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.

Download Audio (MP3, 60 min)

HOST: Steve Heimel, APRN

GUESTS:

• Willie Hensley, author of Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People
• Live callers statewide
  

PARTICIPATE:

• Post your comment before, during or after the live broadcast (comments may be read on air)
• Send e-mail to talk [at] aprn [dot] org (comments may be read on air)
• Call 550-8422 in Anchorage or 1-800-478-8255 during the live broadcast

LIVE Broadcast: Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. on APRN stations statewide

SUBSCRIBE: Get Talk of Alaska updates automatically by e-mail, RSS or podcast

Alice Criswell, KYUK – Bethel

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All that and more this week on AK, heard statewide on local APRN stations.

Download Audio (MP3, 60min)

Host: Steve Heimel

Future Technology Trade Show
Crab Bait Radio’s Joe Viechnicki and Matt Lichtenstein, skit
The humorists at Crab Bait radio imagine some of the technology we could be using 50 years from now.

• Music Button: “Mr. Roboto” by Styx from Styx: Greatest Hits

Speaking with the new Senator
APRN’s Libby Casey, Interview
Senator elect Mark Begich sat down with Libby Casey while he was in DC recently to talk about his vision for Alaska’s future — as an air cargo hub, a leader in renewable energy, and the home of vibrant rural communities. He also met with others in DC, including Senator Lisa Murkowski

• Break: “Energetic Native American Pow Wow Drumming” by American Indian Music

A New Constitution?
Johanna Eurich
Every 10 years, Alaskans vote on holding a new convention and writing a new Constitution. One of the original delegates, Vic Fischer, says even if natives are frustrated at being left out of the first one, they might not fare better in a new convention.

Looking Forward
APRN’s Lori Townsend, Story
Native leaders Edward Itta and Willie Hensley hope natives and the state can have a better relationship in the future: they say education is key to getting more Natives involved in state government and resource management.

A New Leader
AK’s Jessica Cochran, Interview
Apayo Moore of the Bristol Bay region will be one of the delegates at the Conference of Young Alaskans in January. She’s worried about the impacts of resource development in her area, and wants rural Alaskans to understand that they now have a lifestyle many people crave.

• Music Button: “House of Gold” by Bill Monroe from Bill Monroe 1950-1958

Tele-Future
AK’s Scott Burton, Story
Improvements in telecommunications — including more fiber optic connection to the lower 48 and possibly rural Alaska — could expand the opportunities in the state for distance education, health delivery, carrying out government functions and economic development.

• Break: “Star Trek: The Next Generation” by Daniel Caine Orchestra from 100 Greatest TV Themes, Vol. 2

Preserving the Past
AK’s Jessica Cochran, Interview
The Archives Rescue Corps hopes to recruit volunteers to identify Alaska’s archive collections, and then provide training to keep them in good shape. Frances Field says we live our history every day — and it’s important to hang on that history.

• Music Button: “Remember” by Billie Holiday, Irving Berlin from Always, the Soundtrack

The Future of Fishing
Anne Sutton, Story
Experts like Gunnar Knapp and Rick Steiner say the fish harvesters of the future will need to be more in tune with the environment and management to stay competitive — and despite objections, fish farms may be a more energy efficient way to produce fish in the future.

Plight of the Polar Bear
APRN’s Annie Feidt, Story
Fifty years from now, there may not be any polar bears left in Alaska: global warming and melting sea ice are causing them problems. But they aren’t the only Alaskan animal that may disappear: lots of marine mammals are at risk.

• Closing: “Bear Tracks” by Jim Mills from Bound To Ride

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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Host: Steve Heimel

Looking to the Future
Lori Townsend, Johanna Eurich – interview clips
Some of the people who have influenced Alaska’s development ponder what the future holds: Eldon Gallear, Willie Hensley, Walt Parker and Arliss Sturgelewski.

Forum of Young Alaskans
Alaska Teen Media Institute’s Thomas Levine, Story
Today’s young people will become tomorrow’s leaders, so events like the Forum of Young Alaskans and January’s Conference of Young Alaskans are designed to get them involved – and thinking.

• Music Button: “Young Americans” by David Bowie

Military Future
Steve Heimel
With Ted Stevens out of office, and a new president less focused on missile defense, Alaska could see some cutbacks in the military presence here, according to Victoria Samson of the Center for Defense Information. But our strategic position and the Stryker brigade insure they’ll have some presence here.

• Break: “Star Wars Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back” from Songs From Starwars Soundtrack

The Future of Oil
Johanna Eurich, Story
Oil industry veteran Jack Roderick predicts the oil industry will continue to have a strong role in Alaska – with more offshore and more smaller fields. New technology allows companies like Shell to follow the oil underground, sinking fewer wells, to extract more crude.

