04/04/2019 01:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

           SB  78-ESTABLISH MAY 31 AS KATIE JOHN DAY                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
1:37:08 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 78,                                                                 
"An Act establishing May 31 of each year as Katie John Day."                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
1:37:28 PM                                                                                                                    
DARWIN PETERSON, Staff, Senator Click Bishop, Alaska State                                                                      
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, introduced SB 78 reading the                                                                       
following:                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
   • Senate Bill 78 proposes to amend Alaska Statutes -                                                                         
     Title  44,   Chapter  12,  by  adding   a  new  section                                                                    
                       st                                                                                                       
     designating May 31   as Katie John Day  in honor of her                                                                    
     legacy.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
   • Katie John was a highly respected Athabascan elder                                                                         
     from Mentasta Lake.   She passed away on  May 31, 2013.                                                                    
     She was 97 years old.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
   • Katie John grew up on the banks of the Copper River                                                                        
     near  the  present  day  community  of  Slana  and  the                                                                    
     seasonal  fishing village  of Batzulnetas.  Her parents                                                                    
     were Ahtna Chief Charley Sanford and Sarah Sanford.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
   • Katie John was raised off the land like her ancestors.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
        o She was a consummate teacher of her ancestral                                                                         
          traditions, culture and history.                                                                                      
        o She was a member of the Ahtna Regional Native                                                                         
          Corporation.                                                                                                          
        o She was very passionate about preserving the                                                                          
          Athabascan culture.                                                                                                   
        o She was also very involved in the preservation                                                                        
          and teaching of her Athabascan language and                                                                           
          helped create the first alphabet for the Ahtna                                                                        
          dialect.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
   • Katie John became well known throughout Alaska                                                                             
     starting  in  1985  when  she  and  another  Athabascan                                                                    
     elder, Doris  Charles, filed suit against  the State of                                                                    
     Alaska  in  federal  Court to  resolve  a  longstanding                                                                    
     quarrel over customary and traditional fishing rights.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
   • The dispute arose in 1964 after the State Board of                                                                         
     Fish  banned subsistence  fishing at  Batzulnetas which                                                                    
     is located  on the  Copper River  at the  confluence of                                                                    
     Tanada  Creek.  This village  site  had  been used  for                                                                    
     hundreds  of  years  by the  Ahtna  people  to  harvest                                                                    
     sockeye salmon.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
   • The case against the State went through many                                                                               
     iterations and ultimately,  another lawsuit (Katie John                                                                    
     vs.  United States  of America)  was filed  in 1990  on                                                                    
     behalf of  Katie John, Doris  Charles and  the Mentasta                                                                    
     Village Council.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
   • The Katie John Case as it became widely known was                                                                          
     brought  forward   in  the  hopes  of   broadening  the                                                                    
     definition of  "public lands" in Section  102 of ANILCA                                                                    
     to  include  navigable  waters. ANILCA  is  the  Alaska                                                                    
     National  Interest  Lands  Conservation Act  which  was                                                                    
     passed  by Congress  and signed  into law  by President                                                                    
     Carter in  1980. The  Katie John  Case also  sought the                                                                    
     creation  of  a  federal  subsistence  fishery  in  the                                                                    
     Batzulnetas area  which was  included in  the Wrangell-                                                                    
     St. Elias National Park through the passage of ANILCA.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
   • This case also went through many iterations and                                                                            
     appeals  but  ultimately it  was  resolved  on July  3,                                                                    
     2013, when the Ninth Circuit  Court of Appeals issued a                                                                    
     decision  that during  times of  shortage, the  federal                                                                    
     government  may  provide  a rural  subsistence  fishing                                                                    
     priority on navigable waters in Alaska.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
                          st                                                                                                    
   • Finally, on March 31, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court                                                                         
     ultimately decided  to reject  a petition filed  by the                                                                    
     State of Alaska  to overturn Katie John,  bringing to a                                                                    
     close almost three decades of litigation.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
   • Sadly, Katie John didn't live long enough to witness                                                                       
     the  final  resolution  of  her  peaceful  struggle  to                                                                    
     preserve the  traditional way of  life for  her people.                                                                    
     With the passage of SB 78,  we can do our part to honor                                                                    
     her memory and to  recognize the accomplishments of her                                                                    
     life's work.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
   • Katie John and her husband, Chief Fred John (who                                                                           
     passed away in  2000), raised 14 children  and 6 foster                                                                    
     children.  Together,  they leave  behind  approximately                                                                    
     250   grandchildren,  great-grandchildren   and  great-                                                                    
     great-grandchildren.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
   • In your packets, we have letters and resolutions of                                                                        
     support from  the Mentasta Traditional Council  and the                                                                    
     Alaska Federation of Natives.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:41:46 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR KAWASAKI asked why the bill  honors Katie John on the day                                                               
of her passing rather than the day of her birth.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MR.  PETERSON  answered that  the  Alaska  Federation of  Natives                                                               
passed a resolution requesting that  date. It not only honors her                                                               
passing but  also recognizes  the final  resolution of  her life-                                                               
long battle.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  COGHILL noted  that  he  signed on  as  a co-sponsor  in                                                               
