FREEHAWAII.INFO PRESENTS -
A MULTI-PART SPECIAL REPORT -
HAWAI`I VOTES BOUGHT BY ALASKA OIL
From Ka Leo O Hawai`i By Juanita Mathews
Ka Leo Associate Editorials Editor
Now, Here's Part Two -
Their votes tipped the scales enough to further the interests of oil companies in Alaska and possibly cause the downfall of the native Alaskans, whose subsistence and cultural identity depends on this protected area.
Hawai'i is a state that is rich in cultural identity and has a philosophy that is tied to the land and its protection. It is also a state that understands the battle that native people must go through to protect their way of life from
developers' interests.
It strikes me as hypocritical that our senators, Akaka and Inouye, voted in favor of a bill that would further development in what the Department of Interior's Final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement called "the most biologically productive part of the Arctic Refuge for wildlife and the center of
wildlife activity."
Akaka defended his position on the drilling by saying "For me, this is an issue about economic self-determination. This is an issue about allowing those who have lived on the coastal plain and cared for the coastal plain for many, many generations, to do what they believe is right with their lands."
Akaka is referring to the Inupiat people, one of the two native Alaskan tribes that live on the 19 million acre ANWR.
To Be Continued ...
Monday - The Tribal People
