I just got back from a hunt out of Kotzebue. The hunt itself was great, no problems there. We had about the best weather hunters could ask for. Cold, a bit windy, lots of sunshine. Hardly saw a dozen caribou, but were still able to get some meat out of the whole trip and had an excellent time out there.
I believe our group was one of the first in to Kotz this season (my buddy and I missed our first week of classes to take a trip up there with our fathers). All four of us are long time Alaska residents (20+ years each) and have extensive hunting experience throughout Alaska.
This is the third time I have hunted out of Kotzebue, and am truly pissed at what I saw and experienced within Kotzebue itself.
Due to weather delays in Kotzebue we weren't able to get in until later in the evening and this forced us to stay a night in Kotzebue. That night as we walked through town I saw a local native riding down the street with a caribou on the back of his ATV that had had the head cut off a few inches from the shoulders (with the rest of the neck and head nowhere to be seen), thus destroying a vast majority of the neck meat. We were dressed in carhartts and camo and stood out as obvious hunters, and as we walked through town the villagers would glare at us, mumble obscene things at us under their breath, we would ask for directions, they'd completely ignore us, and when we tried to get a hotel room, it took a try by each of us, until finally (the most native looking person in our group) tried, and succeeded in getting a hotel room. We kept getting the excuse that it was full. I tried and about 5 minutes later the last of us tried and succeeded. We were told by another local that we weren't dressed "appropriately" to get in to those hotels. The Asian restaurant owners on the other hand were very nice and helpful. Other than them though, it seemed as if we were complete outcasts because of the fact that we were coming to "their" town and hunting "their" caribou.
The state allows these people to take all the caribou they want (I consider 5 per day, all you could possibly handle) and then I see wasted meat by the local natives. This is very sad to see.
I 100% agree that natives should be allowed to keep their traditions and be allowed to subsist off of the land. However, I believe they should do it "traditionally", the way they always have. With stone tipped spears, not high powered semi-automatic rifles, snowmachines, power boats, airplanes, fish finders, and every other bit of technology that white man has brought. I always hear them say that we are taking away their culture, their heritage. I believe that the natives of Alaska should be allowed to hunt all the game they want and take all the fish they want, IF they did it in their "traditional" ways. Thus completely restoring their culture.
There is absolutely no way the land can support these people with their new methods of hunting. In the long run, it must fail. In the past, before white people came, if the villagers could not obtain the food they needed to survive the winters, they would die. Bringing in to balance man with his environment. That will never be the case again.
Some of the people we talked to in Kotzebue, I will not give specific names here, told us that they are trying to push for a registration hunt in which you would have to purchase caribou tags in one of the villages in June or July so that you could hunt in August and September. This, which is present in MANY areas of the state is bogus. Who (especially those of us in Anchorage, Eagle River, Mat-Su, etc..) can afford to be in Kotzebue or Kivalina from July 1 to July 15 to purchase caribou tags and then come back again in August or September? It is obviously a B.S. move by the government to limit those hunts to the locals and exclude the rest of us. Even though the rest of us are still Alaska residents, same as them...
If these people TRULY needed the animals to survive, I would not have a problem with this. However, the government continues to dump money into the villages to support them, thus severely decreasing (and in many ways eliminating) the necessity for them to subsist off of the land.
I believe it will be quite interesting once Ted Stevens leaves the Senate. Who will be able to pull the money to support these places?
For those of you headed to Kotzebue, take a look around, try talking to some of these locals and see what kind of response you get. I can honestly say I hope I never spend another minute in that town.
I believe our group was one of the first in to Kotz this season (my buddy and I missed our first week of classes to take a trip up there with our fathers). All four of us are long time Alaska residents (20+ years each) and have extensive hunting experience throughout Alaska.
This is the third time I have hunted out of Kotzebue, and am truly pissed at what I saw and experienced within Kotzebue itself.
Due to weather delays in Kotzebue we weren't able to get in until later in the evening and this forced us to stay a night in Kotzebue. That night as we walked through town I saw a local native riding down the street with a caribou on the back of his ATV that had had the head cut off a few inches from the shoulders (with the rest of the neck and head nowhere to be seen), thus destroying a vast majority of the neck meat. We were dressed in carhartts and camo and stood out as obvious hunters, and as we walked through town the villagers would glare at us, mumble obscene things at us under their breath, we would ask for directions, they'd completely ignore us, and when we tried to get a hotel room, it took a try by each of us, until finally (the most native looking person in our group) tried, and succeeded in getting a hotel room. We kept getting the excuse that it was full. I tried and about 5 minutes later the last of us tried and succeeded. We were told by another local that we weren't dressed "appropriately" to get in to those hotels. The Asian restaurant owners on the other hand were very nice and helpful. Other than them though, it seemed as if we were complete outcasts because of the fact that we were coming to "their" town and hunting "their" caribou.
The state allows these people to take all the caribou they want (I consider 5 per day, all you could possibly handle) and then I see wasted meat by the local natives. This is very sad to see.
I 100% agree that natives should be allowed to keep their traditions and be allowed to subsist off of the land. However, I believe they should do it "traditionally", the way they always have. With stone tipped spears, not high powered semi-automatic rifles, snowmachines, power boats, airplanes, fish finders, and every other bit of technology that white man has brought. I always hear them say that we are taking away their culture, their heritage. I believe that the natives of Alaska should be allowed to hunt all the game they want and take all the fish they want, IF they did it in their "traditional" ways. Thus completely restoring their culture.
There is absolutely no way the land can support these people with their new methods of hunting. In the long run, it must fail. In the past, before white people came, if the villagers could not obtain the food they needed to survive the winters, they would die. Bringing in to balance man with his environment. That will never be the case again.
Some of the people we talked to in Kotzebue, I will not give specific names here, told us that they are trying to push for a registration hunt in which you would have to purchase caribou tags in one of the villages in June or July so that you could hunt in August and September. This, which is present in MANY areas of the state is bogus. Who (especially those of us in Anchorage, Eagle River, Mat-Su, etc..) can afford to be in Kotzebue or Kivalina from July 1 to July 15 to purchase caribou tags and then come back again in August or September? It is obviously a B.S. move by the government to limit those hunts to the locals and exclude the rest of us. Even though the rest of us are still Alaska residents, same as them...
If these people TRULY needed the animals to survive, I would not have a problem with this. However, the government continues to dump money into the villages to support them, thus severely decreasing (and in many ways eliminating) the necessity for them to subsist off of the land.
I believe it will be quite interesting once Ted Stevens leaves the Senate. Who will be able to pull the money to support these places?
For those of you headed to Kotzebue, take a look around, try talking to some of these locals and see what kind of response you get. I can honestly say I hope I never spend another minute in that town.
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