Energy Future
AK’s Scott Burton, Story
We may still have plenty of oil, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be using it as our primary energy source: Alaska has a lot of renewable alternatives, and more of those projects are being developed. Meera Kohler envisions power lines connecting rural Alaska villages so they can take advantage of renewable sources, and Alaska’s Energy Authority’s Peter Crimp says lots of projects are taking off.

• Music Button: “Do It” by Neil Diamond, from Neil Diamond Classic

The Future of Farming
AK’s Ellen Lockyer, Story
With transportation costs on the increase, figuring out how to grow more food in Alaska looks like it makes more sense. Veteran farmers Leroi Heaven and Arthur Keys of Glacier Valley Farms are excited about the possibilities.

• Break: “Get Up John” by Bill Monroe from Bluegrass 1950-1958, Bear Family Box Set

Demographic Predictions
AK’s Ellen Lockyer and Jessica Cochran
Economists predict modest population growth over the next 20 years, but state labor economist Neil Fried says the real change is even more diversity than we’ve already seen. The Anchorage School District is already seeing it, according to spokeswoman Heidi Embley.

Joe Senungetuk
Commentary
Inupiaq artist Joe Senungetuk says it’s too early to get rid of phrases like “institutional racism” despite what some say.

• Music Button: “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley from Legend (Deluxe Addition)

Gender Roles
Weld Royal, Story
While Alaska still has more men than women, it’s evening up – the odds aren’t even close to the old cliché. But for some reason that macho, all-guy image persists. Weld Royal tries to find out why.

Rougher in Alaska
Matt Lichtenstein and Joe Viechnicki, Humor
Let’s face it: much of Alaska’s image comes from stereotypes that aren’t really true, as the humorists at Crab Bait Radio so aptly demonstrate.

• Closing: “Star Trek: Main Theme” from The Ultimate Star Trek Soundtrack

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.

Download Audio (MP3, 60min)

Host: Steve Heimel

Natives and the Plans for Statehood
AK’s Steve Heimel, Interview
Today, many Native Alaskans feel like their voices were never part of the discussions leading up to statehood. They’re getting a chance now to add their voices, in discussions being lef by Liz Cheney and the First Alaskans Institute. But native historian Don Mitchell says it’s true: they had little to do with it at the time.

• Music Button: “Another Day” by The Cure from Three Imaginary Boys

Meeting up at Boarding Schools
Contributor Anne Sutton, Story
Natives from diverse backgrounds were soon asked to come together, to settle aboriginal land claims. For Willy Hensley and Edward Itt it was a far cry from how they grew up. But Byron Mallott says it helped that many knew each other from boarding school.

• Break: Music by nunivarmuit kasyautait of Mekoryuk, performing at Camai Festival in Bethel, 2004

The Birth of the Alaska Federation of Natives
APRN’s Ellen Lockyer, Story
When Emil Notti returned to Alaska in 1963, he found villages in poverty and rural jobs scarce. Soon, despite the lack of funds, natives came together to work on their own plan for land claims. The result was the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

ANCSA Folo
AK’s Bonnie Sue Hitchcock, Story
ANCSA is considered brilliant by some, but people like Dacha Alexander of Fort Yukon don’t like the way the Native Corporations’ drive to make money seems to over-taken other uses of the land. Colorado University law professor David Getches says it’s unavoidable.

• Music Button: Wainwright drummers performing at Inuit Circumpolar Conference in Barrow, 2006

Aialik Bay
AK contributor Ann Kaiser, Story
The village corporations formed to manage village tribal lands for the most part haven’t been as profitable as the big regional corporations. But for Port Graham, that’s starting to change: they’re starting up a new eco-tourism lodge with Alaska Wildland Adventures that they hope will be profitable, provide jobs, and help sustain their culture.

• Music Button: performed by The English Bay Band of Nanwalek

Fishing for Change
Contributor Johanna Eurich
Native fisherman Robin Samuelson recounts how his father and other took on the canneries to help put an end to discrimination against Natives in the Bristol Bay fishery. Senator Ted Stevens helped out with the community development quota program he designed.

• Break: “Similar Realities” by Pamyua from Verses

Uncle Ted & the Tribes
Contributor Johanna Eurich, Story
It’s impossible to separate Ted Stevens from the history of statehood. And while Stevens has often helped rural Alaska with funding for a huge range of needs, he hasn’t been an advocate for tribes. So while many Natives will support him despite his recent conviction, others never have been his biggest fan.

