Elders in the Yup’ik Eskimo village of Akiachak pay attention to politics but Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), the Republican vice presidential nominee, is not on the tip of their tongues.

Rather, it's Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), the first woman and first Alaska to serve as vice chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. She recently held a field hearing to address the rising costs of life in Native villages and rural parts of the state.

Murkowski urged village residents to stay in their ancestral homes. "I urge you not to give up your way of life, your culture and your connection to the land and move into urban areas. We will find a creative way to beat this," she said, The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported.

In Akiachak, home to 700 people, gas here costs $6.59 a gallon and heating oil costs $7.06 a gallon. Daniel George, the chairman of the tribal council, said families are leaving for Anchorage.

Get the Story:
Remote and Struggling, but Still a Bit of America (The New York Times 10/6)
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Senate hearing in Bethel tells bleak story (The Alaska Journal of Commerce 10/5)

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