December 21st, 2009
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The Alaska statehood push of 50 years ago bypassed the state’s Native population. But that changed when the Prudhoe Bay oil discovery forced Congress to settle Native land claims.
This week we talk with Willie Hensley about the part he played in that story, a story told in his new book, Fifty Miles from Tomorrow.
Join the conversation on Talk of Alaska, statewide on the stations of the Alaska Public Radio Network.
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December 21st, 2009
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The Native Perspective on Alaska turning 50 years old was the topic of a meeting in Bethel recently (Winter 2008). It’s one of several being held around the state sponsored by the First Alaskans Institute. The Institute plans to create a DVD from the meetings in order to share a different view on Alaska’s statehood.
Alice Criswell, KYUK – Bethel
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December 21st, 2009
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We continue our series on Alaska Statehood by wrapping up our exploration of Alaska’s future. We’ll sit down with Alaska’s newest Senator, find out how advanced technology is helping keep things the way they were and try to predict what the fishing industry may look like 50 years from now. Plus, polar bears and rescuing the past.
All that and more this week on AK, heard statewide on local APRN stations.
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December 21st, 2009
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We chat with a few community leaders who’ve been here for many of Alaska’s five decades and ask them to share what they think the future stills holds in store for the Last Frontier.
We also check in with Alaska’s youngest leaders for their thoughts and we consider the future of farming the Great Land. Finally, we look at the state’s demographic trends, including a more multicultural future and the truth about male and female ratios in the 49th State.
All that and more this week on AK, heard statewide on local APRN stations.
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December 21st, 2009
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Fifty years ago, many Alaska Natives still lived isolated rural lives: some weren’t even aware when Alaska became a state… or how it affected them.
But they figured it out quickly with the land claims movement and remain the core of Alaska’s cultural heritage.
All that and more this week on AK, heard statewide on local APRN stations statewide.
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December 21st, 2009
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From the big ideas that drew in mid-century Americans seeking adventure to the small furs that brought Russians before that, we look back through Alaskan history as our 50th anniversary of Statehood series continues. We look back at aviation, healthcare, the earthquake that, ironically, stabilized Alaska’s economy and the art created on America’s beautiful Last Frontier.
All that and more this week on AK, heard statewide on local APRN stations statewide.
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December 21st, 2009
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This week on AK we’re beginning our look back at to the earliest days of Alaska’s statehood. We’ll look at the forces that moved Alaska closer to becoming a state — or held it back: from the military to mining, fish to friendships. Plus, how a popular novel played a role, and memories of an early Kenai Peninsula homesteader.
All that and more this week on AK, heard statewide on local APRN stations statewide.
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December 21st, 2009
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More than 50 years after Alaska’s Constitutional Convention, a group of young Alaskans is pushing for a greater voice in the state’s next 50 years. This week it’s your chance to check in with the Conference of Young Alaskans, which just finished its meeting in Girdwood.
Join the conversation on Talk of Alaska, statewide on the stations of the Alaska Public Radio Network.
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December 18th, 2009
Posted in Forget-Me-Nots | Comments Off
Arliss Sturgulewski came to the territory of Alaska in 1952.
Six years later her family attended the bonfire on the park strip in Anchorage – though her late husband, an engineer, did not support statehood.
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December 18th, 2009
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Chuck Hawley says miners opposed giving land to Natives.
But in the ’70s, there was a shift in the politics of the Alaska Miners’ Association. Bigger mining companies were again seriously looking at mineral development in the state.
And, like the oil companies, they needed clear land titles.
There was also a leadership change in the miners’ association.
Chuck Hawley became head of the Anchorage branch and later its executive director.
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December 18th, 2009
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Connie Bacon was a teenager in Texas when she heard about Alaska’s attempt to become a state.
Like many Texans she was not too keen on the idea.
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December 18th, 2009
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Dan O’Neill wrote “The Firecracker Boys” — a book about Project Chariot, a plan to use H-bombs to carve a harbor in the Arctic.
Many of the same business leaders who had supported statehood also backed this project near Point Hope.
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December 18th, 2009
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Ed Crittenden came to Alaska as part of the Coast Guard during World War II.
He stayed and built an architectural firm. He was here during the Good Friday earthquake.
He and his wife Kit remember one of the projects Ed designed – the first Tower of the Hotel Captain Cook. Wally Hickel built right near where land had liquefied and sunk into Cook Inlet in the quake.
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December 18th, 2009
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Eldon Galier jumped ship in 1946 to make a home in Anchorage.
The town was mostly wilderness then.
He made his mark on the state doing a variety of things including building the first public power system for the village of Dillingham 50 years ago – the same summer congress voted to allow Alaska to become a state.
But his favorite memory is getting his first moose.
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December 17th, 2009
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Jack Roderick came to Anchorage in 1954 and wrote “Crude Dreams” about finding oil on the Kenai Peninsula.
He remembers how some local business men who bought leases there, got rich despite themselves.
These oil investors met across the street from the old Federal building.
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December 17th, 2009
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Kit Crittenden remembers the celebrations in Anchorage 50 years ago when Congress finally gave the go ahead for Alaska’s statehood. She and her husband, Ed, were both active supporters.
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December 17th, 2009
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That route he’s talking about was the Alaska Railroad.
And he ought to know. Jim Blasingame is called the “unofficial historian of the Alaska Railroad.”
And when it came time to build a headquarters – Anchorage was not the first choice.
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December 17th, 2009
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John Basler came to Alaska in 1947 to work at remote federal aviation stations.
His first assignment was Middleton Island.
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