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| Abbreviation | ANB / ANS |
|---|---|
The Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) and its counterpart, the Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS), are two nonprofit organizations founded to address racism against Alaska Native peoples in Alaska. ANB was formed in 1912 and ANS founded three years later. For the first half of the 20th century, they were the only organizations working for the civil rights of Alaska Natives in the territory and state.
Thirteen Alaska Natives who attended Sheldon Jackson Training School came together in 1912 to form the Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB). [1] The founders were George Fields, William Hobson, James C. Jackson, Eli Kalanvok, Seward Kunz, Paul Liberty, Frank Mercer, Marie Moon Orsen, Frank Price, James Watson, Chester Worthington, and Ralph Young. [1] Peter Simpson (Tsimshian) was the first president of the group and is often known as the "father of the ANB." [2] The original members wanted Alaska Natives to be able to access education and improve their standing in the community. [1] Alaska was a segregated society at the time. [1] The rights of Alaska Natives to their own land and fishing and hunting grounds had also been lost. [3]
The Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, built in 1914 on the waterfront in Sitka, was the first facility owned by the organization. For the significance of the ANB, the hall has been designated a National Historic Landmark. [4] [5] In 1915, the Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS) was formed by women in Wrangell, Alaska. [6] ANS worked with ANB on civil rights and voting rights issues. [6] Also in 1915, ANB and ANS were able to help pass the Native Citizen Act. [1]
In the late 1920s and the 1930s, ANB began to boycott places that had "No Natives" signs. [7] Many of the boycotts in southeastern Alaska were effective. [8] Louis Paul (Tlingit) and William Paul (Tlingit) emerged as leaders of the ANB during this time. [9]
During the 1930s, the Alaska Native Brotherhood obtained at least one Civilian Conservation Corps grant from the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration to restore and preserve totem poles. One $24,000 grant enabled work with architect Linn A. Forrest, an American architect of Juneau, to construct the Shakes Island Community House and to preserve totems at Wrangell in 1937–1939 during the Great Depression. [10]
Elizabeth Peratrovich (Tlingit), member and grand president of the ANS, did organizing, wrote petitions, and testified to the state senate in 1945 for civil rights of Alaska Natives. [11] She helped win passage of the 1945 state anti-discrimination act. [11] As president of ANS she encouraged indigenous women to apply for federal and territorial grants to help their households. [11] Peratrovich also grew the organization by recruiting new members. [11] Amy Hallingstad (Tlingit) helped Peratrovich to integrate schools and advocate for more resources. [11]
In 2005, the organization opposed U.S. federal law that makes the collection and ownership of bald eagle feathers illegal, as these have been integral to spiritual and cultural practices of Alaska Natives. [12]
Totem poles are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, by First Nations and Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast including northern Northwest Coast Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian communities in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, Kwakwaka'wakw and Nuu-chah-nulth communities in southern British Columbia, and the Coast Salish communities in Washington and British Columbia.
Klawock is a city in Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area, in the U.S. state of Alaska, on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, on Klawock Inlet, across from Klawock Island. The population was 755 at the 2010 census, down from 854 in 2000. It is located 90 kilometres (56 mi) from Ketchikan, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from Craig, and 39 kilometres (24 mi) from Hollis.
Petersburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in and essentially the borough seat of Petersburg Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 3,043 at the 2020 census, up from 2,948 in 2010.
The City and Borough of Wrangell is a borough in Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 2,127, down from 2,369 in 2010.
Alaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures. They are often defined by their language groups. Many Alaska Natives are enrolled in federally recognized Alaska Native tribal entities, who in turn belong to 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations, who administer land and financial claims.
The Kake War was the destruction in February, 1869, of three semi-permanent winter villages and two forts near present-day Kake, Alaska by the USS Saginaw. Prior to the conflict, two white trappers were killed by the Kake in retribution for the death of two Kake departing Sitka village by canoe. Sitka was the site of a standoff between the Army and Tlingit due to the army demanding the surrender of chief Colchika who was involved in an altercation in Fort Sitka.
