{"id":8715782,"date":"2023-01-13T10:32:21","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T18:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8715782&preview=true&preview_id=8715782"},"modified":"2023-01-13T10:47:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T18:47:02","slug":"fema-fires-group-for-nonsensical-alaska-native-translations-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/13\/fema-fires-group-for-nonsensical-alaska-native-translations-2\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Your husband is a polar bear\u2019: FEMA fires Berkeley group for nonsensical Alaska Native translations"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MARK THIESSEN | The Associated Press<\/strong><\/p>\n

ANCHORAGE, Alaska\u00a0 \u2014 After tidal surges and high winds from the remnants of a rare typhoon caused extensive damage to homes along Alaska\u2019s western coast in September, the U.S. government stepped in to help residents \u2014 largely Alaska Natives \u2014 repair property damage.<\/p>\n

Residents who opened Federal Emergency Management Agency paperwork expecting to find instructions on how to file for aid in Alaska Native languages like Yup\u2019ik or Inupiaq instead were reading bizarre phrases.<\/p>\n

\u201cTomorrow he will go hunting very early, and will (bring) nothing,\u201d read one passage. The translator randomly added the word \u201cAlaska\u201d in the middle of the sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour husband is a polar bear, skinny,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n

Yet another was written entirely in Inuktitut, an Indigenous language spoken in northern Canada, far from Alaska.<\/p>\n

FEMA fired the California company hired to translate the documents once the errors became known, but the incident was an ugly reminder for Alaska Natives of the suppression of their culture and languages from decades past.<\/p>\n