Newspaper Page Text
Griffin Daily News
Alaskans work
for right to work
By ERNIE HOOD
JUNEAU —(NEA) —Tom
Ambrose is an Athapascan
Indian. He lives with his
wife, Linda, and their two
children in a one-room wood
house in the wilderness of
west-central Alaska, 200
miles east of Nome.
His neighbors are few and
far apart Besides his family
there are only about 200
people in his little village of
Kaltag and the nearest other
village is 50 miles away
Linda and the children go
to bed early, but Tom often
sits alone at the table and
cleans and oils his 30-30 rifle
by lamplight for want of any
thing else to do. The still
ness of the Arctic night often
is broken by the howls of
nearby wolves, and the sled
dogs of Tom’s neighbors
howl their answer
During the day, Tom
hunts, fishes and checks his
trapline He stalks caribou,
moose and bear with varying
success, and probes for
whitefish through holes in
the ice of the Yukon River.
By modern standards, Tom
Ambrose leads an isolated,
almost primitive life. Despite
this isolation, however, his
is one of about 8,500 names
in the new, computerized
Applicant Characteristic
Bank in the Alaska State
Department of Labor’s Em
ployment Security Division
at Juneau.
The applicant bank may
help Ambrose and thousands
like him achieve a better
way of life.
All of the 8,500 people
listed in the bank are Eski
mos, Aleuts and Indians who
make their homes in some
175 tiny villages scattered
across the nation's largest
state. Many more names
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will be added as members
of a division mobile survey
team extend their efforts to
additional villages.
Work on the applicant
bank began in the summer
of 1969 The project is being
fun ded by the Manpower
Administration through its
Smaller Communities Pro
gram. designed to improve
employment opportunities in
rural areas and small towns.
Each of the natives al
ready in the Alaska bank
has been interviewed per
son all y. The information
gathered in the interviews
in the remote villages is
stored on computerized
cards.
Ambrose's card, for exam
ple, shows that he aspires to
be a government construc
tion worker, but has had
little experience. It also
shows that he has only a
sixth-grade education, but
possesses considerable po
tential in the type of work
he seeks. It indicates his
willingness to move else
where for either training or
employment.
Most of the other cards in
the bank reflect characteris
tics and existence much like
Ambrose’s. Alaska’s native
population constitutes a po
tential work force of con
siderable size and diversity.
The natives can be trained
individually for jobs devel
oped through the state em
ployment service with vari
ous private employers or in
big classes for mass place
ment in major industrial en
deavors or in large public
projects like the proposed
Alaska oil pipeline, which
should provide at least 7,000
jobs.
It would be difficult to ex
aggerate the need for job
opportunities and manpower
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JOB TRAINING BEGINS with the basics for undereducated, underskilled Alaskan
natives—with school.
services among Alaska’s na
tives.
Not only are they under
educated for competition in
the modern world, they
often live in isolated, inac
cessible areas where train
ing is at best limited and
economic growth nonexist
ent. Their villages differ in
many ways—size, climate,
landscape and cultural heri
tages and patterns of life.
But most of them are alike
Ronee Blakely bares
her soul in first album
By JUDY HUGG
Copley News Service
Producer, Mark Abramson,
has found another excellent fe
male recording artist to add to
Elektra Records growing list of
top vocalists. The newcomer,
who will join the ranks with
Judy Collins and Carly Simon is
Ronee Blakley.
Ronee has an album out now
that she can be proud of, simply
titled "Ronee Blakley.” It’s
nice, which isn’t surprising
since she has spent a lifetime in
the field of music.
Coming from what she calls a
"conservative, churchy fami
ly,” Ronee started, at an early
age, by singing hymns. She
then moved to musicals, to
“How Much Is That Doggie In
The Window,” and finally fell
in love with rock and folk music
while in high school.
After high school, Ronee took
to the road attending Stanford
and Juilliard. After a short
stint working as an actress and
with electronic music, she
joined a rock group in Los An
geles. However, the group
wasn’t what Miss Blakley had
expected and it soon fell apart.
Not one to give up, Ronee
continued with her playing and
writing, the end results which
have been captured on her al
bum. The LP has a couple of
dull spots but they detract little
from a basically charming set.