recognition  of Katie  John's tenacity.  Her name  is famous  and                                                               
worthy of honor,  regardless of where you stand on  the issue, he                                                               
said.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
1:43:53 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER opened public testimony on SB 78.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:44:15 PM                                                                                                                    
KATHERINE   MARTIN,   Senior   Vice   President,   Ahtna,   Inc.,                                                               
Glennallen, stated that as one  of Katy John's granddaughters she                                                               
wants to recognize Grandma Katie and  honor what she has done for                                                               
all Native  people of  Alaska for  subsistence. She  related that                                                               
another reason that May 31 was  chosen as the date to honor Katie                                                               
John is  that it is the  first day that fishwheels  can be placed                                                               
in the river in the Ahtna region.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
1:45:26 PM                                                                                                                    
MICHELLE  ANDERSON, President,  Ahtna,  Inc., Glennallen,  stated                                                               
that it  might not be  a coincidence  that the corporation  is in                                                               
Mentasta Village on  the day of this hearing. She  said she feels                                                               
that  Grandma Katie  is part  of this.  She reported  that Ahtna,                                                               
Inc. and a  number of other Native corporations  have been trying                                                               
to get  May 31 designated  as Katie John  Day since a  year after                                                               
she passed.  She thanked Representative  Neil Foster  and Senator                                                               
Click Bishop for  their support and for  realizing the importance                                                               
of recognizing Alaska Native leaders. She continued to say:                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     We have a  huge history in Alaska and  it's pretty rare                                                                    
     to find any day where  our people are recognized. Katie                                                                    
     John is a  Civil Rights leader in my mind,  not just to                                                                    
     Alaska  Natives  but to  all  Alaskans.  She stood  her                                                                    
     ground. She stood for  fighting for traditional fishing                                                                    
     rights and she is known  by her name. Very few Alaskans                                                                    
     have that prestige and honor.  Not just for those of us                                                                    
     who  are alive  today,  I want  people for  generations                                                                    
     down the  road to know  who she was, how  important she                                                                    
     was  to all  of us  and that  she deserves  her day  of                                                                    
     recognition.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
1:47:20 PM                                                                                                                    
NICHOLAS  OSTROVSKY, Managing  Counsel, Ahtna,  Inc., Glennallen,                                                               
stated  that   Katie  John   spearheaded  the   most  significant                                                               
legislation about subsistence and  cultural rights in the history                                                               
of  Alaska. Her  tenacity and  willingness  to stand  up for  her                                                               
people helped  to protect  the customary  and traditional  way of                                                               
life for  all Alaska Natives.  It is  fitting to mark  a specific                                                               
day  to  honor  that  she  effectively  changed  how  subsistence                                                               
hunting and fishing is defined in Alaska today.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
1:48:14 PM                                                                                                                    
EILEEN   EWAN,  President,   Gulkana  Village   Council,  Gulkana                                                               
Village, stated  that on  behalf of  GVC she  supports May  31 as                                                               
Katie John Day to recognize  her fight for traditional rights for                                                               
the  people of  Alaska. It  is also  a way  to pay  respect to  a                                                               
forceful leader "who stood her ground till the end of her days."                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:49:04 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR MICCICHE joined the committee.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
1:49:12 PM                                                                                                                    
NICOLE BORROMEO,  General Counsel, Alaska Federation  of Natives,                                                               
Anchorage, stated that  members had copies of  the AFN resolution                                                               
in their  packets and  said she  wanted to  echo the  comments in                                                               
strong support  of SB  78, particularly  the comments  of Senator                                                               
Coghill and  Nicholas Ostrovsky.  She emphasized that  Katie John                                                               
was  an   extraordinary  Alaska   Native  who   made  significant                                                               
contributions  to the  state.  Her spirit  should  be honored  by                                                               
declaring May 31 as Katie John Day.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
1:50:27 PM                                                                                                                    
KIM  REITMEIER, Executive  Director, ANCSA  Regional Association,                                                               
Anchorage, stated that the  association represents the presidents                                                               
and   CEOs  of   the   12  land-based   Alaska  regional   Native                                                               
corporations.  Their  mission  is   to  promote  and  foster  the                                                               
continued  growth   and  economic   strength  of   Alaska  Native                                                               
corporations  on behalf  of more  than 130,000  shareholders. She                                                               
said Alaskans  respected Katie John  for her  tireless leadership                                                               
in protecting  traditional hunting  and fishing  rights. Ensuring                                                               
these  protections   continue  is   a  policy  priority   of  the                                                               
association. "Our  members have  an acute understanding  that our                                                               
traditional Alaska Native way of  life [is] the thread that binds                                                               
us to our land and to  our culture." She said the many sacrifices                                                               
she  made to  ensure that  future generations  of Alaska  Natives                                                               
would not  be denied the  right she fought  so hard to  defend is                                                               
the  reason  the  association  supports  SB  78.  She  noted  the                                                               
association also submitted written testimony.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
1:51:54 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER  closed public testimony  on SB 78. He  advised that                                                               
written      testimony      could       be      submitted      to                                                               
[email protected].                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
1:52:16 PM                                                                                                                    
At ease                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
1:56:10 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER  reconvened the  meeting and asked  the will  of the                                                               
committee.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
1:56:26 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR COGHILL moved to report  SB 78, version U, from committee                                                               
with   individual  recommendations   and  attached   zero  fiscal                                                               
note(s).                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SHOWER found  no objection and SB 78 was  reported from the                                                               
Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.