By ALEXANDER DOLITSKY
In 1983, I was a participant in the archaeological expedition at Karluk Village, located approximately 75 air miles southwest of the City of Kodiak on Kodiak Island. Surrounded by picturesque low-lying mountains and wet tundra, the mouth of the Karluk River and the Karluk Lagoon have been a homeland to the Alutiiq people for more than 5,000 years.
A deeply stratified prehistoric archaeological site on the bank of the lagoon sits in close vicinity to the contemporary Alutiiq village and to the significantly aged Russian Orthodox Church on the top of hill overlooking the lagoon.
At the time, I was a PhD candidate at Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania. There were several trained and experienced archaeologists in the group, including Rick Knecht, Kevin Philbrook Smith, Glenn Sheen — then all PhD candidates at Bryn Mawr College — and several enthusiastic volunteers. The expedition leader was the late Dr. Richard Jordan of Bryn Mawr. None of us had extensive experience or expertise in this geographic area under investigation, but we had some theoretical background.
Between the contemporary village and archaeological site was a small wooden hut occupied by Lawrence Ponamoryoff, an Alutiiq in his early 60s. Lawrence and his wife resided in Los Angeles during the winter season. But in the summer, Lawrence would escape from California and find a sanctuary in Karluk. He was connected spiritually and physically to his native land. Lawrence had a basic secondary school education, but his intelligence and wisdom were second to none. He thoroughly knew his Native land—he was an integral part of it. Lawrence kept repeating, “I am invigorating here when the salmonberries begin to ripen, and the red salmon are just about to swim up the river to spawn.”
Remnants of the rectangular prehistoric dwellings were the main archaeological features that we excavated. Richard Jordan was convinced that these dwellings were above-ground Russian houses of the Russian American period in Alaska (1741 to 1867). Rick Knecht and I argued with Richard Jordan that those structures were, most likely, native barabaras, but with no success. Aleutian barabaras were the traditional homes of the Aleut and Alutiiq people of the Aleutian Islands. These communal dwellings were partially underground, like pit-houses.
In one of the intense arguments, Richard Jordan declared, “I am going to eat my shorts to prove that these are Russian dwellings.” Rick Knecht, with some degree of cautiousness, responded to Jordan’s declaration, “You better wash your shorts, before you eat them. These are not Russian dwellings.” Richard Jordan was our key professor at Bryn Mawr; I was impressed by Rick Knecht’s courageous response.
In my free time from digging, I enjoyed Lawrence’s company in his wooden hut. Lawrence was always a gracious host, treating me with a delicious smoked salmon and fish soup. I especially enjoyed his mysterious native stories. One day, I shared with Lawrence our intense arguments with Professor Jordan and our inability to persuade him to adopt a proper interpretation of archaeological and ethnohistoric data.
Lawrence listened attentively to my troubling concerns, then paused for a short moment and said: “I will tell you a story that I heard from my grandpa, the wise man.” I nodded my head in anticipation of the engaging story.
“One day a Bear and Ground Squirrel, ‘Tsik Tsik’ for ground squirrel in our native language, had an argument over the color of grass. The Bear argued that grass is green, and Ground Squirrel argued that grass is blue. They argued and argued, but neither could prevail. They decided to ask an old and wise Owl to resolve their dispute.
They approached Owl and asked, “Bird of Wisdom, tell us whether the grass is green or blue? Squirrel insists that it is blue, but I know for fact that it is green, not blue,” insisted the Bear.
Owl slowly turned his head to the right then to the left and answered, “It is a blue color.”
Ground Squirrel happily hopped to his underground home, bragging, “I won, I won against a big Bear, the grass is blue!”
The Bear was puzzled by Owl’s answer, “Why have you said that the grass is blue? You are perfectly aware that the grass is Green!” roared the Bear angrily.
“Yes, indeed, the grass is green,” responded Owl. “But you wasted your time and efforts in trying to convince a stupid squirrel about something that is so obvious to all of us. You cannot rationalize someone who is brainwashed, irrationally stubborn and believe in the squirrel’s narrow-minded stupidity. Bear, go home,” Owl continued, “Believe in yourself, believe in your righteousness and always stand up for the factual truth and justice.”
“That is all. And that’s the way I heard it,” concluded Lawrence.