• Music Button: The Alaska Flag Song, performed in Inupiaq

Watching Whaling
Contributor Johanna Eurich
Vic Fischer, a long time Alaskan and delegate to the state’s constitutional convention, recalls arriving in Point Hope just in time to head out whaling.

What Next?
AK’s Ellen Lockyer
Ellen Lockyer spoke to a number of Natives at AFN about statehood; their opinions vary widely. Jack Schaeffer of Point Hope wants the North Slope to become its own state – because he says Alaska is unfriendly to subsistence. Wilson Justin says it just happened too fast. Liz Cheney of the First Alaskans Institute says talking about it is the first step to repairing the relationship between Natives and the state.

• Closing: “Next Generation – Positive and Looking Forward” by Craig Austin from World of Music (Instrumental)

All that and more this week on AK, heard statewide on local APRN stations statewide.

Download Audio (MP3, 60min)

Host: Steve Heimel

Big Ideas
APRN’s Steve Heimel, Host Essay
Steve Heimel came to Alaska long after the pivotal year of 1959, but he remembers what drew him to the state.

Big Ideas – Big Projects
AK’s Ellen Lockyer, Story
The harder they come, the harder they fall, say the poets.  Lockyer speaks with Alaska Senator Mike Gravel and historian Terrence Cole, and a bit with Governor Wally Hickle, about some of the construction schemes put forward by a nuclear – loving nineteen – fifties government.

• Music Button: “River” by Mr. McFeely, from We Have The Bomb

Jumping Ship
APRN’s Lori Townsend, Story
People came to Alaska all different ways in the forties and fifties, but merchant seaman Eldon Galier jumped ship to get to Anchorage. Looking back, he says he was undecided about statehood.

• Break: “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be” by Mercer Ellington and Ted Persons from Duke Ellington and His Orchestra – Berlin ‘65 Paris ‘67

Moose Hunt in Anchorage
APRN’s Lori Townsend, Story
Seamen Eldon Galier recalls hunting moose where the Sullivan arena now stands, and other adventures in early Anchorage.

Fur
APRN’s Annie Feidt, Story
From the first, Europeans exploited Alaska’s rich natural resources. The Russians developed a lucrative fur trade, and other colonists followed suit.  Even present day Alaskans continue the trade. Feidt speaks with trappers Red Beaman and Dean Wilson and furrier Perry Green about the state of the fur market today.

Transportation
APRN’s Lori Townsend, Story
Townsend takes us on a tour of the Port of Anchorage, and meets Port Director Bill Sheffield, Horizon Van Lines’ Brad Brown and Lynden Transports Van Oliver to get at the whys and wherefores of today’s shipping business.

• Music Button: “Beyond The Sea” by Big Band Classic from Thanks For The Memories

Environment
AK’s Scott Burton, Story
Big Alaska projects drew the ire of early environmental groups, and inadvertently helped to develop the strength of the environmental watchdog groups we have today. Burton spoke with early activists Jim King and Ginny Wood and writer Dan O’Neill.

• Break: “Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me” by Dave Brubeck from Private Brubeck Remembers

Rural Health Care
Johanna Eurich
1950’s health care in rural Alaska was rudimentary. Gloria Park tried to train health aides who sometimes couldn’t read the English language instruction manuals. Even in hubs like Nome, Natives often had a hard time getting care, as Mia Bassler illustrated in a story about a premature baby.

Aviation
AK Contributor Johanna Eurich, Story
Aviation plays a huge role in Alaska, so it’s no wonder some firsts happened here, like Ingrid Peterson’s first flight over the north pole. But even with flight so essential, it’s hard for airlines to stay in business. Just ask Susan Bramstead of Alaska Airlines or PenAir’s Orrie Siebert.

Saving the Economy
Steve Heimel, Interview
Heimel speaks with Juneau economist Greg Erickson about the economy in early statehood: it turns out the 1964 earthquake, and the relief money it brought, helped the state through a rough time.

There’s Art in Them Thar Hills
AK’s Ellen Lockyer, Story
Early explorers, like Captain Cook, brought artists with them to Alaska, but it wasn’t until the late nineteenth century that major artists began depicting the natural wonders of the Great Land on gigantic canvases. Lockyer speaks with museum curator Artemis Bonadea and art education curator Jodie Jenkins about how Sydney Laurence and Fred Machetanz, among others, shaped the public perception of Alaska.

• Closing: “Opus One” (Oliver)  by Big Band Classics from Thanks For The Memories

All that and more this week on AK, heard statewide on local APRN stations statewide.

