William Hensley Lunch Time Chat- Haley

I attended Professor Hensely’s talk about Alaska Native history and land rights. His talk started with a brief history of Alaska and growing up in his small village. He showed what everyday, traditional, life was like. Many of the village residents gathering on the beach cutting fish, processing beluga, drying meant and etc. He talked a bit about the impact of westernization on his village and Alaska, beginning with Russian invasion and going onto missionary groups beginning bringing christianity and western culture. This was a time of dying culture for Alaska Natives, traditional dancing and language were made illegal and people were forced to leave their traditional ways. He then talked about the impact of statehood on Alaska. Originally, Alaska Natives didn’t know what becoming a state really meant but soon they realized it was a way for the US to take Native Land. An interesting point Hensley brought up was that the US bought the right to negotiate for land, not the actual land from Russia and that even after statehood, much of Alaska’s land still belonged to the native people. He ended by talking about the Land Claims Act. This act helped ensure that Alaska Natives got to keep some rights to land.