Hugo Chavez provides for Alaska natives when their own government will not.

The Venezuelan government reversed course Wednesday, backing off its statement two days earlier and announcing that its U.S. oil subsidiary would continue to provide free home heating oil.

Alaskans in the Bush immediately cheered the change in plans and said they need the 100 gallons of free heating oil this winter more than ever. In Ambler, Don Williams said the temperature hasn't gotten above minus 40 in two weeks.

Many families, like his, use wood stoves as well as heating oil, but others don't have a wood stove and everyone can use help, given the high cost of fuel, which was running close to $10 a gallon before the village ran out. More supplies are expected soon from Fairbanks, Williams said.

Many families in the Kotzebue region took advantage of the program the last two winters and they welcome its continuance this year, said Jackie Hill, administrator for tribal government services at Maniilaq Association, the regional health and social services agency.

In Alaska, it's available to anyone in a community that is more than 70 percent Alaska Native, according to the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, which manages the program here.
Some people donate their heating fuel vouchers to elders or churches, but very few pass it up entirely, said Hill, who coordinates the program for Kotzebue and 10 surrounding villages, including frigid Ambler.

Look I know that this is nothing more then a public relations ploy by Hugo Chavez. I get that.

But the facts are that our government is allowing him to look like a hero, because we look like villains. After all it is our government that has allowed the price of fuel to rise out of the reach of these rural Alaskans.

Sure Sarah Palin gave all Alaskans $1,200 not too long ago, but that was an even more transparent publicity stunt then Chavez's. And since she has been back from her whirlwind adventure she is much too concerned with her future in national politics to do anything concrete about the problems here at home.

Alaska natives are being forced out of their communities by the high cost of fuel, the lack of adequate education, and the difficulty to find well paying jobs.

Native Alaskans are some of the toughest people on this planet. They have lived for many thousands of years in an environment that can kill a full grown man in a matter of minutes.

When the Europeans took over Alaska they started changing the world that the native population occupied. Gone are the dogsleds, replaced now by snowmachines. Gone are the seal oil lamps, replaced with oil purchased from the oil companies. Gone are many of the skills passed down from generation to generation, replaced instead by a reliance on processed foods, electronic entertainment, and the "American dream".

We owe more to that natives of Alaska for past injustices then we could ever hope to repay. Turning our backs on them now when their situation is so dire is indefensible and inhumane.

At the very least we should demand that the oil companies subsidize the energy needs of the rural native population 100%. And if they refuse then perhaps our own government should step up and provide that service themselves.

These people gave up their land, their lifestyle, and their culture, to allow these companies to get filthy rich. They should never have to sit in the dark, shivering from the cold while there is even one oil company paying its workers $40 an hour to drain oil from the land that was once considered sacred by the native community.

How Alaska treats its indigenous population tells the world much about who we are as human beings.