Alaskan Bush People

I am a 4th generation Alaskan out of the Southeast, that grew up in a remote logging camp. I've logged, commercial fished, and worked jobs all over the state. I have even actually seen the Brown Family in local communities. First off, this show is completely staged. I get that many Americans respect and admire their way of living but this is completely fake. Do people in Alaska live successfully in the bush?... Yes, I grew up doing it. Currently, the Brown family is all over local Alaskan news because they are wanted for Perma Fund Fraud (Collecting State Resident Benefits) when in fact they are not officially state residents. Yet, court dates have been pushed back due to the power of the Discovery Channel and the media. Last I heard they are set for court in July on Felony charges. I know the Browns were living in a cabin in Craig during part of season 1 according to the local community/family friends out there and filming episodes in the bush temporarily. I know the also resided in Myers Chuck before being kicked out. This leads to where they now. Among the Alaskan community they have little respect. After all the they tried to barter fish with my local dentist who claimed the show was fake. To state it simply for those Alaskans out there... who sets crab pots in Alaska without knowing the proper depths and sinks their own pots?? And then goes out at dusk to pull them... later to be rescued. Seems idiotic, clueless, and staged. This is a money hole show that is allowing this family to thrive.

It's hard to enjoy the sensible, good things the Browns accomplish because they are constantly doing so much more destructive, stupid, ignorant stuff that people just don't normally do while living/surviving in the wild with the bare necessities. For me, all the ignorance overrides the good stuff. I can't begin to express the letdown, so I usually just shake my head & change the channel to get my head back together. This makes their show just a big joke most of the time. The show raises the question of how much is real & how much is played up due to all the misfortune that occurs, especially since they are supposed to be living in an environment that is so harsh & has so many obstacles on a constant basis. This repetitive break & fix lifestyle just doesn't fit any way of life & especially the Alaskan way of life. If it does, then these people need to find another way more suitable for their mentality. I watch all the other Alaskan shows & this show looks like a "Three Stooges" version as compared to others! Maybe that's what they strive for, who knows! I am an older person that grew up on a farm doing farm work by hand & with horses so I am quite familiar with basic means of survival & I am quite proud of it. Success was based on doing things correctly the first time for numerous reasons & we did not constantly fix stupid/drastic mistakes or take so lightly of them if something did go wrong. Granted, this was West Virginia & not in Alaska, but it was still rugged & offered a lot of lessons to be learned about life. I've probably seen every episode of the Browns so I'm not just basing my statements on lack of info. Enough said I guess. I felt as if I had to vent.

The first two episodes were somewhat believable, but when daddy Brown was so ill and recuperated within hours, to find that the town's people he had just met came and completely built the cabin they filmed (for five grand, ha)...well it was just too much.

That's when I decided to do a search and found their official website. To say the least I was a bit surprised to find out they own their own publishing company, and that Billy Brown has written dozens of children's books and several others on his adventures (and to think I was suckered into feeling bad that his kid had a toothache).

This last episode that closes with them grieving over their capsized boat, while several of the boys are trying to poke inside of it with sticks to salvage anything they can find, including a poor, sopping wet pink teddy bear takes the cake. As they close the episode the patriarch of the family announces "we have lost everything we own" and "now we are homeless". It made me question why anyone would chose to live like they do.

Now I know why. THEY DON'T. They have a mountain home with a greenhouse, and each of the seven kids has their own bedroom, the mother is getting ready to publish her cookbook.

And they bartered some salmon for a tooth filling? They lost everything they own? The brand new generator that was sitting in the junk yard pretty much gave it away.

Like I said, I feel like a sap.

I am very interested in this way of life, not to live it but I find it interesting. I am very disappointed that they are not being honest with us. They pretend that they do not have or need technology but they've had a website for years as well as a Youtube channel. They have a boat & I don't believe they lived in a 1 room cabin, It might have been their hunting cabin but if you read the descriptions on their website they say things like "Birds bedroom is a typical teen girls room" & that Rain has lots of Barbies etc. How can she have a typical girls room in a cabin? I also find their accents to be forces as only some of the kids have them. If they were so isolated wouldn't they speak more like their parents? 2 of them Bear (real name Soloman) & Gabriel have a very put on accent like they are copying a movie. I don't doubt that they hunt their own food & live off the land but they do have a home & technology. The father has published books etc. The intro to the show makes it sound like they found this family living this way. Very deceptive.

Alaskan Bush People is another of Discovery Channel's totally fake shows. Discovery has realized that the money is NOT in the actual "reality" of these "reality" shows, but in the show itself. As ExecProducer of GoldRush, the fakest phoniest show that started it all for Discovery, "Christo"pher Doyle said, "The gold is in the SHOW."

What Discovery has done with Alaskan Bush People is throw every fantasy about living "free" and building your own little society away from rules and has added in the "family" element. It's very clear that, despite the opening description from Discovery, these people were not just suddenly discovered after living secluded in the AK bush for over 30 years. BillyBrown and his wife Ami and a few of their kids are being sued by the State of AK for fraud.

The reality is that one of the "boys," Matt, has or had a girlfriend who had two children... and they broke up because he was necessary to the "family" show.

There is a great explanation and back up research of it all by MsSH at StoopidHouseswives. The court documents are included as are photos of the fake girlfriends. One is a Hoonah Police woman.

Discovery should be called the TotallyFAKE"Reality"Show Channel for bringing us GoldRush and it's "star" ToddHoffman; Amish Mafia; and now Alaskan Bush People! You should watch this show for its comedy element... as nothing about it is real, but it's great fun to watch!