Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Wanton waste by the Alaska Natives

I addressed a fellow on another forum about him really hitting on the natives for their hunting with no season or no hunting laws for them to obey or enforcement of them. I have not lived in Alaska for several years and virtually no time in the villages. I don't agree with all he is saying, but some may be true.
His note below:

Butch,
In support of my earlier comments. I have spent 30+ years working in the many villages and towns across the state of Alaska.
Lived and worked in Bethel for almost a year, Kotz for over 2 years, Barrow over a year, etc, etc. Building everything in 20 different villages and towns and I can honestly say that about 50% to 60% showed obvious evidence of wanton waste.

I have always looked upon our historical treatment of the Indians as a shameful chapter and I have made many friends among the Natives and had many amazing times in these places.

You're friend "who has seen it all", apparently wasn't paying attention.

Most of these villages were staffed by a PSO(village state trooper) and there was a notable lack of interest in reigning in these excesses.

Not everyone was doing this, but I did not imagine the rotting Caribou, Seals, Polar bears, and Fish in these villages.

Respectfully,
Les

Definition of wanton waste ends at the point of consumption. Once it is "yours" you can do whatever you want with it. Left in the field? Wanton waste.

There is a lot of waste, just not technically wanton...

Let's look at the big picture here. 40% of the US food supply is wasted (not consumed). Landfills are 20% by volume food waste.

Things have changed now that it is so much easier to "harvest" with modern rifles, boats, outboards, wheelers, snow machines, etc.

I recall seeing a Yup'ik Hand symbol once The hand has a hole in middle of it. The meaning was to always let some not get harvested. We call this sustainable harvest in modern times.

I'm sure that traditions of the past are lost on the newer generations. We learn everything we need to know off the innanet now . . .

Yes Sir!

Wonton waste knows no color.
Proportionately there is more hunting going on rural Alaska, than urban
Inexperienced to the completely idiotic type, fishers and hunters live all over the state and some arrive in jets, some drive up that Alcan....they make mistakes and are often corrected, often by personal competition and a desire to do better, or learning from experience or by the law.

Some never learn.


Sometimes the mid summers rains spoil and mold fish, some winter warm ups extra carcass or fish can be spoiled by stray dogs and Ravens, often by weather. What Whitefish my wife caught this fall to freeze ended up getting dried, many fish that would have remained frozen all winter thaw and spoil mid winters during 5he multihull thaws.....
What used to be dried in Spring as it thawed, a winters accumulation of fish, shot game parts, leftovers, and things that used to be fed to dog teams for milinums now ends up in dumps

Native Lands are simply private lands subject to all State of Alaska laws with fish and game , limits, seasons, etc.
Federal lands and waters are regulated by the Feds.....Migratory Waterfowl, Marine Mammals, Fishing in our seas, etc.

Often Federal laws and State laws do not work in conjunction, and there are many conflicts in where, what, how and who (local or resident) can hunt/fish/trap for personal use (subsistence use)

Wanton waste is never acceptable. Once you get it home, do as you will.

I don't know what a PSO is, but most villages do NOT have any form of law enforcement, and those that do, it is lackadaisical.
My relatives are Natives, and I have lived in this area now for 40 years. Yup, no limits, get what you want, if it is there. License? Only white people get licenses. Moose? Any time? Poaching? No problem. They won't even get a fine, at least out in Bethel.
We are all equal, but some are more equal than others.

Sure. We actually have a lot of kids from rural Alaska get charged with big ticket violations and forced to come into town to serve time at Fairbanks Golden Heart Academy and then they live with foster parents under probation until they can return to their villages. One who was one of my students, shot a Grizzly that was breaking into his grandpa's Qunisaq (entry). He killed it but he didn't skin it and turn it over to the state. A trooper came in from Kotzebue and cited him for wanton waste and assaulting an officer after the kid took a swing at him because the trooper took his hunting rifle without explaining to him why he was doing it. The kid who was a leading member of a state championship basketball team was moved into Fairbanks where because of his foster parents was unable to play basketball at all.

