What will you tell your grandchildren?

To the editor:

The history I was taught in the Palmer schools in the 1950s and 1960s was mainly a pack of boring lies. There was nothing in those books about the devastation brought to my tribe by coal mining 100 years ago in Chickaloon. It’s a wonder some of us survived the diseases, pollution and alcoholism that came with the mine.

However, here we are 100 years later working hard to bring back our culture and traditions. One of the main ways we do this is through Alaska’s first Tribal School — the Harvard University High Honors Award Winning Ya Ne Dah Ah School. This school is open to anyone who wishes to attend, not just our tribe. You would think public officials would be proud of our accomplishments and try to help us.

But no.

They would prefer to destroy our way of life by allowing Usibelli Coal Mine Inc. to pollute our areas once again.

One of my favorite quotes from an indigenous person of long ago goes something like this: “Smart people don’t poop in their nest.” That translates to, “You don’t dirty the place where you eat.”

My question is, what did your ancestors teach you and what will you tell your grandchildren?

Patricia Wade

Palmer