Download Audio (MP3, 60min)

Host: Steve Heimel

Statehood 101
An introduction to Alaska’s statehood battle, from 1915 to 1958. Cuts from General Jim Keck and Senator Ernest Gruening.

Industrial Forces
Anne Sutton takes a look at the role of Alaska industries in pushing for or against statehood. For many Alaskans, like John Enge of Petersburg, the huge fish traps run by outside cannery owners were a rallying cry for more control over Alaska’s resources. With historians David Stone, Steve Haycox, and Bob King.

• Break: “Catch a Falling Star” by the Sergio Rafael Orchestra from “Moon River – 60 Minutes of Romantic Strings”

Remembering Anchorage, 1949
Jessica Cochran, AK
Lee Jordan came to Alaska with the Army’s Alaska Communications Service: he arrived in the middle of the winter, and was pleasantly surprised by Anchorage. He typeset the “We’re In” headline, and went on to found the Chugiak-Eagle River Star newspaper.

The Military Role
World War II and the increased military presence in, and defense significance of, Alaska increased the state’s visibility, and built up its population and infrastructure…to bring statehood closer to reality. But it also may have held it back. Interview with retired Elmendorf historian John Cloe.

• Music Button: “Rebel Rouser” by Duane Eddy from “Have Twangy Guitar Will Travel (1958 Jamie Records Original)”

Statehood Opposition
Much of the opposition to statehood from inside the state arose from concern about the economics. Here actor Rick Reichman reads from a 1943 Juneau Chamber of Commerce report opposing statehood.

Commonwealth, Anyone?
Jessica Cochran, AK
Some who opposed statehood preferred the idea of becoming a commonwealth, but historian Steve Haycox says most Alaskans wanted full statehood and nothing less.

“Ice Palace”
This popular novel by Edna Ferber was adamantly pro-statehood, says historian Mary Mangusso. Ernest Gruening credited it with winning over some votes. With clips from the film based on Ferber’s book.

• Break: “A Certain Smile” by Beegie Adair from “An Affair to Remember”

Statehood Passes
Steve Heimel, APRN
Territorial Governor Mike Stepovich and Alaska Senator Ted Stevens recall the spring of 1958, and the day the Alaska Statehood Bill finally passed.

Personality Plus
Anne Sutton
Historian John Whitehead says to some extent, passage of the bill was based on how much people liked Alaska’s boosters — like Bob Bartlett and Ernest Gruening. But Nevada Senator George Malone was one who could never be swayed.

• Music Button

Homesteaders
Ed Murrow said Alaska would draw its strength from homesteaders. And they were a hardy bunch: like Frank and Marge Mullins of Kenai. AK’s Ellen Lockyer visited Marge at their original homestead.

The Alaska Symphony
This summer, Juneau’s Symphony Orchestra premiered the revised version of Wilson Sawyer’s grand symphony about Alaska. Anne Sutton spoke with violinist Bob King.

• Closing: “The Alaska Symphony” written by Wilson Sawyer, performed by the Juneau Symphony Orchestra.

Join the conversation on Talk of Alaska, statewide on the stations of the Alaska Public Radio Network.

Download Audio (MP3, 60 min)

HOST: Steve Heimel, APRN

GUESTS:

• Jon Derman Harris, Anchorage delegate
• Anastasia Brease, Healy delegate
• Brian Rogers, Chancellor, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Live callers statewide
  

PARTICIPATE:

• Post your comment before, during or after the live broadcast (comments may be read on air)
• Send e-mail to talk [at] aprn [dot] org (comments may be read on air)
• Call 550-8422 in Anchorage or 1-800-478-8255 during the live broadcast

LIVE Broadcast: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. on APRN stations statewide

SUBSCRIBE: Get Talk of Alaska updates automatically by e-mail, RSS or podcast

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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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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Like many Texans she was not too keen on the idea.

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Many of the same business leaders who had supported statehood also backed this project near Point Hope.

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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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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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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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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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His first assignment was Middleton Island.

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De Yonge , a senior at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, was covering the convention for the Anchorage Times when in the first draft of the Alaska Constitution was presented.

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Her aunt came to Alaska as a young girl in the early 1900’s when her father, Laurel’s grandfather, moved to Cordova to help build a railroad to Kennecott.

Aunt Phyllis grew up in Cordova.

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He remembers the efforts of a New Orlean’s business man who spent his on funds to help turn the territory of Alaska into a state.

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When the federal government opened up homesteading to vets, she and her husband walked 60 miles, endured some wet nights camping till they got to the stream they had seen drawn on the map.

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He traveled up and down the Alaska pipeline route trying to make sure it was built right.

A watchdog was needed from the very beginning.

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