The album was composed en
tirely by Ronee who says the
music expresses "me without
my armor, the way I feel.”
Some of the best cuts, all taken
from personal experiences, in
clude "Dues," "Down To The
River," a Jesus song with good
rhythm in the background;
Bluebird" a catchy tune with
Linda Ronstadt on background
vocals and "Attachment" a
in that the inhabitants must
rely upon nature and not
upon income from jobs as a
basis for their existence.
No longer content with
their subsistence existence,
native families like the Am
broses find life becoming in
creasingly complex and
frustrating.
Ambrose says all the talk
about oil in Alaska has even
gotten Linda thinking about
such things as hot water and
song about the cause of all sor
row which has its source in a
Zen quotation.
Ronee sings, writes and plays
a Carol King-ish piano with
equal talent. She rates a "well
done" on this, her debut album.
The Georgia boy, Jerry
Reed, has hit it big. He wears
several hats, songwriter, sing
er and is one of the best guitar
ists ever!
His album, "’Rie Best of Jer
ry Reed,” (RCA-Victor), is just
that — the best of Jerry Reed.
He has written more than 200
published songs. This album in
cludes his tunes “Guitar Man,”
Grammy-winning “When
You’re Hot, You’re Hot” and
his hit single “Amos Moses.”
You can smell the Georgia
pines when he plays and sings
“Georgia On My Mind.”
Yes, indeed, this is “The Best
of Jerry Reed.”
+ + +
Antoine “Fats” Domino was
born May 10, 1929, in New Or
leans. He was playing and sing
ing for pennies in the local hon
ky-tonks by the age of ten.
While in his teens, Dave Bar
tholomew offered him a chance
with his band at a roadhouse,
and Fats jumped at the chance.
It was the combination of
Bartholomew’s arrangements
and Fats’ piano playing that
formed the unique sound that
made Fats Domino a star of the
Fabulous Fifties. He sold 65
million records and garnered
22 gold records.
United Artists has released
an album titled simply “Fats
Domino.” It’s a 2-record set in
cluding a complete biography
of Fats written by Greg Shaw
and Mike Ochs. They cover the
life and times of Fats Domino
with respect and love.
an oil heater. The Ambrose
home is heated by a wood
stove and water for cooking
and bathing is melted from
ice and brought to a boil in
pans and kettles. Tom, who
doesn’t even have a dog
team, would like a snowmo
bile and his wife talks long
ingly of a washing machine
like those she has heard peo
plave have in Nome.
(NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN.)
His hits, from his first record
to his last, are in this album.
The rock n’ roll classic "Ain’t
It A Shame" first attracted the
white audience to Fats in 1955.
There followed “I’m In Love
Again," and "Blueberry Hill.”
These songs, plus 25 others, are
yours to enjoy on this superb
testament to the amazing ca
reer of Fats Domino.
Pamela Polland has re
corded an album of the same
name for Columbia which in
cludes all her own songs. Un
fortunately the LP is lyrically
amateurish. The weak lyrical
content does not give Pamela’s
promising, off-beat vocal talent
a fair chance. Pamela is at her
throaty best in “Sing-A-Song
Man,” “The Rescuer,” “Sugar
Dad” and “In My Imagina
tion” all of which should get a
fair amount of FM airing.
PLATTER PARADE
ALBUMS
1. EXILE ON MAIN ST.,
Rolling Stones (Atlantic)
2. THICK AS A BRICK,
Jethro Tull (Reprise)
3. FIRST TAKE, Roberta
Flack (Atlantic)
4. GRAHAM NASH-DAVID
CROSBY, Nash & Crosby (At
lantic )
5. JANIS JOPLIN IN CON
CERT, (Columbia)
HITBOUND SINGLES
1. TAKE IT EASY, Eagles-
Asvlum < Atlantic)
2. IF LOVING YOU IS
WRONG, Luther Ingram (Ko
ko )
3. TOO YOUNG, Donny Os
mond (MGM)
4. HOW DO YOU DO, Mouth
& Mac Neal ( Philips i
5. ALL THE KING’S
HORSES. Aretha Franklin (at
lantic)