Our Future





Our future begins with our past.  We are both.  Our ancestors reside with us and guide us into the future.  None ever leave.  And so our homelands are both and they are us.  None of these parts are really parts at all but the whole inseparable fabric of what we are. 

Unlike many others, indeed everyone else, our legends seldom speak of famine.  That is because long ago we decided to live in what proved to be a very productive part of the world, the coast of the Arctic Ocean.  Once we had developed the tools and the skills to live here, life became remarkably secure.  There was always food, someplace.  You just had to go out and get it.  That is one reason we intend to stay here.  We know no safer place to live.

That is not to say we have not had hard times, even desperately hard times, but these were all associated with intrusions, with people bringing in things that harmed us.  But, by and large, our lives have gotten better as we learned how to use these imported things.  We are a progressive people, always looking for some way to make good use of whatever comes into our country.

Nobody knows the future.  People who once lived here, people who may have been our ancestors simply disappeared, leaving only their old homes and perhaps their footprints.  Perhaps the same may happen to us.  But that is not our intention.  We intend to stay here and to prosper and live good and rich lives here forever.  We know no better place to live and no reason to leave here.  Besides, if we were to leave, what would all those who have gone before do for company?  Who would they speak to and who would they protect?

No.  We shall probably be here forever.  So this country is our future, as well as our past.  It is what we are.
City of Kaktovik, Alaska.
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