The heated arguments between Professor Jordan and all crews of the Karluk expedition continued daily and brought a lot of stress to all of us. For me, the expedition in Karluk ended after three weeks and I moved to the Kenai Peninsula to excavate an archaeological site in the vicinity of the Russian River under the auspices of the Chugach National Forest. I also had a chance to visit the Russian Old Believers community of Nikolaevsk Village near Anchor Point, Kenai.
Today, there are so many moral parallels between Lawrence’s insightful story of the “Bear and Squirrel Argument” and the socio-political environment in our country. And, yet it is so unbearable to tolerate an extreme leftist’s beliefs, destroying our democratic Republic with its remarkable corruption, moral distortion and indoctrination of American youth, namely: White Privilege Doctrine, Critical Race Theory, Systemic Racism, delusional transgender identity, neo-Marxism, violent anti-Semitic pro-Palestinian protests and rhetoric, and all other progressive nonsense.
I wonder, what learning and moral story the wise Alutiiq Lawrence could have for the humanity today?
Alexander B. Dolitsky was born and raised in Kiev in the former Soviet Union. He received an M.A. in history from Kiev Pedagogical Institute, Ukraine, in 1976; an M.A. in anthropology and archaeology from Brown University in 1983; and was enroled in the Ph.D. program in Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College from 1983 to 1985, where he was also a lecturer in the Russian Center. In the U.S.S.R., he was a social studies teacher for three years, and an archaeologist for five years for the Ukranian Academy of Sciences. In 1978, he settled in the United States. Dolitsky visited Alaska for the first time in 1981, while conducting field research for graduate school at Brown. He lived first in Sitka in 1985 and then settled in Juneau in 1986. From 1985 to 1987, he was a U.S. Forest Service archaeologist and social scientist. He was an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Alaska Southeast from 1985 to 1999; Social Studies Instructor at the Alyeska Central School, Alaska Department of Education from 1988 to 2006; and has been the Director of the Alaska-Siberia Research Center (see www.aksrc.homestead.com) from 1990 to present. He has conducted about 30 field studies in various areas of the former Soviet Union (including Siberia), Central Asia, South America, Eastern Europe and the United States (including Alaska). Dolitsky has been a lecturer on the World Discoverer, Spirit of Oceanus, andClipper Odyssey vessels in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. He was the Project Manager for the WWII Alaska-Siberia Lend Lease Memorial, which was erected in Fairbanks in 2006. He has published extensively in the fields of anthropology, history, archaeology, and ethnography. His more recent publications include Fairy Tales and Myths of the Bering Strait Chukchi, Ancient Tales of Kamchatka; Tales and Legends of the Yupik Eskimos of Siberia; Old Russia in Modern America: Russian Old Believers in Alaska; Allies in Wartime: The Alaska-Siberia Airway During WWII; Spirit of the Siberian Tiger: Folktales of the Russian Far East; Living Wisdom of the Far North: Tales and Legends from Chukotka and Alaska; Pipeline to Russia; The Alaska-Siberia Air Route in WWII; and Old Russia in Modern America: Living Traditions of the Russian Old Believers; Ancient Tales of Chukotka, and Ancient Tales of Kamchatka.
Was it determined if the dwellings predated 1740?
This type of story passed to each generation fits our time period as aptly as it did all the preceeding ones. Human nature doesn’t change. Just the narratives used to control people and influence their perceptions change over time.
To Brian: Yes. Donald Clark of Canada excavated in this region in the 1960s and 1970s. He radiocarbon dated these sites about 6,000 to 7,000 BP. Rick and Kevin continued excavations in Karluk in 1984 and they C14 this site to 5,000 BC. There was some Russian presence in Karluk, but very limited.
That is what I figured, the elder Lawrence knew full well these dwellings were his ancestors, didn’t need outsiders to come in and argue over it. He taught you how to deal with people like Richard, in a non confrontational, diplomatic and sophisticated manner, and become a stronger man in the process.
What is BP?
BP=Before Present time; BC=Before Christ time.
Amen Alexander. Thank you
“I wonder, what learning and moral story the wise Alutiiq Lawrence could have for the humanity today?”
Lawrence would say that the concepts you mention came from the Institut für Sozialforschung and he would say that you and occasionally others are confused, often vilifying the wrong group and revering criminals and the disreputable… like Dershowitz; the self promoting Jew on this site’s home page that openly proclaims sex with underaged girls should not be a criminal offense and is best known for having gotten Epstein off (pardon the pun) during round one. Dershowitz has been openly accused by multiple women in the wake of the Epstein debacle of having forced unwanted sexual contact upon them.
