the Native & her hometown https://twitter.com/jacquiiwithacue/status/1249785083445129220

Aerial photo provided by Aleutians East Borough for @adndotcom.

For those curious: My hometown is located at the edge of the Alaskan Peninsula. It is home to ~900 people year-round and nearly 2,000 during summer. It is also home to one of the largest fishing canneries in Alaska.

For decades, residents of King Cove have been rallying the government‘s approval to build a road to the nearest all-weather airport located in Cold Bay, an airport that was constructed and used as a military air base in WWII. Debris from that era still remains on the land.

Instead of driving to Cold Bay, residents of King Cove are likely to wait days for a medevac due to weather, including my Grandmother who broke her hip in 2016. The road is already 99% built, despite being a controversial topic in the public eye for years: https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2017/07/17/can-the-isolated-alaska-peninsula-town-of-king-cove-get-its-road-under-the-trump-administration

40 years later, the final steps of the road have been blocked again. Why? A portion of the proposal runs through the Izembek Wildlife Refuge, which was designated in 1980 (without tribal consultation). The same land my family has been hunting for centuries, and will continue to.

I have witnessed many negative comments over the years, the issue was even published/tweeted by CNN.

The thing is, most will never know what living in a rural community is truly like. I wish I had the luxury of going to Whole Foods, but instead I grew up on fresh fish! https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/939969491290685440