Book Recomendation: Fifty Miles from Tomorrow

One of the great loves my of my law school career has been learning about legal progress made towards providing rights (land and otherwise) to the Indian and Alaska Native communities. Clearly, my knowledge and understanding of the challenges facing these communities is extremely limited and i have appreciated the opportunities to learn.  One arena in which i would like to work professionally is in Alaska Native Law and a substantial part of that is dominated by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA) which officially awarded (ed: it was already theirs thanks for codifying) 44 million acres of land to the Alaska Natives. Rather than having reservations as in the lower 48, the tribal groups or group conglomerates created corporations which control the lands/profits/etc.

This book:

Is pretty incredible. It is written by a brilliant man who was at the center of the push to establish land claims. Hensley served in state government and has been an incredible lobbyist and influence among government and his people--to secure their rightsand also to secure their culture under the rapidly increasing pressures of white influence/decimation of the native way of life. It is both a beautiful glimpse of life in rural Alyeska and a profound commentary on the journey of a man and a people.

You cannot go wrong reading this.