Final Study Guide

1) Know the different Native groups in Alaska and where they live. 

Coastal Indians - from Yakutat to Prince Rupert in British Columbia
Athapaskans - The drainage areas of the Yukon and Mackenzie river
Aleuts - Aleutian Islands
Eskimos - far northern areas of Canada and Alaska.

2) Know the Russian period and why Russia was in Alaska (and what parts).

the first known Russian to  land in Alaska was Vitus Bearing. they came mostly for animal furs 
 and some fishing.

3) Know when Russia sold Alaska to the United States.

1867

4) Know how the various Gold Rushes changed Alaska.
 
 Yukon, Nome, and Fairbanks
 These gold rushes created attention which attracted many people to come make their lives in Alaska. New jobs were created as a result of all the new mining companies. All this attention gave Alaska some more popularity which lead to the creation of government for the Alaska which later became a state

5) Be able to explain who Soapy Smith was (this question is for Richard).

 Soapy Smith was a con man who lived in Skagway before he was shot and killed by Frank Reid. Jefferson Smith controlled a gang in Alaska where they spent their time robbing new, naive prospectors of there money so they were unable to continue there journey.

6) Be able to list the various road blocks to Statehood that Alaska faced.

 There were many different things that helped slow down the process of statehood. The rules committee stopped the Alaska state hood bill and not allowing it to pass through. Many people outside of the state think that the territory was not economically stable, because Alaska didn't have a many taxes. Others were worried that adding Alaska as a state ruin the country's political stability, because Alaska at the time was more liberal and the republicans didn't want to have less power in congress. During this time many cities in Alaska were not very developed and didn't good methods of travel besides air and the railroad. Even though all of these road blocks were in place, in January 3, 1958 Alaska became a state.  

7) Be able to discuss how Statehood changed Alaska.
 
 More federal regulations on industry and infrastructure.

8) Be able to list and describe Alaska's top 3-4 economic sources.
 

Oil tax -  taxes put on the oil companies help benefit the Alaskan economy in the form of the Alaska Permanent Divined Fund which gives individual Alaskan citizens money for what ever they may need. 
Government services - Public schools, public hospitals, and military bases.
Mining -Alaska has many mines one of which being the largest exports of zinc and contain many other metals like gold, copper, silver, and lead.
Retail -Because of all the tourists there are many gift shops and other stores that largely profit on a seasonal basis and attract over one million people every year.
Fishing - Alaska is one of the largest exports of wild salmon.

9) Be able to discuss how the Oil Boom changed Alaska.
 
 The oil boom brought many jobs and a much needed infrastructure to Alaska which helped to increase the states overall population. June 1969 to build an 800 mile long heated pipeline that would connect Prudhoe Bay to tidewater at Valdez on Prince William Sound. After building the pipeline the town of Valdez's oil jobs went down and so did the population.

10) Be able to discuss the future of Alaska with regards to Climate Change, Fukushima, and other environmental concerns (example: ANWAR, natural gases exploration, issues in villages?)


Frankenfish - genetically modified salmon have been created and many are worried what kind of effect these fish will have on the environment as well as economy. There are worries that escaped fish might spawn with wild fish and change the population. Others say that these cheaper farmed fish will put wild fisheries and canneries out of business.

Pebble mine - there are worries that run off may effect the salmon population in the nearby rivers (open pit).

ANWR (arctic national wildlife refuge) Oil drilling -there is a debate on whether or not to dill for oil on this wildlife reserve and what the impact on the environment it would have.

1) Know the different Native groups in Alaska and where they live. 

Coastal Indians - from Yakutat to Prince Rupert in British Columbia
Athapaskans - The drainage areas of the Yukon and Mackenzie river
Aleuts - Aleutian Islands
Eskimos - far northern areas of Canada and Alaska.

Fukushima Artical

 “While the state of Oregon gears up to test its shores for radioactive contamination from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, university scientists have found that radiation levels in some albacore tuna caught off its coast have tripled.”

                Researchers from Oregon State University examined albacore tuna in 2008 and compared it to tuna after the Fukushima accident and found there to be three times as much cesium as before. Even though the radiation levels have grown, it is still a thousand times less than what the U.S. Department of Agriculture deems unsafe.

Researchers stated that the migration paths of the tuna could also affect the levels of radiation going forward. Most of the 3-year-old tuna tested had no traces of Fukushima radiation, but 4 year old tuna, which likely traveled through the radioactive plume a couple of times, had higher cesium levels. Continued migration could increase cesium levels further, but the researchers said it would still be far below maximum safety levels.

Some believe that the increase in radiation can help map the migration routes of tuna by seeing how often the swim through the radioactive plume by measuring the amount of radiation in the fish.

