Congress has heard from Alaskans. They support the Violence Against Women Act.

Don Mitchell’s recent commentary insulting the legislative process to amend the Violence Against Women Act was greatly misleading. Congress held a hearing on Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s bill on Dec. 8. I know because AKNWRC staff testified and provided written comments. The committee also posted the discussion draft of the tribal title, which includes the Alaska pilot program, publicly online and asked for public comments after the hearing. Scores of letters were sent in support of the bill, both before and after that hearing, including from nearly every Alaska Native organization and dozens of individual tribes across our state. Sen. Murkowski’s bill is built on language that Congressman Don Young first introduced in 2019 to empower Alaska tribes to deal with domestic violence in village Alaska. So far as I know, no Alaskans opposed either bill. Congress has heard from plenty of Alaskans who do support Sen. Murkowski’s bill to strengthen the ability of our tribes, 229 out of the 574 nationwide, to address the scourge of domestic violence.

The rates of violence in rural Alaska make clear that the current situation is untenable. Despite making up 19% of the state population, Alaska Natives are 47% of reported rape victims in the state. The Violence Policy Center reports that in 2019, Alaska had the highest homicide rate in the U.S. for female victims killed by male offenders in single victim/single offender incidents for the sixth year in a row. Alaska has ranked either first or second in the nation in the rate of women killed by men for nine years in a row. The largest number of victims on a per capita basis are Alaska Natives. In 2019, the rate of American Indian/Alaska Native women killed by men, Alaska Native and non-Native, in Alaska was 17.36 per 100,000 — more than three times the rate for all women in Alaska, and nearly seven times the rate for white women in Alaska.

Alaska Native tribal governments need to be empowered to work in partnership with the state to finally bring safety to our communities. The proposed S. 3623 does not alter in any manner any aspect of state jurisdiction, but is complementary to existing state, tribal and federal jurisdiction by creating resources and tools to address domestic violence and other qualifying crimes in communities that may lack local law enforcement. This proposed law reaffirms and strengthens tribal authority, while the state jurisdiction continues in the same manner it does under current law.

Eight years ago, the U.S. Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, aka VAWA, for the third time. In 2013, Congress reaffirmed the inherent right of tribal nations to prosecute all people who commit domestic violence against American Indians and Alaska Natives on tribal lands. Since that time, tribal courts across the country have held domestic violence offenders accountable in tribal courts and have brought justice and safety to many Indian victims who had previously seen little of either. Because of Alaska’s unique legal issues, Alaska tribes were not able to take advantage of these protections.

Unfortunately, legal barriers created over time in federal law have led to untold trauma for Alaska Native women and children. Public Law 83-280, an unfunded federal mandate, delegated to the state of Alaska whatever responsibility the federal government had to ensure public safety on tribal lands. The State of Alaska v. Venetie decision, which hampered the ability of tribes to provide safety on their own lands because of the technical legal definition of “Indian country,” compounded the problem and left Alaska Natives dependent on the state of Alaska for public safety and justice. State services are centered in a handful of Alaskan urban areas, making them more theoretical than real in rural Alaska. Alaska Native tribes are the first responders in most villages.

The federal government created these legal barriers undermining safety. Offenders must not be allowed to hide behind this jurisdictional maze. In March of 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a VAWA reauthorization bill that is substantially similar to S. 3623. The proposed law requires tribes to provide legal protections for criminal defendants in tribal court that encompass all of the same rights provided in state courts and enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Any tribe that chooses to exercise criminal jurisdiction is mandated to provide these protections.

Women and children are integral parts of our tribal communities. Women are revered as life bringers and healers and our children embody our future. While our roles and traditions vary from tribal nation to tribal nation, one element remains consistent: Women and children are to be respected and protected. S. 3623 recognizes this Alaskan value.

Tamra Truett Jerue serves as executive director of the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center. Organized in 2015, the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center is a tribal nonprofit organization dedicated to ending violence against women with Alaska’s 229 tribes and allied organizations. AKNWRC board members are Alaska Native women raised in Alaska Native Villages and have 141 years of combined experience in providing crisis intervention and direct services to domestic violence victims and other social service experience.

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