Lawrence would not have characterized home invasion defense as violently anti-semitic protest.
You also have a conveniently flexible memory of historical events. In a time and place not that far removed from the memories of armchair historians (during the period leading up to the Beer Hall Putsch) the Weimar Republic was dominated by drugs, hedonism, child prostitution, debauchery, excess, radicalism and an appalling lack of moral compass in every respect. You refer to “delusional transgender identity” while failing to mention that the first transgender clinic was Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin circa 1920, Mr. Hirschfeld being both homosexual and Jewish or in your vernacular, progressive. It was Dr. Hirschfeld that coined the term ‘transvestite’ to describe friends and acquaintances.
Weimar Republic was the spiritual home of euro-hebrew culture prior to those people having been gifted the Palestinian birthright. A polarizing leader cleaned the area up during the events culminating in WWII. One of the men largely responsible for America’s victory, General Patton, is widely known for having later publicly stated “we defeated the wrong enemy”.
You have a botched view of cause and effect and should not be allowed to fill what had been a conservative site with your revisionist palaver and purposefully conflating Alaska Native Studies with your own version of pseudo religious ethno-bullsh*t is shameful.
“flexible memory of historical events….” Germany is the cradle of Marxist and hybrid Fascist theory. Their society is also notorious for sexual dysfunctional decadence with the associated disrespect for human life and dignity. It has only been a unified country post 1871 and has exhibited cultural and national suicidal tendencies which have almost ended its’ short national life several times. It’s current subservience to the US and acceptance of the destruction of their industry following our destruction of Nordstream follows course. These aren’t Jewish caused problems, they are apparently dysfunctional Teutonic/Germanic tribal traits. Nauseatingly characteristic of white, liberal, ignorance with an unhealthy sense of entitlement University types.
“General Patton” was at best a 3rd rate mind in military strategy, not even close to Zhukov. He was excellent at motivating morale for his troops and was tactically aggressive. Eisenhower wisely kept the pet bull dog on a short chain. America did not win WWII militarily, Russia did. America avoided complete destruction and catastrophically high casualty rates by being protected by 2 oceans. We created an Empire and the myth of “defeating” the Germans following the war.
High intensity debate and the ability to disagree without being shutdown is essential for growth, edification and the hallmark of modern “conservatism”.
I have watched elders deal with outside white people who sound just like you many times. They would never confront you directly, but you would defintely be the Srik Srik in the story and generate hours of laughter when recounting the stories.
To Brian: You are so correct in your understanding of WWII history. Clam’s comments are incoherent mumbling at best.
By allowing yourself to stray from the point you confirm mine. If I remove your subjective adoration of Zhukov, aspects you state as fact but can’t actually know (like the origins of the Nord Stream event), and remove the patronizing remark about free speech your comments boil down to an implied derogatory reference concerning white people and an apparent distaste for the education they provided you. You finish your muddy note off with a pejorative directed at me that doesn’t make sense. Express yourself clearly please.
“National suicidal tendencies” you refer to were largely eliminated when the depressive malcontents of Critical Theory were expulsed from Weimaresque areas. Those Jewish philosophers moved to the US (more specifically to CA and the new school that sprang from Institut für Sozialforschung) and planted their seeds of discontent that spawned liberalism, the rejection of morality, reliance upon government welfare, and the social and societal decay you see rampant in much of the US today. They were the cradle of critical theory, disrespect, and the solvent that carried along with it the basis for human indignity, gross indecency and the normalization of aberrant behavior; what was once perverse would be redefined as kink. Oddly, your ilk supported their BS as free speech (as your patronizing comment underscores) and in the process politically correct speech made society as inclusive as possible of not just depressive malcontents but the social detritus in their wake.
Germany is not subservient, the US is not known to have compromised Nord Stream and that Patton may have been kept on a leash is part of what made him a military General; they are by definition aggressive. Your assessment of WWII’s outcome, Zhukov’s role and your support of Dolitsky’s incessant drivel are malformed views but aside from inserting a few distracting words you’ve not addressed the element in question which is why these articles continue to be accepted in support of a known and never ending problem that is now worsening with your support. These fake modern “Israelites” are bilking the US economy and attempting to shame the US into accepting hoards of Palestinian waste (assuming the Jews lose out on their wish to ethnically cleanse the area of rightful historical owners).
