In MemoriamEric D. JohnsonApril 27, 1965 – May 6, 2005Eric D. Johnson, a tribal rights attorney for the Association <strong>of</strong> Village Council Presidentsin Bethel, committed hundreds <strong>of</strong> hours to the work <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Alaska</strong> Rural Justice <strong>and</strong> <strong>Law</strong>Enforcement Commission, both <strong>of</strong>fering testimony <strong>and</strong> serving on the law enforcementworkgroup. In so doing, Eric strived to foster greater cooperation <strong>and</strong> mutual support betweenState <strong>and</strong> tribal law enforcement systems.Eric came to <strong>Alaska</strong> in 1994 as a summer law clerk for the Sierra Legal Defense Fund.After graduating with distinction from Stanford <strong>Law</strong> School in 1995, he returned to <strong>Alaska</strong> toserve as a law clerk to then Chief Justice Allen Compton <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Alaska</strong> Supreme Court, <strong>and</strong> for asecond year served as the law clerk for the then Chief Judge Alex Bryner <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Alaska</strong> Court <strong>of</strong>Appeals.From 1997 to 1998, Eric was an <strong>Alaska</strong> Legal Services Corporation staff attorney inBarrow, after which he received a prestigious two-year fellowship from the National Associationfor Public Interest <strong>Law</strong> to work in Anchorage for the Native American Rights Fund.Eric’s significant litigation activities included a successful challenge to a 1998referendum declaring English to be <strong>Alaska</strong>’s <strong>of</strong>ficial language; a challenge to <strong>Alaska</strong>’s lawenforcement system for rural villages; multiple cases to enforce tribal government rights underthe Indian Child Welfare Act; <strong>and</strong> successful litigation challenging the <strong>Alaska</strong> Legislature’sattempted repeal <strong>of</strong> a court rule protecting plaintiffs who bring public interest lawsuits against theState <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alaska</strong>.Eric’s work also included extensive representation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alaska</strong> Native hunters <strong>and</strong>fishermen before the <strong>Alaska</strong> Fish <strong>and</strong> Game Boards <strong>and</strong> the Federal Subsistence Board, as well assubsistence litigation. He also provided legal assistance to many villages throughout the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.In 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union <strong>of</strong> <strong>Alaska</strong> honored Eric’s life work with itsLiberty Award as a Champion <strong>of</strong> Equal Rights.Eric is remembered for his humility, compassion <strong>and</strong> good natured interactions withothers. The Commission commends Eric’s dedicated service on the law enforcement workgroup<strong>and</strong> his valuable contributions to the Commission’s work.ii
PREAMBLETo provide context for the readers <strong>of</strong> this <strong>Report</strong>, the <strong>Alaska</strong> Rural Justice <strong>and</strong> <strong>Law</strong>Enforcement Commission sought a personal statement from an elder resident <strong>of</strong> rural <strong>Alaska</strong> whocould convey the “sense <strong>of</strong> place.” Alice Abraham, a respected Yup’ik Elder, agreed to preparethis preamble to the <strong>Report</strong>. Alice has spent many years working in the mental health <strong>and</strong>substance abuse prevention <strong>and</strong> treatment fields in rural <strong>Alaska</strong> <strong>and</strong> has personally experiencedproblems that are addressed by the Commission. Alice’s is an individual oral history, <strong>and</strong> thereare as many different oral histories from rural <strong>Alaska</strong> as there are residents <strong>of</strong> rural <strong>Alaska</strong>. Aliceexpresses many experiences, perceptions, <strong>and</strong> feelings that represent those <strong>of</strong> other rural <strong>Alaska</strong>residents.The Commission feels that this brief oral history, dictated by Alice <strong>and</strong> transcribed bystaff, helps to convey the deeply felt – <strong>and</strong> deeply personal – sense <strong>of</strong> community, sharing,tradition, <strong>and</strong> support that prevails in rural <strong>Alaska</strong>.The Importance <strong>of</strong> Place in Rural <strong>Alaska</strong>Alice Abraham 1I spent my formative years in the small village <strong>of</strong> Nightmute on Nelson Isl<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong>traveled to various camps during different seasons with my family <strong>of</strong> gr<strong>and</strong>parents, parents, aunts,uncles, cousins, <strong>and</strong> other relatives, gathering food <strong>and</strong> supplies for the winter. I certainlyappreciate people who have chosen to continue this lifestyle <strong>and</strong> to continue to live in theirvillages. They have an existing support system <strong>of</strong> family members, Elders, <strong>and</strong> other communitymembers. The fondest memories I have <strong>of</strong> my childhood are living in a winter village <strong>and</strong> whenthe spring came we went to a spring camp to hunt geese, ducks, trap muskrat <strong>and</strong> other smallgames, then travel in a boat to a fish camp, Umkumuit, to join the rest <strong>of</strong> the community tocontinue harvesting food from the ocean <strong>and</strong> surrounding area. The women in the villages arebusy for days, cleaning <strong>and</strong> braiding the herring around their heads <strong>and</strong> then hanging them up inthe racks; cutting up their seal meat to dry; <strong>and</strong> other games <strong>and</strong> fish from the ocean <strong>and</strong> nearbyriver. Once those chores are done, then they would start weaving baskets to trade for the goodswhen the barge Northstar came in from Seattle. And all the children – as children we anticipatedhaving the first taste <strong>of</strong> fruit, <strong>of</strong> oranges <strong>and</strong> apples. It was one <strong>of</strong> the best treats to die for!I also went with my father to haul goods from the barge to the villages <strong>of</strong> Tununak <strong>and</strong>Nightmute. I used to be fascinated with the man who directed the traffic <strong>of</strong> unloading the boxesinto the boats. He would <strong>of</strong>ten toss either an orange or apple to the children that came. That wasabout the only time I had a chance to have a whole fruit to myself. And then I get to eat it slowly,savoring every bite <strong>of</strong> it, ’cause once we’d go home my Dad would bring bags <strong>of</strong> oranges <strong>and</strong>apples, <strong>and</strong> my mother would cut up the apples or oranges into quarters to make them last.When the fish <strong>and</strong> meat were dried <strong>and</strong> seal blubber is rendered in their skins, the menwould take them to the food caches, <strong>and</strong> the preparation for berry picking would start. Eachfamily went to their favorite spots to gather berries <strong>and</strong> fish for the last summer fish, to dry <strong>and</strong>smoke. Once these tasks were done we returned to the main village for the winter, the rest periodfor the food gatherers for awhile, then they would prepare for the winter. These activities were1As she explains in this brief oral history, Alice Abraham grew up in Nightmute <strong>and</strong> has spent most <strong>of</strong>her life in Western <strong>Alaska</strong>. She became involved in behavioral health services in the mid-1980s <strong>and</strong>later pursued <strong>and</strong> completed her Bachelor’s Degree in the field. She lived in the Copper River Basin<strong>and</strong> continued to be involved in mental health <strong>and</strong> substance abuse services until she lost her battle withcancer <strong>and</strong> passed away on November 29, 2005.<strong>Alaska</strong> Rural Justice <strong>and</strong> <strong>Law</strong> Enforcement Commission - Page 1