          Oregon State plans to test other coasts for radioactivity around the country. Just like in Oregon, many other coastal communities in Alaska should test their water. So far the tests here at Long Bay by Shelby Surdyk are the first in the state. Others should follow because the day we stop paying attention to it is the day it becomes a problem.

http://rt.com/usa/155692-oregon-tuna-radiation-tripled-fukushima/

Oil Boom

The oil boom brought many jobs and a much needed infrastructure to Alaska which helped to increase the states overall population. the oil boom started in 1968 with the discovery of a huge 9.6 billion barrel oil reserve in Prudhoe Bay. Thomas Simpson noticed in 1836 during a coastal survey that some parts of the Canadian Arctic shore were soaked by natural oil seeps, that the natives would use as fuel to heat their homes. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System applied to the U.S. Department of the Interior in June 1969 to build an 800 mile long heated pipeline that would connect Prudhoe Bay to tidewater at Valdez on Prince William Sound. the pipeline was actually constructed, with many difficulties, June 20, 1977. One of the most impacted towns in Alaska was Valdez, which started with a population of about 1,200 and during the boom reached 69,633 people. After building the pipeline the town of Valdez's oil jobs went down and so did the population. 

Jeff Brady Questions

  1.       Did you write this book by yourself?

  2.       How many “haunted houses” are in Skagway?

  3.       What are some your favorite stories you wrote about?

  4.       Did you publish your book, if not who did?

  5.       Who edited your work, if anybody?

  6.       Did you discover anything through your research you didn’t already know?

  7.       There are many different theories surrounding Soapy Smith’s death, which do you believe?

  8.       When did you start writing this book?

  9.       What is the best “Heard by the Wind” story you know of?

10.   Do you think was more good of a man than not?

Ch. 8 Road Blocks

There were many different things that helped slow down the process of statehood. The rules committee stopped the Alaska state hood bill and not allowing it to pass through. Many people outside of the state think that the territory was not economically stable, because Alaska didn't have a many taxes. Others were worried that adding Alaska as a state ruin the country's political stability, because Alaska at the time was more liberal and the republicans didn't want to have less power in congress. During this time many cities in Alaska were not very developed and didn't good methods of travel besides air and the railroad. Even though all of these road blocks were in place, in January 3, 1958 Alaska became a state.  

Reflections Pages 383-394

I found that  it was interesting how many military buildings there are is Skagway that are still standing and being used  in present day such as the Skagway maintenance shop and small boat harbor. Even though men in Skagway didn't see and actual combat, being stationed  in Skagway could still be dangerous. There were people accidentally getting ran over by bulldozers, the risk of loosing body parts to the cold, and freezing to death. Alaska became a state January 3, 1959.

Alaska Native Story

A man named Natsalane, who belonged to the seal people tribe, was trying to create killer whales out of wood carvings. He tried different types of wood: red cedar, hemlock, and others. Each time he carved them into the shape of an orca and set them in the beach to swim, but none did. All the carvings just floated on the top of the water, except the ones the craftsman made out of yellow cedar. Those carvings came to life and could swim through the water.

Natsalane put white chalk markings around the whale’s mouth to the back of its head and he called it the white mouth killer whale. He told them that they were to hunt seal and halibut, as well as many other sea creatures. The craftsman also said that it was not allowed to hurt any human beings.

During this time killer whales were able to camp on beaches and go on land. A young man and his wife were floating down the canal to find a camping spot for there honeymoon. They noticed a camp fire on the beach so they went to go greet the people, but when they arrived they realized that they weren’t people, they were killer whales. The man and the woman jumped back in fear. The killer whales, not knowing what to do, jumped in the water and swam away.

 The couple went onto the camp site and saw a bunch of different foods, such as halibut, salmon, and seal. They decided to cook some to eat. Shortly after, the killer whales returned and kidnaped the man’s new wife because the man and woman had taken their food. The whales dragged her into the water. The man followed them along the shore line until they arrived under a cliff where they dove down out of sight. So the man followed, but was somehow knocked out and awoke at the bottom near a large town. He quickly went into a house, which belonged to the chief of the shark people. In this house he saw a slave man with a crooked mouth and a fishing hook sticking out of the corner. The hook had belonged to the man. The slave man with a crooked smile had been made a slave by the sharks. The man then asked the slave man if there was any news in that town. But there was no news except that the nearby killer whale town had captured a woman and were making her the wife of the killer whale chief. He continued to say that if you were to go to this town, there would be a slave outside chopping wood in the forest. “When you see him repeatedly say to yourself that you wish for his stone axe to break.”

Once the man reached the slave he did as he was told and the axe broke. The man rushed in and said that he would fix the axe, if in return the slave would tell him where his wife was. The slave agreed to his offer and said that after he gets wood for the fire he is supposed to go get water to put out fire. When he pours the water on the fire there will be a great multitude of steam, so the man should quickly grab his wife and hurry out.

Desperate, the man did as he was told and the two ran. They were greeted with the voice of the crooked mouth slave, who was telling him to run toward the shark people’s town. Thinking the shark people were behind this, the killer whales attacked the sharks and killed many of them. After this attack, the sharks regrouped and started to sharpen their teeth on the rocks so that any time a killer whale would attack they would run their teeth along the orcas belly, spilling their entrails all over the place. By the end of the battle there was no winner and the bay was red with the blood of sharks and killer whales.

Nobody knows what happened to the couple or even if they survived the battle.