It’s also interesting that you make derogatory reference to one particular ethnicity while elevating a backward culture still in existence due exclusively to having been artificially propped up by the largess of the same culture you deride. Thousands of years of conquer and assimilate have been shelved such that a tiny cultural enclave that had never even invented the wheel can now temporarily make disparaging remarks about those that allowed them to live. Narrowly so though as the Russian culture you speak well of is widely known for having murdered, enslaved and forcibly impregnated Alaska Natives on a grand scale.
Do you have an opinion on whether or not Mr. Dolitsky’s incessant ranting in support of whatever Jews do next is healthy? If so this would be an ideal place to share properly focussed thought.
There are several among MRAK’s readership that are strategic thinkers and as such you should contrast your support against known Jewish history. Juxtapose the historical Jew worthy of being kicked out of so many countries over the centuries but now apparently modern Jews are much better folks and if only allowed to kill all Palestinians the world would see them differently. Here’s a starting point for you:
‘https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsions_and_exoduses_of_Jews
In that you seem completely unaware of the origins of Critical Theory including Critical Race Theory and tangential philosophies I’ll offer a primer on the Frankfurt School here:
‘https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory
For clarity’s sake note that I don’t support Jews, Palestinians, Australians, Hillbillies or any similar national, religious or ethnic group. I do detest the behaviors some display but that’s different. Dolitsky’s comments imply that the reader must support deplorable behavior amongst Jews toward anyone. His views are as detestable as the CV he requires at the end of each article. Odd that he views such dreck as educational.
1st point: Zhukov was a modern warfare military strategic genius, that is not subjective, nor political. Try study the campaigns of Stalingrad, Kursk and Bagration. If you remove the liberal ear wax you’d see how Russia is de militarizing NATO and the US while inflicting a +/- 10 to 1 kill ratio. Send in NATO soldiers and they will be wiped out too. And the Russians adapt rapidly, reacting, advancing and improving electronic warfare to bring down our missiles and making a worldwide mockery of our weapons and training. Just maybe their education system churning out engineers intsead of tansvestite incompetents has practical uses. Ukrainian officers are not using NATO training manuals because it gets people killed on an industrial scale. I doubt you can read Russian or Ukranian telegrams, you’ll have to take my word for it. Both languages are not hard to learn from English. We have no 4 star generals currently serving who have fought a war of national survival, or a war against a peer industrial and motivated enemy, or in the vaguest terms competent to do so. We have a collection of butt kissers who have lost every expeditionary adventure we have engaged in since defeating Japan. Not to mention these officers coordinate with, and move onto cushy corporate boards with our MIC producing inferior weapon systems and unable to scale up for attrition warfare. Which general officer resigned over the debacle in Afghanistan? None. They cashiered one junior officer who spoke up. That is not leadership and not the military we can rely on. Russians, albeit under Soviet rule, united and despite suffering 30 million + military and civilian casualties defeated the Wermacht. Go to Volgograd and Mameav Kurgan for a sense of the sacrifice made. Patton was on a short leash due to being unstable. Very loveable, and an asset to keep up morale for young men staying motivated to risking their lives while brothers in arms are being killed around them. He said the goal is for the other poor, dumb bastard to die for his country. We should take his advice and end the slaughter of Ukranian men. This will end like Paraguay in the Tripatrite War with a multi generational imbalance of men to women.
2nd: Who said white people educated me? You would deride me as I don’t have a formal education. I can read and ask questions is all. You might try reading unapproved books, reality starts to make sense. Yes, the American, and specifically Alaska public education, and UAA are demonstrateably garbage. And it effects Natives more than whites.
3: The mannequin named Biden came right out and said the US would destroy Nordstream. Germany could have broken their contract and simply had the Russians shut down the supply. Blowing it up in shallow Danish waters, deep in NATO territory is sufficient proof Bidens puppeteers ordered it done. Germany and the UK are utterly subservient to Washington.
4: There are no fake Israelites, try read the King James translated Bible, not the modern counterfeits.
