The Sun’aq people of Kodiak Island, Alaska are trying to get some of their land back from the US Coast Guard. They are focusing on the unused portion of the 23,000 acres controlled by the Guard on Kodiak. The first step will involve reaching an agreement with the Coast Guard to enter negotiations.
Could this story hold lessons for Southern nationalists? Could we, especially if recognised by local and State governments as a distinct ethnic and cultural group (a step we should have already taken), begin to negotiate with the Federal Government to regain some of the millions of acres of unused Federal land in Dixie – land that could then be set aside for the use of the Southern people? Merely proposing the idea and beginning the process would surely gain us a great deal of media attention and help to further our cause by encouraging Southerners to think of themselves as a national people, like the Sun’aq people and other distinct groups across North America. This would be an alternative strategy to the attempts over the last few decades by States to take Federal land through eminent domain; it would entail negotiating with the Feds as a national body, not as a government agency.
The Associated Press covers the story of the Sun’aq people’s efforts in Alaska:
A tribe on Kodiak Island has unveiled a plan to take over surplus Coast Guard land in a move that tribal members say would allow for economic opportunities and a return to traditional food gathering.
The Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak unveiled its long-term plan this week. Board member Iver Malutin told The Kodiak Daily Mirror that the proposed land transfer would be a way to restore things to the way they were before the 1940s and the arrival of the military on Kodiak Island.
…The plan starts with obtaining an agreement with the Coast Guard that allows negotiations to begin. The two groups could then decide which parts of the 23,000-acre Coast Guard complex are surplus and could be transferred to the tribe.
In case you are wondering, the Feds own most of the Western States, including 69% of Alaska and 84% of Nevada. They own far less, generally speaking, of the States east of the Mississippi. The amount of Federal land in Southern States is still substantial though and completely unjustified, even by their rationale. A strong case could be made for the return of any land in our States that is unused. This would be positive step, even if in the end it did not succeed, towards reclaiming our land, our national identity as a people and ultimately our right of self-determination.
Hi Michael… thought you might be interested to know that Citizens of Oregon are trying to do the very same thing. Here’s the website: http://www.giveusourlandback.org/
I’m glad to see that, SAH. The more such movements, the better.