Every day after P.E., we listen to the words of William Hensley in Fifty Miles From Tomorrow through the voice of our teacher, Mr. Bickling. Everyone is raptly paying attention. Through Mr. Hensley we learn more about our elders, our past, and our heritage.
Fifty Miles From Tomorrow speaks of William Hensley’s life, from when he was a small child to when he first started thinking about the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). I knew that the native people of Alaska lived harsh lives before all of the “white” people came and turned the native people’s world around, but they lived a life they knew for thousands of years. I think the hardest part for the Alaska Native people was living through the time when missionaries and government officials took over the native villages, forcing the children to speak only English. Because of this time period the native people of Alaska have almost lost their culture. Some native languages are now lost to the living generation. We can only hope to get them back. Not only did we lose parts of our culture, the native people were introduced to alcohol and tobacco. I realize that this would have happened anyway, but many natives turned to alcohol when they could not turn to their culture, and were not accepted in the new, western world of Alaska. This is still affecting us today. William Hensley spoke of all of these issues. He was affected by all of them. Hearing about the struggle of natives through a person who had actually lived through the struggle is such an educational experience. Listening to Fifty Miles From Tomorrow also taught me about ANCSA. I didn’t know that William Hensley and his associates created ANCSA. I didn’t know that the regional and village corporations of Alaska were created primarily by William Hensley. The Alaska Federation of Natives was also put into action because of him.
Fortunately, I was able to attend the Alaska Federation of Native’s annual Elders and Youth Conference in October. It was only a couple days, and I did not get to attend the part where resolutions were discussed, but I had a wonderful time anyway. There were presentations of native dancing from Tlingit, Tsimshian, Alutiiq, Yup’ik, and Inupiaq groups, which was my favorite part of the conference. We also attended a few workshops, listened to many keynote speakers, and elected our Elder and Youth representatives.
I attended the Alaska Native Jeopardy Workshop, where everyone who wanted to play competed against each other for a jar of muktuk. The people answered questions about Alaska History, which involved a lot of questions about ANCSA. Throughout the conference we listened to many people speak about different issues. One of the most profound speakers was a young man named Morgan Fawcett. He lives with alcoholism every day. His mother drank while she was pregnant with him, so his entire life is affected by alcohol, even though he has not consumed a drop of alcohol himself. Because of his brain damage, he says he was not accepted while going to school and he finds it hard to concentrate. Despite this, he is an amazing public speaker and a very accomplished flute player. His story shows that the native people are still struggling to fight against alcohol.
The AFN conference covered many issues we face today through their speakers. I enjoyed hearing many people talk about their passions and especially loved the native dancers. My only regret is that I did not attend the whole conference.
by April Hostetter - 12th Grade
