ALASKA NATIVES COMMISSION
JOINT FEDERAL-STATE COMMISSION
ON
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS AFFECTING
ALASKA NATIVES
4000 Old Seward Highway, Suite 100
Anchorage,
Alaska 99503
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Witness List | PDF
Version
MR. IRWIN: Thank you. Let's see if she's here.
FATHER ELLIOTT: Is she here?
MR. IRWIN: I don't know, you could ask. Why don't you go ahead and ask if she's here.
THE REPORTER: Should we go off record for a minute, Father?
FATHER ELLIOTT: Sure.
THE REPORTER: Off record.
(Off the record)
(On the record)
THE REPORTER: On record.
FATHER ELLIOTT: There you go.
TESTIMONY OF ANECIA CHIKLAK
My name is Anecia Chiklak, A-n-e-c-i-a, C-h-i-k-l-a-k. And my title of my job is...my job title is tribal child service worker. And I work for BBNA. At least that's where my check's coming from. And my most concern is that the legislators should make a stronger law on the bootleggers and the people that sell drugs.
Because when I was growing up, as I'm going to be my next birthday, I'm going to be 50 years old; in the late -- in the early '50's and the late '607s,you never hear of kids getting into trouble. I would like to see them think of our young children, because our young children are the futures of Alaska. I would like to see the legislators think of -- I would like to see the legislators think of our kids more than they think of the animals that they're protecting, more than they think of the lands they're protecting, because these are young human beings and nobody fend for them.
I see lots of kids in Bristol Bay area, from drinking, dying. Some kids sent off to jails so young. And these other people that sell the drugs and alcohol, they're scot-free, they don't want to tell who sells what.
Please, if they have any humanity, please put stronger laws. Because when I was growing up, no one gave me a drink, and I could swear to this day, nobody gave me anything to drink when I was raising up. And I could say I'm 49 years old right now, I don't drink at all. But about 20 years ago I used to when I was younger.
But I want to say this. Let them think of the young people more than they think of animal-saving out there. I hear lots of things. They want to save this, they want to save that, and they don't have enough money for alcohol and drug abuse, while our kids out there are just dying here and there.
We hear -- I hear, one time out here, I think it was couple summers ago, two young boys died. And --
THE REPORTER: Excuse me. Off record.
(Off the record - tape changed - Tape 9)
(On the record)
THE REPORTER: On record.
MS. CHIKLAK: And I hear lots of things going on. I have ears like any other people and I'm middle-aged, and I know lots of things of elders and how elders were. And I hear lots of good stories. You know, we should bring back our elders back to help counsel with the -- give them -- talks with the young kids.
I feel so sorry for people, for young kids.
They have no -- they have all these kind of helps -and I really
like what Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation is doing for
alcoholism. I'm not putting that down. I'm just putting down
the legislators, don't -they don't have strong enough laws,
and I can't emphasize enough for people that are giving minors,
buying their -- I hear it down here too in Dillingham. I even
was offered by a person that was drunk, "Buy me a bottle, I'll give you ten dollars over the bottle. " No.
Let's get those people stiffer laws and put those kind of people that buy booze for young kids, put them in jails where they belong. And educate our young kids about what can happen in our put it in schools. There's too much things happening and feel so sad about lots of these young kids dying. Instead of worrying about these animals, they're going to die sooner or later anyway.
But that's the reason why I sometimes don't even feel like to vote, but I'm a law-abiding person; that's part of what I do. I feel so sick of all these other things they try to save and they never try to save our own young kids. Especially I feel sorry for our young Native kids.
And when someone die, I hear in radio or TV or whatever, on account of alcohol -- they can't buy it themself. There's those other people and the drug pushers, that's the ones I'm mad about. And I'd like to see where the law get those people put where they should belong, and help our kids in schools to have more education on what different drugs can do to their body.
I never touch that stuff. I hear about it. I don't know what they are. But I know that they are bad. And that's all I'd like to say. Thank you.
FATHER ELLIOTT: We thank you very much, Anecia. Do you have any questions, Mike?
MR. IRWIN: No.
FATHER ELLIOTT: Next.
(Side conversation)
This document was ocr scanned. We have made every
attempt to keep the online document the same as the original,
including the recorder's original misspellings or typos.
