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{ 2008 09 21 }

#90: Palin opposes Native subsistence fishing rights

Here’s the rumor:

1. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Fishing

….

2. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Hunting

….

3. Palin has attacked Alaska Tribal Sovereignty

….

4. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Languages

….

I haven’t got details on this, although if you follow the link back, the originator of this list links some legal documents. I’ll continue to investigate, but here’s what I do know:

  1. I’ve got Native family up there, and they seem in general to think very highly of her. Considering that they use their fishing rights quite extensively, it seems unlikely that she’s that opposed to Native rights.
  2. Rumor #7 is the one about “shooting wolves from the air.” Well, why does she want the state to be able to cull wolves from the air? As my cousin Erin put it last night “that’s because the people in the villages are starving!” The wolf cull is to keep the caribou population that many Native villages depend upon for, yes, subsistence hunting.
  3. The attorney mentioned is very active in Democrat politics up there and is a major supporter of Ted Stevens’s opponent, Mark Begich
Posted by Charlie on Sunday, September 21, 2008, at 17:45 (@781). Filed under Palin Rumors. Follow any responses to this post with its comments RSS feed. You can post a comment or trackback from your blog.

{ 1 } Comments

  1. McGehee | 2008-Sep-21 at 22:08 (@964) | Permalink

    On Native subsistence hunting and fishing, I believe it’s been the official policy of the State of Alaska — regardless of governor — to be opposed to the federal government’s takeover of fish and wildlife management in environments traditionally left to states in the Lower 48. Generally it’s been the Legislature (and public opinion) that has taken the lead on this, but Tony Knowles, who was governor from 1994-2002, and whom Palin defeated in the 2006 November election, strangled the state’s efforts to fight the takeover in federal court.

    When the Legislature tried to go around Knowles, the courts rejected the case on the reasoning that the executive alone had standing.

    To the best of my knowledge neither Murkowski nor Palin has tried to revive legal action on the matter, but it’s a surefire vote-getter among non-Natives up there — and one big part of why the AIP has as many adherents as it does.

    Then again, a few years ago even Natives seemed to be registering AIP.

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