(DRAINAGE PROBLEM AT KAKTOVIK—The viU ge of Kaktovik on Barter Island has a serious drain
age problem and sanitation problem as well. The ru .off from the runway and Air Force buildings near
by is said to be creating the problem. With the per nission of the Air Force, the villagers have chosen
J a new site about a half mile east of the present lo 'ation of the village. The new site would be adja
■ cent to a road that leads to a fresh water lake fr im which the village would get its water supply.
The village, however, will have to overcome an ob .tacle because the proposed site is on the land re
served for the Air Force. Efforts are being made b the Alaska Congressional delegation for the Air
Force lo release a parcel of land for a townsite. —Photo by Marvin Saltzman
SMILING FAMILY—Zaccharias Hugo and his wife, Doris, and their
two young sons, are shown smiling as they talked with the Tundra
Times reporters and photographers recently a.'. Anaktuvuk Pass.
That's Pete looking around out of his mother's hood.
CARIBOU HUNTER CHECKS SIGHT—The hunter to the left had
just come back from a hunt and brought back 3 caribou on four
dogs with saddle bags. Such means of transporting game is done
J during summertime.
HEAD OF HIS PEOPLE—Simon
Paneak, president of Anaktuvuk
Pass village council, is energetic
and rugged as the country he
lives in. Paneak is worried about
radiation that is plaguing his
people.
EDITOR TALKS WITH VILLAGE HEAD—Howard Rock, editor of
the Tundra Times, left, is shown talking with Simon Paneak, presi
dent of Anaktuvuk Pass village council, second from Ief)t, on the
subject of radiation. Two grownups, a baby and a boy, are not
identified. Anaktuvuk Pass is bracketed by high rocky ridges on
east and west. The mountain in the background Is northeast of the
village.
KAKTOVIK VILLAGERS SEEK
NEW VILLAGE SITE; ASK
FOR AIR FORCE PROPERTY
Eskimos of the Barter Island vil
lage of Kaktovik are seeking re
lease of a portion of the military
reserve on that island for a new
village site.
And they have been promised
further help from the Air Force in
relocating their homes to a higher
spot on the Island . . . away from
:he danger of a landing field flight
pattern, and out of the drainage
pattern cf a DEW Line site.
The 21 families of the island, 300
miles cast of Pt. Barrow, have been
working two years for the reloca
tion.
Air Force officials, in a letter to
Alaska’s Sen. E. L. Bartlett, noted
'hat, "If it can be determined that
the proposed townsite can be sepa
rated from the (military) reserve
irea and will not interfere with the
■•adar operation, the Air Defense
Command will be instructed to pre
pare a Declaration of Excess for
he release to the Department of
he Interior of the townsite area.
“Applications may then be made
'o the Detachment of the Interior
'py the Village Council for the ac
Tuisition of this area through ex
isting statutes.”
This action follows an earlier an
nouncement that the Air Force
vould make earth moving equip
ment available to the villagers for
preparation of new homesites.
The new village is planned to be
'ocated on a sloping hill, near a
tagoon, and adjacent to a road that
can be used as access to a fresh
water lake. It is about 800 yard*
from the present village site.
The letter to Sen. Bartlett also
stated that Herman S. Rexford,
president of the Kaktovik village
council, would be contacted by Air
Force officials to determine the ex
act land requirements of the new
village, “with particular emphasis
on the availability of a suitable ac
cess to the area.”
It is said the lagoon, which leads
into the Arctic Ocean, will give the
Eskimos good access to the new
community site.
Request to move the village was
made because of the ever present
danger of planes landing and tak
ing off from the Air Force field,
that must pass directly over the
present village site, many times in
bad weather.
Also, the Barter Island DEWline
site is located on a rise above the
village, and the drainage from the
site creates swampy ground in the
village during the summer, creat
ing a health hazard.
A report to this effect was made
at the Inupiat Paitot. Eskimo meet
ing at Kotzebue last fall. The meet
ing recommended that the village
be moved.
The military activity on the is
land has brought mixed blessings
to the natives. Many have realized
financial gain from working on the
site and related projects.
Tolstoy Foundation Asks
About Tibetans in Alaska
Are Alaskans receptive to the
dea of Tibetan refugees being re
settled in the 49th state?
This is the object of a current
urvcy by the Tolstoy Foundation Of
Vew York.
A representative of the founda
ion, David A. McCabe, was in
Alaska last week visiting with key
state and federal government offi
cials sounding them out on an idea
of bringing between 250 and 1,000
Tibetans to Alaska.
In Juneau McCabe interviewed
Governor William A. Egan, Com
missioner Henry A. Roloff of the
Department of Economic Develop
ment and Planning: George A. Rog
ers. an economist, and Dr. Richard
A. Cooley, of the Conservation
Foundation Research Center: and
Robert L. Bennett, Area Director
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
and Dr. William R. Wood, president
of the University of Alaska, while
in Fairbanks.
The plan was originated with Col.
Tlia Tolstoy, based on his knowledge
of Tibet gained during World War
II when he as an intelligence of
ficer crossed the mountains of Ti
bet seeking an overland route for
troops as well as delivering a per
sonal letter from President Frank
lin D. Roosevelt to the Dalai Lama,
and based on his knowledge of
Alaska derived when he helped
develop McKinley National Park.
The Tolstoy Foundation believes
that Alaska would be the best place
for resettling the Tibetan refugees
who were driven from their home
land principally by the 1959 Chinese '
invasion. The climate and terrain
of Tibet and Alaska are similar.
However, Alaska is not the only
state that is being Investigated. The
mountain states of Idaho, Montana,
Wyoming and Colorado are being
considered.
Integral in the move and reset
tling of the refugees would be rais
ing of a domesticated animal, the
yak, whose meat according to the
nlan would be sold commercially.
McCabe said the animal which fared
well in adverse climate produced
meat of an equal quality with beef.
McCabe said the Tibetan refugees
were destitute now but if Alaskans
were favorable in allowing them to
resettle here and become self-sup
poiiing, that they would practical
and unique benefits to Alaska.
In addition, he said Alaskans
would be helping the Tibetans to
preserve their culture which is be
ing systematically crushed by the
Communists,
McCabe stressed that he would
like to have response from Alaskans
on the proposal. Comments can be
sent to : Tundra Times, Box 1287,
Fairbanks, for forwarding the
Tolstoy Foundation.
In this day and age, -whet Rians
startling yet safer way is there to
appear unconventional than by up
holding the conventions.—Isaac Bo*
senfeld