There was no Palestinian Kingdom, there was not even an Ottoman province called Palestine. Before the centuries of Ottoman occupation there were no Arabs in the region. There were Arab clans, subjects to (and heavily abused by) the Ottomans at the historically recent time of the British occupation for a short period after they conquered the province the Turks called Jerusalem. Hamas is a terror group that is supported by the UN. The made up Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was created for the Arab clans we call Palestinians. They don’t want them due to their destabilizing influence. Israel is losing the war of perception and nagging questions as to how they were seemingly caught off guard remain. Assuming Netanyahu is tied to our Neo Cons Israel is toast. He is likely being used to start a Neo Con dream war with Iran.
5: As far as calling my family’s culture backward I would reference we survived 12,000 years on a rock in the Bering Sea. America is only 250 years old and failing rapidly, due to entitled imbeciles who threw away the amazing wealth of God’s Grace, education and wealth inherited. Grandma’s people could have been exterminated by the Yankees, but the whalers needed provisions and advice on how to stay alive in the Arctic. Whalers were also decent people who didn’t think like you in terms of killing off an entire culture. I do remind my numerous children and grandchildren we are off the reservation Natives and to live accordingly, as free people.
6: Russia did not exterminate the Native peoples in its’ eastward expansion. The Cossacks and exiled criminals who exploited the Aleuts were not Tsar sanctioned. It was basic human greedy nature in a wild west, get rich quick on sea otter hides. Russia comprises 200+ ethnicities, respects cultures and religions and does not have a Muslim terror issue despite the numerous Muslim citizens. The Chechen special forces are a loyal and elite unit in their military, efficiently killing the Banderite Nazis we support and NATO mercenaries.
7: it appears you suffer from a toxic hatred of Jews, which is a very common trait amongst radicalized and ignorant people through the millenia. Instead of questioning who is ruling and exploiting our society now, you vent on a mythical scapegoat. Proves my point that modern American university educated society has degressed to a Dark Ages mindset.
To Brian: Impressive response, Brian.
For your point 6, it is also important to stress that many historic materials and textbooks published prior to 1990s describe the Russian period of Alaska’s history as a bloody and ruthless colonization of northern territories. Russia’s eastward expansion into Siberia, the Far East, and Alaska was motivated by exploration of new hunting territories. Sometimes Russian explorers were ruthless toward an aboriginal population, but overall this movement was much more humane than the colonization of Australia or the colonization of North American territories in the Continental United States. At least the aboriginal population in Siberia and Alaska had not been placed on reservation or dislocated from their homeland as they were in the Continental United States.
On the other pint, no logic or factual historic truth will rationalize an idiot, just like in the Lawrence’s story.
Item 1… Unrelated to topic and I have no interest in anything Russian including the Ukraine.
Item 2… You had no schooling at all(?) yet are articulate, use proper spelling , structure and punctuation, and an xlnt vocabulary? Where did that come from?
Item 3… If I told you yesterday that I could be an astronaut tomorrow that doesn’t mean I now am. Little that comes out of Mr. Biden’s head is accurate; he’s a doddering old fool focussed on electric cars, transvestites and the French joke inscribed near the base of the Statue of Liberty indicating that our country should be the repository for other country’s effluent. He likely had little to do w/ Nord Stream aside from threats and bluster. Do you not think he would have laid claim to having carried out his threat had it actually been him?
Item 4… King Jame’s is a version and not a direct translation. On a related note, the bible is complete malarkey; all versions and all translations. Ever wonder why we know exactly where Alexander the Great went to school, whom his teachers were and how he died yet all he was was a war lord. Conversely, 300 years later a man that could raise dead people, magically produce endless meals, turn water into alcohol, heal blind people and oh yeah, was God’s sone appeared from nowhere. That book is the most read and least analyzed of any book ever. Throw it out. It is poisoning your mind with craptastic stories. Stan Lee could have written it better.
Item 5…Survival is a good trait that should never be contrasted against other civilizations that say, built the Taj Mahal, a Great Pyramid, sailed the seven seas or discovered the world. No offense, but bugs survived on that same rock.
Item 6… I understand you are a fan of and apologist on behalf of Russia. I am not and see history for what it is.
Item 7… Incorrect. I never said I hated Jews but you’ve clearly already established a propensity to draw conclusions absent evidence. Reread my comments if you care to but they aren’t based in a hatred of Jews or any other group. The opposite is true in that one must express preference in order to hate and my comments confirm that they’ve been a problematic culture and still are. Why does anyone think that will change and what has Israel done w/ the money they’ve sucked from the US economy?
