Rural Alaska

Nearly a year after troopers' killings, Tanana looks forward

Nearly a year has passed since a pair of Alaska state troopers were shot and killed in the Interior village of Tanana. With the trial of one of the suspects underway, villagers say they have taken steps to put the tragedy behind them while also learning from it.

Fairbanks-based troopers Sgt. Patrick "Scott" Johnson and Gabriel "Gabe" Rich were killed on May 1, 2014. Nathanial Kangas was charged with murder and assault in their deaths; his trial is set for November.

Nathanial's father, Arvin Kangas, went on trial last week in Nenana for evidence tampering. Prosecutors say he unholstered and moved the troopers' weapons after the shooting, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Those closest to the case are visibly affected by the court proceedings, said residents of Tanana. About 230 people call the village home.

"People are watching the news and they're talking about it," said Tanana City Council member Pat Moore. "I think it hurts the immediate family most. You can see that it hurts them."

"No one's really talking about it too much, besides the people who were subpoenaed," said Aaron Kozevnikoff, also a local council member. "Not everyone wants to talk about it."

Moore said the community has had plenty to focus on since the shootings, including ongoing discussions over management of the region's fisheries, a road project and smaller goings-on such as a spring carnival.

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The village was also the third checkpoint in this year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. It was just the second time Tanana has served as a checkpoint, as the race was rerouted from a Fairbanks start thanks to low snow in Southcentral Alaska.

"The Iditarod came through town, which allowed us to put our best foot forward and show we're all good people," Moore said.

Cynthia Erickson, who started the nonprofit youth group Setsoo Yeh, said the group of local kids she looks after opted not to avoid talking about the shooting, even in the immediate aftermath.

Setsoo Yeh -- which Erickson said is Athabascan for "my grandma's house" -- originally started as a 4-H Club but changed to fit the needs of young, rural Alaska Natives.

My Grandma's House addresses lofty issues prevalent in the Alaska Bush -- substance abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault and suicide. After the shooting and an ensuing controversy in which two men were threatened with banishment from the community, Erickson said the kids were interested in adding prejudice and racism as a topic of discussion.

Locals said before the trooper killings, Arvin Kangas had been hanging around a local man interested in Alaska Native rights. A group of about seven people in the community had been arguing for villagers to take back Native land claims from the state.

Village leaders decided they did not want Arvin Kangas or William "Bill" Walsh in the community and issued an order to banish the two from the village. A Tanana Tribal Council resolution issued in May 2014 said the men's "uncensored and dangerous views" contributed to the trooper shootings.

Walsh, in turn, sued the tribal council in federal court for his right to return.

Erickson said the kids wanted to address their origins and culture before "another person is hurt."

"We took a bad situation to educate children on what happened in our small world," she said. "A lot of us are half-breeds (half Alaska Native, half white), and when we disrespect where we came from, we're disrespecting our blood, culture, parents and grandparents."

She asks the kids, "'Why would you look at others and hate?'" she said. "Hate doesn't get us anywhere."

When Erickson meets new people now and tells them she's from Tanana, there is often a moment of realization or discomfort, she said. She tells her new friends that the shooting does not represent the village, that "Gabe and Scott" were welcome there, she said.

That relationship with troopers has continued, locals say. Kozevnikoff said he was the troopers' "go-to guy" for incidents over the winter.

Mark Haglin, the village public safety officer who called troopers to the scene when he said Arvin Kangas pointed a shotgun in his direction, was transferred to Fairbanks in September, according to troopers information officer Beth Ipsen.

Until last month, Fairbanks-based troopers and Tanana Chiefs Conference "rover" VPSOs served Tanana, Ipsen said. Rovers fill in for other VPSOs during an officer's absence from the village and provide patrol and enforcement during special events like basketball tournaments, she said.

VPSO Cpl. Clinton Wiehl transferred to Tanana in March. He has been a VPSO since 2009, Ipsen said.

Kozevnikoff said there have been no serious incidents in the village in the past year.

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"We're a pretty resolute community," he said. "We want to move on."

Correction: This story originally reported William Walsh's federal case against the Village of Tanana was dismissed after the Tanana Tribal Council withdrew its banishment order. The council withdrew a temporary banishment order because Walsh failed to follow court procedures, but it went forward with a separate, permanent banishment.

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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