Waqaa (Hello), my name is Larapciq Cheri Alstrom and I’m an Alaska Native Yup’ik. Alaska Natives face discrimination and racism daily; not just Alaska Natives, but all Indigenous peoples around the world.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines discrimination as: “The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, sex, or disability.” Ethnicity is listed first. Oxford also defines racism as “characterized by or showing prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is minority or marginalized.” As a Native, we walk in two worlds: our traditional world and the non-Native world. Another good description word is prejudice, by Merriam Webster: “Injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one’s rights.”
Imagine being belittled or looked down upon just for existing.
We are on Native land.
You are on Native land. We live on Native land and we live off Native land. Our homeland we lived and subsisted on since time immemorial got taken away from us without consent, and Natives were forced to assimilate. It hurt the Natives to have had their homelands taken away and controlled. Have you ever heard the saying, “Kill the Indian, save the man?” We, Aboriginal people, have respectfully lived off the land for centuries and still do today. Nothing goes to waste.
Indigenous peoples all over the world have been and still are mistreated today. There is an anti-discrimination law in Alaska that passed on Feb. 16, 1945, known as Elizabeth Peratrovich Day. This made it illegal to discriminate against others based on race. All Alaskans are entitled to equal treatment of public accommodations and facilities and full and equal employment. According to the state of Alaska website, discriminatory actions are punishable with a $200 fine and up to 30 days in jail. And I bet you nobody is ever charged with this offense because I could find no attorneys in Anchorage who handle discrimination cases.
I contacted the Alaska Bar Association for referrals, and they only gave a couple of places, but when I contacted those firms, they said they don’t handle those kinds of cases. Then I Googled anti-discrimination laws and the Human Rights Commission popped up, so I contacted them, but nothing.
It surprised me that no law firms in the biggest city of Alaska take discrimination cases of this nature.
If it’s against the law, and they don’t handle stuff like this but all kinds of other cases, why aren’t there law firms that take these kinds of cases? If there were attorneys who handled these, imagine how different the world would be. Just like the Equal Employment Opportunity law. People file suits over stuff with employment discrimination — why aren’t there any law firms that take cases for racial discrimination?
They are somewhat similar. Natives and minorities and everybody should have equal rights just as any other person. Native.
Indigenous. Aboriginal. We are all human beings. We all need food, water, air, etc. We need the elimination of discrimination. We need equal rights.
— Larapciq Cheri Alstrom
St. Mary’s
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