Reality Not So Real? All The Accusations That 'Alaskan Bush People' Are Fake

They’re Not From Alaska

For a show with Alaska in its title, it is peculiar that the Brown clan is said to be not actually from the titular locale. One would think that the family could trace their Alaskan lineage back generations, but that appears not the case. Billy is actually from Texas, where he was born into quite a bit of money. Ami and Billy moved to Alaska in the '80s and have lived there pretty much since. Billy wrote an autobiography about his Alaskan experience (One Wave at a Time) and sought to make it into a documentary, which ultimately became Alaskan Bush People.

As it turns out, the state of Alaska was pursuing fraud charges against both him and his family for claiming to be Alaskan—and thus profiting from Alaskan oil checks that Alaskan residents receive. This likely encouraged his backpedaling on that burned cabin tale. This fake story has not helped to counter the narrative that the Alaskan Bush People are fake.

Not So Remote Living

On Alaskan Bush People, it appears as if the Brown clan lives miles and miles away from civilization, and they survive off the land and through their hard work and innate knowledge of living in the wild. Many story lines throughout the Browns' time on television have raised questions as to how far they really are from civilization. When the Brown’s eldest son, Matt, was arrested for fleeing the scene of an accident and a DUI he was in Juneau—the capital of Alaska, not exactly remote.

In 2014, it was reported that the Browns left their home fearing for their lives when they heard gunshots on their property. Later, it was reported that those loud bangs were merely fireworks coming from their neighbor’s house. On the show it appears as if the Browns don’t have neighbors for miles.  If they’re hearing fireworks, how close is that neighbor?

When watching, the family is quite adept at making the viewer feel like civilization of any kind is so far away that they are literally “Bush People.” Yet a favorite pizza place of the crew, Grizzly Pizza, is merely a half-mile away from the family’s homestead. Nothing like suffering through a winter food scarcity that comes with bush-living like a nice, piping-hot pizza! Another compelling point that perhaps Alaskan Bush People are fake!

It casts doubt on the entire reality of the show when critics claim that the Alaskan Bush People are merely acting to television audiences what they think viewers expect to see from a family living in the wilderness. There's also the old allegation of reality TV programs: Producers hire actors to play parts to push the storyline that works. This seems to be the case in this potentially fake show.

Lease on Life

Another fun Brown assertion is that they own their land and are doing their best to make it in the rough landscape of Alaska, which is unforgiving at best. “We have our own home on our own land,” Billy has said on the show. Turns out… that is not exactly true.

According to someone with knowledge of the situation, who spoke with Channel Guide Mag. they are leasing the property that is surrounded by Tongass National Forest. The report alleges that the family signed a seven-year lease on the land. Not the largest alternative fact put forth by the Browns, but still…

How’d They Get Ink?

Tattoo parlors are not usually found in the bush. Given that the Brown family sports any number of tattoos, many of their critics wonder how they got so much ink living in the rough and tumble world of the outdoors. Another aspect is that tattoos are not cheap; it can be discerned from the show’s first few seasons that this is a poor family who has to live off the land and their innate survival skills.

It is rare that a producer of a reality TV program would put him or herself in any kind of position where they would become part of the narrative of their program. However, that’s exactly what happened further raising suspicions about the show and its authenticity.

Techno Savvy

Another aspect of the show that raises questions is how the family is portrayed as being an all-American wilderness family whose awareness of modern conveniences is at a minimum. Over the years, it's become clear that they have been quite comfortable with technology. For example, there are numerous YouTube videos from before the show’s beginning. They involve the clan and their use of the site to promote their father’s book. Once the show got going, many of the family members became quite active on social media, interacting with fans and posting snapshots of their lives.

How Now, Brown Cow?

Remember that cow, Sabrina, that the family acquired to help them get dairy—something that was supposedly grossly missing from their lives? Well, on the All That Matters episode of the show, the effort to get the cow to their property was complicated to say the least.

They built a makeshift pen on a barge to get the dairy cow from point “A” to point “B.” The Lynden Tribune interviewed the owner of the dairy farm that Sabrina came from and discovered that a member of their staff was on hand at all times to coach the family about all aspects of dairy cow maintenance. When the cameras weren’t rolling on the Discovery Channel clan, i.e. the other 11 months of the year, Sabrina was living with an Alaskan native who took care of the bovine member of the family. It doesn't take a farmer to know that one cannot get enough dairy from one cow in a four-week period to sustain a family of the Brown’s size living in the wilderness year-round.

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