of our past, then history is all-important. We are told how crucial it is for people to know history, and there is much hand wringing about the younger generations' lack of knowledge about, and respect for, that history.

In the United States, we hear constantly about the deep wisdom of the founding fathers, the adventurous spirit of the early explorers, the gritty determination of those who "settled" the country -- and about how crucial it is for children to learn these things.

But when one brings into historical discussions any facts and interpretations that contest the celebratory story and make people uncomfortable -- such as the genocide of indigenous people as the foundational act in the creation of the United States -- suddenly the value of history drops precipitously and one is asked, "Why do you insist on dwelling on the past?"

This is the mark of a well-disciplined intellectual class -- one that can extol the importance of knowing history for contemporary citizenship and, at the same time, argue that we shouldn't spend too much time thinking about history.

This off-and-on engagement with history isn't of mere academic interest; as the dominant imperial power of the moment, U.S. elites have a clear stake in the contemporary propaganda value of that history. Obscuring bitter truths about historical crimes helps perpetuate the fantasy of American benevolence, which makes it easier to sell contemporary imperial adventures -- such as the invasion and occupation of Iraq -- as another benevolent action.

Any attempt to complicate this story guarantees hostility from mainstream culture. After raising the barbarism of America's much-revered founding fathers in a lecture, I was once accused of trying to "humble our proud nation" and "undermine young people's faith in our country."

Yes, of course -- that is exactly what I would hope to achieve. We should practice the virtue of humility and avoid the excessive pride that can, when combined with great power, lead to great abuses of power.

History does matter, which is why people in power put so much energy into controlling it. The United States is hardly the only society that has created such mythology. While some historians in Great Britain continue to talk about the benefits that the empire brought to India, political movements in India want to make the mythology of Hindutva into historical fact.

Abuses of history go on in the former empire and the former colony. History can be one of the many ways we create and impose hierarchy, or it can be part of a process of liberation. The truth won't set us free, but the telling of truth at least opens the possibility of freedom.

As Americans sit down on Thanksgiving Day to gorge themselves on the bounty of empire, many will worry about the expansive effects of overeating on their waistlines. We would be better to think about the constricting effects of the day's mythology on our minds.

AlterNet orginally ran this article on Thanksgiving 2005.

Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and the author of, most recently, "The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege" (City Lights Books).

© 2006 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.