My prior comments relate directly to Dolitsky’s hidden agenda and you are straying from the topic badly. Back on track please.
I wonder what you consider formal education as your ability to communicate in the manner that you do would have been taught rather than learned.
Brian, recheck your history. Contending “Russians, albeit under Soviet rule, united and despite suffering 30 million + military and civilian casualties defeated the Wermacht” is complete nonsense. Most often, wars are a struggle of attrition wherein the adversary with the strongest economy wins. The Soviets had the weakest economy among all the participants in WWII….
because they foolishly believe(d) communist socialism is a viable economic system. Without the assistance of the USA (Lend-Lease) they would have been creamed (they only repaid the USA pennies on the dollar). The USA would have beaten Germany without Russia but not vice-versa.
Sadly, you forget Pearl Harbor. That, and the fact that the Japanese were developing their own nukes for the Panama canal and San Francisco.
The “Clam” demonstrates a toxic prejudice against Jews, Natives and a fixation on the again failing state of Germany. My responses were limited to the scope of his comments. Japan could have been forced to surrender while avoiding the loss of hundreds of thousands of American lives by simply starving millions on the home islands by maintaining the completed maritime blockade, not withstanding powerful and intact Japanese forces in Manchuria and mainland China. It is likely that we opted to nuke Japan to send a stark warning to Stalin to end the Soviet juggernaut forces moving west beyond Berlin as much as avoiding unnecessary casualties. Japan would have been challenged, highly unlikely to be able to deliver a nuke on San Fransico if they were successful in creating one. Which raises the question on the wisdom of the NATO Baltic Sea exercises with a simulated nuke attack on Kaliningrad with an antiquated B52 bomber at this time of heightened tensions. Along with American targeting and drone striking using Ukrainian proxy territory of 2 integral to early nuke Russian radar sites. Is our nuclear arsenal in as poor shape as the F-35 paper weights? Are we prepared to absorb possible annihilation because Black Rock is losing its’ investments and our politicians their money laundromat in project Ukraine? We are much closer to nuclear war than during the Cuban missile crisis, but our leadership is seriously degraded since then. Japan may be well become the nuclear strike lotto winner of first country hit twice.
You draw conclusions about things you cannot know and you’re incorrect a lot. You also have an extremely difficult time staying on topic. You should introduce cats into this story. Or maybe cheese. It would be as appropriate as Dolitsky twisting a child’s fable into a lesson on how to hate other cultures or how to characterize ethnic cleansing as wholesome. He’s a cheerleader for Israel’s impunity and you have swallowed the hook.
Interesting story; interesting analogy and parallelism with our current cultural debates. It appears your point is that, in our culture today, we are arguing with idiots… an impossible task. You never indicated whether your group of researchers were able to eventually prove your theories to your disagreeable professor. Surely you will agree our current debates with Marxists, leftists and hedonists are more serious inasmuch as they pertain to the decline of our culture. That is, our lives are being negatively impacted by the nonsense said miscreants promote… much more so than the improper identification of the remote barabaras. As usual, your essay is yet another intellectual feast…. a point of clarifying light.
To Wayne: I had a long correspondence with Rick and Kevin yesterday, after they read my article. We recalled the old days. They had a very difficult working relationship with Richard Jordan in the 1984 field season and beyond. Today, however, both are distinguished scholars. Rick is still excavating in Western Alaska and Kevin does archaeology in Greenland and Island. As you know, I did field work around the world and today I am happily retired in Juneau.
My article and Lawrence’s tale are appropriate to the current state of “political discourse” in the US, if not the whole western world.
Suzanne just added two photos that I took in Karluk in 1983. Very nice photos. I found them after I submitted the article. Open the article again.
Wayne, Dolitsky’s story holds much truth, inasmuch as the Bear, a powerful animal could learn from the Owl to smile at the ignorance of the Squirrel and to move on, ( perhaps to dig out the squirrels den and eat it?)
The problem not addressed in this parable is what happens when the deranged and Evil come to power? When the grass is blue, can’t define a woman, penis and breast removing mutilation oriented group assumes control and pushes its agenda upon the sane and civil society?
How shall we then live? When the unnatural becomes the new normal, what are you and I going to do to save our civilization?
