"Expressions of Empowerment, a retrospective of Elizabeth Peratrovich" is the title of a group exhibit by 15 female Alaska Native artists featured for the month of February at the Alaska Native Arts Foundation in downtown Anchorage. Elizabeth Peratrovich (1911-1958) was a heroic Tlingit civil rights activist. She is credited with advocacy that passed the territory's Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, the first anti-discrimination law in the United States.
She's been called the Martin Luther King Jr. of Alaska. Elizabeth Peratrovich Day is celebrated on Feb. 16 and recognizes the principles of social equality and respect for all peoples within all communities.
This opening reception features 15 female Alaska Native artists: Aakatchaq (Iñupiat), Lena Amason (Alutiiq), Andrea Amato (Iñupiat), Audrey Armstrong (Athabascan), Diane Benson (Tlingit), Ruth Biden (Iñupiat), Kathleen Carlo (Athabascan), Elizabeth Medicine Crow (Tlingit/Haida), Susan Ringstad Emery (Iñupiat), Susie Bevins Ericsen (Iñupiat), Beckie Etukeok (Iñupiat/Tlingit/St. Lawrence Island Yup'ik), Allie High (Tsimshian/Aleut), Eve Mendenhall (Iñupiat), Apayo Moore (Yup'ik) and Holly Nordlum (Iñupiat).
The works include literary, visual and spoken word arts. Aakatchaq, originally from Kotzebue, created a watercolor piece depicting a version of a sign that was commonly seen from that time period that read, "No dogs, no Inuit allowed."
"Elizabeth serves as a conduit for understanding the strength, wisdom and power of our indigenous spirit," said First Alaskans Institute President Elizabeth Medicine Crow, a Tlingit and Haida artist who is participating in the exhibit. "No matter what we have confronted or the challenges that lay before us, we have the gift within us -- individually and collectively. For me, she is a clan relative and a Native auntie who I am still learning from. Her legacy of leadership and love for Natives and non-Natives alike personifies what our elders say when they correct behavior -- we talk to you like this because we love you. On this Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, I stand in solidarity with those leading our way as Native peoples, who live our way of life despite the injustice of laws that seek to diminish our spirit and our homelands."
Peratrovich was born on July 4, 1911, in Petersburg. Her Tlingit name was Kaaxgal.aat, and she was of the Lukaax.adi clan of the Raven moiety, according to information from the Alaska Native Sisterhood. Her parents died when she was very young and she was adopted by Presbyterian missionaries Mary and Andrew Wanamaker.
She attended school in Petersburg and Sitka and eventually graduated from high school in Ketchikan in 1931. One of her classmates was her future husband, Roy Peratrovich of Klawock. After graduation, Elizabeth attended the Western College of Education in Bellingham, Wash. Roy attended Bellingham Normal College.
On Dec. 15, 1931, Roy Peratrovich and Elizabeth Wanamaker were married. In 1941, Elizabeth was elected grand president of the Alaska Native Sisterhood. That same year, the family moved to Juneau and was shocked to discover that Juneau had significant issues with racial discrimination. Many businesses in Juneau had "No Natives allowed" policies.
While living in Juneau, the Peratroviches found more discrimination, having difficulty finding housing and seeing signs banning Native entry to public facilities. They petitioned the Territorial Gov. Ernest Gruening to ban the "No Natives allowed" signs then common at public accommodations in the city and elsewhere.
The Anti-Discrimination Act was defeated by the Territorial Legislature in 1943. As leaders of the Alaska Native Brotherhood and the Alaska Native Sisterhood, the Peratroviches lobbied the territory's legislators and represented their organizations in their testimony.
Elizabeth Peratrovich responded to territorial Sen. Allen Shattuck of Juneau and noted as she went to testify before the Territorial Senate, "I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind gentlemen with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind them of our Bill of Rights." Shattuck had earlier asked, "Who are these people, barely out of savagery, who want to associate with us whites, with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind us?"
The Senate voted 11-5 for House Resolution 14, providing "full and equal accommodations, facilities, and privileges to all citizens in places of public accommodations within the jurisdiction of the Territory of Alaska; to provide penalties for violation."
Gov. Gruening signed the bill into law nearly 20 years before the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Acts of 1964. Acts of the Territorial Legislature required final approval from the U.S. Congress, which affirmed the law.
I remember reading about Elizabeth Peratrovich in college. After growing up in Anchorage, I was upset that just a generation ago, discrimination was rampant in Alaska. We were here first, and I always thought, "why would Alaska Natives be 'othered' on our own land?" I was ashamed reading titles of books my father collected in the library with references to "savages" -- my ancestors. With this all-female exhibit, my vision was to turn that negativity around and highlight the empowerment of our peoples and the amazingness of accomplishments we are doing today.
Visit the Alaska Native Arts Foundation in February 2014 to view the "Expressions of Empowerment, a retrospective of Elizabeth Peratrovich" exhibit.
Trina Landlord is the executive director of the Alaska Native Arts Foundation. She can be reached at trina@alaskanativearts.org.
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