Contact us at: whispernthunder1@gmail.comEffects of the Present Administration on Native Alaskans
~ Carol Dixon
This was a hard article to write after researching all of
the negative things that are happening to enable the
rich to get richer, and the rest of the country to suffer
for it. The focus is mostly on the effects this present
administration has had on Alaska Natives, but much
of it spills over to the rest of the country as well.
Alaska depends a lot on Federal grants for research
and development. The University of Alaska has its
main campus in Fairbanks, but also a big campus
in Anchorage and multiple small campuses in rural
areas. Kotzebue, Nome, Dillingham, and Bethel all have rural small campuses that depend partially on distance learning and some in person. In 2025 the University of Alaska system lost $25 million in Federal grants, and the Fairbanks campus lost $12.9 million of that total that was used for Title III, which is the funding for the rural services. This same thing also affected Hawaii, but I don't have the figures for that. The horrible excuse for this was that these grants were “racially oriented” so had to be stopped. 20% of the University of Alaska students are Native Alaskans, and those in the rural university service areas will be the most heavily affected.
Alaska has a lot of minerals, and mining has always been something of contention. People say it provides jobs. But those who live in the remote areas have legitimate issues with it. When you mine in remote areas you have to get the ore out. That's where the problem lies. The ongoing issue at this point is the proposed Ambler road. It's been talked about (and resisted) for years because of the impact it would make on the wilderness and all the wildlife. With this administration it's now something that the profit makers are pushing hard for again. The road would start at the Dalton highway (the road to the north slope from Fairbanks) and end in the copper mining district close to the western village of Ambler. It would be 211 miles long and very wide so big trucks could constantly haul copper ore over it. Much environmental research has been done and none of it is good. The road would literally cut the caribou migration route in half, causing the herds to split and be at great risk. There are creeks all over that area and small rivers that salmon use. They would be affected seriously and spawning reduced greatly due to the travel and the toxic substances that have been shown to emit as mining trucks drive by an area, killing moss and other plants as well. Native Alaskans depend very heavily on subsistence living, as they have done for thousands of years. Of course they buy some food ordered from stores, etc. but the berries, caribou, moose, and salmon are the mainstays of their diets. Most of the Native people oppose this road consistently because they don't want their way of life destroyed. One village elder said that this road would cause a loss of the animals they depend on to survive, and that it would threaten their entire way of life. A tribal consortium of 42 villages came out against it and described it as the “destruction of the wilderness.” Even those who could use the temporary money the construction would bring in understand that it's short term gain for long term irreparable loss.
Regarding climate change, the present administration has revised all of the restrictions on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that limited and restricted oil and gas development in the refuge. This week, thanks to greed above all else, the leasing process begins to lease out parcels of the refuge for drilling and destruction. It's already been shown that this drilling (I've visited the North Slope to see the oil development) is affecting the wildlife, no matter how much they try to whitewash their narrative. This administration has also lowered accountability for waste water, power plant emissions, and vehicle emissions, stating that the thing that really matters is the extra cost to the corporations.
Alaska has been working on developing clean energy for years now and received grants in multiple villages to put in wind energy, etc. Fuel is insanely costly in the remote villages. This administration has blocked earmarked funding by Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act (under Biden's administration). This funding was to facilitate clean energy in villages, among other things that would positively change lives for the better. The Inflation Reduction Act authorized $43.3 billion for projects that will help people live safer and cleaner, including community resilience, housing and infrastructure. $16 billion was for clean energy. Climate United was the company that was contracted for most of this spending all over the country. Trump's “big beautiful bill” destroyed the $433 billion authorization by Congress. $4.2 billion would have gone to “Indian Country. Climate United sued over this removal. The OMB freeze on the money was rescinded but it's reported that 60% of the tribes were experiencing funding freezes and over 25% had grant cancellations.
The Iran war has also caused serious issues in Alaska because of the price of fuel in the off road villages. In the village of Hooper Bay gas was already $8.44/gallon before the war, and they expect it to go up to as much as $10. Some villages are experiencing a rise for heating oil from $10/gallon to $15 because of the war.
There are effects all over the country as a result of the focus on helping the rich get richer and total lack of caring for the citizens. Native Americans in general are probably suffering even more, because of the Federal assistance they rightly deserve and have received. All of this emphasizes how very important it is for us all to stand up for our rights and to demand real justice and accountability. We all decide for ourselves how we can do that, but what each of us can and must do is to not give up and to vote for positive change.