I have seen waste but I have also seen waste out on the Steese during the Forty Mile Caribou hunt that is absolutely a lot worse. I would challenge anybody to prove to me that it isn't.
Most people from the villages respect the land. The ones who don't generally are as uneducated as the slob hunters who are urban. They spend all of their time playing call of duty and ordering from Eastbay.

It go’s without saying, your chances of seeing anyone of Native decent , the highest percentage of people in a village usually are, commit wonton waste, in a village, is pretty high........just live in a village and wait....

Want to see wanton waste with non natives? Watch who explains what at an airport when there’s only antlers in the luggage.
The percentage of non Natives jumps up, maybe 99%, right there.
I worked at Kotzbues airport back inthe 80 s, and saw a lot of FnG dealing with such via Markair.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=236

Stupid knows no ethnicity.

Caribou, I've no skin the game (I'm not Alaskan of course)but I noticed the link was to a article from 2006. What has been the outcome in unit 23 from the apparent pressure of too many in one place?

Another thing I noticed that really surprised me was that there were (Maybe still are not) any game processors or freezers available in Kotzebue? Seems like a opportunity for someone.

I grew up on a dairy farm in the heartland. We never had a hunting license or observed a hunting season. A piece of paper meant nothing to us. All we wanted was the job of selling the piece of paper.

Are the hearts of the animals left in the field?

I think much about village life would shock you if the lack of processing facilities surprises you.

I hate saying it but I would support a mandatory meat processing and respect weekend for hunters both in the villages and in the cities too. I have seen way to many racks of moose ribs in the dumpsters. Let's say you are a single military guy stationed up in Ft. Wainwright and you shoot a large moose. What do you do with the extra moose? I have seen time after time military wives coming in to Sportsman's with a look of pure terror. What do I do? My husband expects me to process this cow sized animal and I don't know how.

I remember that when I taught in Ambler I would take my students hunting. Most had never gone before and the ones that had didn't have the proper respect for the animal and meat. I would have Minnie Gray who just passed on teach them how to process the caribou the traditional way. Two days later they would be done and would have a different outlook. Just because a kid lives in a village doesn't mean his or her family taught them how to cut up meat. It doesn't always work that way. I can imagine that Chip and his family have probably taught many, many, many young people how to properly process meat without leaving much. Most people don't keep the lace fat, the bible, the intestines, the kidneys and the tongue and head anymore.

I remember that the first caribou that my father shot when I was eight was a mess. He really didn't know how to properly butcher the caribou. He had me do it. I decided that I would learn how to do it right so I sought out help from Frank Billum who was an old Ahtna hunter and chief. We went up to the Denali Highway and took quite a few caribou and moose for a couple of years and he made sure that I saved everything. He had learned how to hunt sheep and caribou with bow and arrow. He was in his 90s when I was 10. His first rifle was a muzzleloader and then he got a 44-40 model 73 that I am sure is lost in time and space. He was using a 30-30 prewar model 94 when I was hunting with him and would just work quietly still hunting to get close. I would guess that a majority of the meat that we took went to families that didn't know how to hunt. They had lost that and the kids were not willing to go with Frank because he worked very hard. Frank was retired from the railroad and worked hard right up to his death. We would go from before dawn to darkness and in early September days were still long.

The Frank Billums and Minnie Grays are rapidly disappearing in Alaska. Think about it. Art, you are in a position to probably teach many of the young people what to do with a moose and how to cut it up. There are not many people that really know how to do it right. We are talking about respecting the meat of the animal and the sacrifice that it makes.

Alaskans shoot everything I don't care if you kill everything in Alaska...FTPOPO

???

I guess I do not understand either.

I did figure out the F The POPO...

I am glad you figured it out. I spent 3 years in anchorage and hated every minute of it.. Had $800.00 stolen by two Eskimos would of killed them if I had the chanch.. cops were worthless. Eskimos are more worthless than Niaggers.

As an Anchorage resident for well over a half-century I appreciate your boost to our economy and thank you for leaving.

Sho Nuff glad you gone!