Sitka National Historical Park is a national historical park in Sitka in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was redesignated as a national historical park from its previous status as national monument on October 18, 1972. The park in its various forms has sought to commemorate the Tlingit and Russian experiences in Alaska.
Peter Simpson (1871?–1947) was a Canadian-born Tsimshian activist for Alaska Native rights, and co-owner of the first Indian-owned business in Alaska.
William Lewis Paul was an American attorney, legislator, and political activist from the Tlingit Nation in Southeast Alaska. He was known as a leader in the Alaska Native Brotherhood, and became the first Native attorney and first Native legislator in Alaskan history.
Elizabeth Peratrovich was an American civil rights activist, Grand President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood, and member of the Tlingit nation who worked for equality on behalf of Alaska Natives. In the 1940s, her advocacy was credited as being instrumental in the passing of Alaska's Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, the first state or territorial anti-discrimination law enacted in the United States.
The history of the Tlingit includes pre- and post-contact events and stories. Tradition-based history involved creation stories, the Raven Cycle and other tangentially-related events during the mythic age when spirits transformed back and forth from animal to human and back, the migration story of arrival at Tlingit lands, and individual clan histories. More recent tales describe events near the time of the first contact with Europeans. European and American historical records come into play at that point; although modern Tlingit have access to those historical records, however, they maintain their own record of ancestors and events important to them against the background of a changing world.
Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, or Sitka Camp No. 1, is significant for being the original chapter of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, an Alaska-wide Native organization. It is located on the waterfront in Sitka, Alaska, on Katlian Street.
The Brotherhood Bridge is a road bridge in Juneau, Alaska. The bridge carries the Glacier Highway over the Mendenhall River, acting as a demarcation point of sorts between the urban and rural portions of mainland Juneau. The bridge was named in honor of the Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB). It was designed by civil engineer Roy Peratrovich, Jr., the son of Roy and Elizabeth Peratrovich, who were leaders in the ANB and counterpart Alaska Native Sisterhood. Bronze plaques on the bridge refer to the Raven and Eagle clans of the Tlingit people. Previous bridges across the Mendenhall River, at or near the same spot, were constructed in 1903, 1919 and 1931. It was entered into the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System on March 31, 1981.
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) is a non-profit medical, dental, vision and mental health organization serving the health interests of the residents of Southeast Alaska.
Matilda Kinnon "Tillie"' Paul Tamaree was a Tlingit translator, civil rights advocate, educator, and Presbyterian church elder.
Frank Peratrovich was an American businessman and politician.
Women's suffrage in Alaska was won fairly easily for non-native women in 1913. Prior to becoming a territory, non-native women were able to vote in school board elections. Women's suffrage work took place in the Alaska chapters of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). After Alaska was admitted as a territory, the first Territorial Legislature passed a women's suffrage bill in 1913 and was signed into law on March 21. This law only applied to non-native women since Alaska Natives were not considered citizens of the United States. Alaska Natives continued to fight for the right to vote, along with other civil rights throughout the twentieth and twenty-first century.
This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Alaska. White women in Alaska had the right to vote in school board elections starting in 1904. In 1913, the first Territorial Legislature passed the Shoup Suffrage Bill which gave white women the right to vote in all elections. Alaska Native women had a longer road fighting for their right to vote. First, they had to be declared citizens of the United States, but even after that happened in 1924, additional barriers were put in place. These included literacy tests and segregation. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped remove many barriers that Alaska Natives faced in exercising their right to vote.
In the history of discrimination in the United States, the Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945 was the first state or territorial anti-discrimination law enacted in the United States in the 20th century. The law, signed on February 16, 1945, prevents and criminalizes discrimination against individuals in public areas based on race. The law came about after Alaska Natives fought against segregation and other forms of discrimination in Alaska.