Monday September 29, 2008, 8:05 am
http://www.grizzlybay.org/SarahPalinInfoPage.htm

Monday September 29, 2008, 8:58 am
Thanks, Gwen!

Monday September 29, 2008, 9:13 am
Native Alaskans should be given respect and their rightful heritage should be given credence.

Tuesday September 30, 2008, 1:50 am

I am just dismayed to discover that high-profile environmental rights lawyer - the famous Erin Brockovich - has been getting a lot of attention for her support for Palin !

Look what I discovered in a Guardian article this morning:

"...Environmentalists have painted Palin as the arch-enemy, to the right of Bush, because until last week she was denying climate change had anything to do with man, thought polar bears could go live on land and wants to see the Arctic drilled to within a quart of its oil.

But Palin is also being called the "Erin Brockovich of Alaska" and last week, on her blog, Brockovich came close to endorsing Palin. "Sure, she may be loud. So am I," she said. "Sometimes you've got to scream to get anyone to hear you. So what if her 17-year-old is pregnant? None of us should judge Sarah Palin for anything but her own actions."

What about her wanting to drill the arctic reserve? What about the bears and wolves that Palin shoots?

"No buts," says Brockovich. "The fact is that Sarah Palin positively emanates strength. She gives off the aura of being a strong woman who doesn't back down, and she does it sporting heels and wearing her family like a badge of honour. I am sure there are a million other women out there who are doing the same thing." ..."


How could anyone in their right mind call Palin "Erin Brockovich of Alaska" ?

Tuesday September 30, 2008, 2:59 am

Besides her decisions on who to name and who to remove from office, in which she shows no regard or respect for Native Alaskans, & clearly seeks to exclude them from participating in civil affairs, Palin has used the courts to reduce or abolish Native Alaskan rights & sovereignty, including sustained legal battles against Alaska Native subsistence fishing & hunting !

In terms of subsistence fishing, the goal of Palin's law suit is to invalidate all the subsistence fishing regulations the federal government has issued to date to protect Native fishing, and to force the courts instead to take over the roll of setting subsistence regulations. She continues this litigation despite a 2007 federal court decision to uphold Congress' 1980 vote to expressly grant the U.S. Interior and Agriculture Departments the authority to regulate and protect Native and rural subsistence fishing activities in Alaska.

(Incidentally- In pressing this case, Palin decided against using the Attorney General (which usually handles State litigation) and instead continued contracting with Senator Ted Stevens' brother-in-law's law firm (Birch, Horton, Bittner & Cherot). Ted Stevens is the Alaska Rep Senator currently on trial in Washington DC for corruption.)

In both hunting and fishing matters, Palin has continued uninterrupted the policies initiated by the former Governor Frank Murkowski Administration, challenging hunting and fishing protections that Native people depend upon for their subsistence way of life in order to enhance sport fishing and hunting opportunities. Palin's lawsuits are a direct attack on the core way of life of Native Tribes in rural Alaska.

Palin has also attacked Alaska Tribal Sovereignty:

So extreme is Palin on tribal sovereignty issues that she has sought to block tribes from exercising any authority whatsoever even over the welfare of Native children.

Both the state courts and the federal courts have struck down Palin's policy of refusing to recognize the sovereign authority of Alaska Tribes to address issues involving Alaska Native children. She maintains her policy unchanged, nonetheless !

In terms of Native Alaskan languages & Native Alaskan voting rights, Palin was ordered -just this past July- by a special three-judge panel of federal judges to provide various forms of voter assistance to Yup'ik voters residing in southwest Alaska. Citing years of State neglect, Palin was ordered to provide trained poll workers who are bilingual in English and Yup'ik.

This information comes from a longtime Native-rights attorney, Lloyd Miller of Anchorage, who put it onto the Internet in early September. He provides all the details of her various lawsuits that target Native Alaskans in an artilce I found on the Alaska newspaper site, adn.com, SARAH PALIN'S RECORD ON ALASKA NATIVE AND TRIBAL ISSUES