Robert, per our discussion, I believe it is true that you and Prof Dolitsky must agree, unlike the squirrel, today’s leftist/Marxist idealogues should not be ignored. On the contrary, they must be vociferously opposed. My point is, the owl is the equivalent of current pseudo-conservatives that want to unplug and hide their head in the sand, as our republic is dismantled. When our house is burning down, we must rush for water to put the fire out.
News today out of Israel that four hostages were freed from Hamas. Apparently 210 terrorists or terrorist sympathizers were killed during this operation and we are supposed to feel bad about this. One terrorist or terrorist sympathizer called those killed in this operation martyrs. The news source quoted Hamas as saying that the rescue of these hostages, after 10 months in captivity, as a “heinous crime” and said the Israeli military “committed a horrific massacre against innocent civilians.” This was said without acknowledging the complete absurdity of the statement. Of course had Hamas simply not taken these people hostage or if they had released those they hold in captivity there would have been no need to launch a rescue operation. Hamas and those who support their world view see the green grass as blue.
To Steve: Exactly!
Steve-O, that might help explain the Blue, Green and Magenta colored hair sported by many sympathetic to Hamas.
Wasn’t it Moose and squirrel??
Different story. lol. – sd
To Chuck: The Bear and the Ground Squirrel were the main characters in Lawrence’s story. I clearly remember it. I am a collector of folk tales. There is the Siberian Yupik tale “The Moose and the Bullock.” You can find this story in my book “Tales and Legends of the Yupik Eskimos of Siberia.” This title is available online or in the Anchorage libraries and bookstores.
To mr. Dolitsky, I was attempting to be humorous, citing th Bullwinkle cartoon.
Chuck , ” Moose and Squirrel must die” Boris Badinov.
We’re you a member of the Bullwinkle fan club? My dear departed friend was, one of the secrets revealed to members was the actual middle names of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle T. Moose. J, was ” Jet” and T, well T was The!😁
And so it came to pass that Ground Squirrel found a warm, inviting home in the halls of government, became fruitful and multiplied, filled the country, and subdued it with their visions of Blue and all that shall be Blue henceforth.
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Bear and Owl had to decide: watch in disbelief as Ground Squirrel’s descendants, once dismissed as brainwashed, irrationally stubborn, and narrow-mindedly stupid, overcome Bear’s strength and Owl’s wisdom, and turn everything Blue, or combine wisdom and strength to take their country back and turn Ground Squirrel Blue into a historical footnote.
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Story’s not over. Denouement’s coming November 5… will strength, wisdom, and righteousness carry the day? will red, white, and blue be swallowed by Blue?
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Stay tuned.
Mr. Dolitsky, might you be referring to one Lawrence Panamaroff and not to Lawrence Ponamoryoff. Lawrence Panamaroff is one of the Alutiiq persons that Richard A. Knecht mentioned along with you in his Bryn Mawr doctoral dissertation titled “The Late Prehistory of the Alutiiq People.”
Yes, you are correct. I did not remember exact spelling of Lawrence’s last name. Perhaps Suzanne can correct it.
Ah, yes, of course, Mr. Dolitsky–an insignificant slip!
The comment about the salmon berries is exactly right. A single berry can infuse immediate energy to those attenuated with them. The salmon berries helps restore resilience for winters.
To A. Galeutian: Yes, you are correct. I think Lawrence was trying to convey to me in his saying, “I am invigorating here when the salmonberries begin to ripen, and the red salmon are just about to swim up the river to spawn,” is that the traditional Native interpretation of seasonality differs from Western interpretation (i.e., summer, autumn, winter, spring). For example, when one physical phenomenon occurs (salmonberries ripen) it coincides with another physical phenomenon (red salmon is running)—i.e., summer season. Rick and Kevin could understand this relationship, but many Western anthropologists are unable to get to this level of understanding of Native cultures.
Alexander
You seem to prefer and create an echo chamber.
Not much real learning occurring in your comments.
I commented on an obscure detail. I also follow the more divergent positions of Russian or local Barbara since my family occupied one until 1947 and the occupants were both of Russian, Aleutian and Scandinavian/ British descent which is somewhat intriguing. The deep learning I’m sharing is that for relative newcomers the sooner they learn to value the seasonal berry crops the sooner their health and vigorous matches the variable vigors of local energy. imit that option at one’s own peril. a mere local, affirmative word to the wise.