Mat-Su College’s Alaska Native Cultures Club celebrates Elizabeth Peratrovich Day

PALMER —Mat-Su College’s Alaska Native Cultures Club celebrated Elizabeth Peratrovich Day Friday within the school cafeteria, watching documentaries, eating traditional Alaska Native food and going over a variety of topics during the panel.

Elizabeth Peratrovich Day is an official state holiday that promotes equal civil rights for all cultures in honor of Elizabeth Peratrovich, a pivotal political activist who fought for Native rights. Before Alaska was even a state, she was one of the most prominent voices that pushed the legislature to pass the Anti-Discrimination Act in 1945, which was signed into law by Alaska Gov. Ernest Gruening.

Now, her face and name are practically synonymous with the 1945 Anti-Discrimination Act, which effectively ended racial segregation practices or Jim Crow Laws in Alaska. Many credit Peratrovich’s efforts and the results of the act for giving Alaska Natives much sought after freedom and influence in modern society.

Isha Twitchell is the outreach coordinator for the MSBSD’s Alaska Native and America Indian Education program. She was one of five speakers in the panel discussion. She said that the turnout was great and she wants it to keep growing each year.

She said that very few students in the MSBSD, let alone the general population know who Peratrovich was, and she wants that to change. She said that only a handful of the young Alaska Native attendees even knew who Peratrovich was. She said that every Alaskan should grasp how hard Peratrovich fought and how substantial the changes were felt across the state and entire nation.

“I want the people of Alaska to know who she was,” Twitchell said.

Elizabeth Peratrovich Day falls on Feb. 16 each year, citing that crucial day in 1945 which the Anti-Discrimination Act was signed.

While many have called Peratrovich the ‘MLK of Alaska’ her efforts ultimately led to the first anti-discrimination law to ever pass in the United States. This was almost 20 years before the Civil Rights Act Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964.

There are numerous Alaska Native tribes across the state, each with their own cultures and languages. The modern Mat-Su Valley contains a spectrum of Alaska Native people from around the state. The Mat-Su College’s Alaska Native Cultures Club formed five years ago to foster Native culture and bring the various tribes together.

Rachelle LaRue is president of the MSC’s Alaska Native Cultures Club. She said that she is Tlingit, like Peratrovich. She said that she moved to the Valley about three years ago and she noticed a stark difference in how Elizabeth Peratrovich Day was celebrated here compared to Southeast Alaska, where she grew up. She said that there are numerous community events coordinating with the holiday, and a majority of people in the area know who Peratrovich was. She said it was up to the current generation to ensure the Valley knows who Peratrovich is and it’s up to them to pick up where she left off.

“The struggle is just beginning. You young people are being set up to lead the charge,” LaRue said.

Fourty-one students from the Alaska Job Corps Center in Palmer attended this MSC event, and a majority of them were Alaska Native. Carin Meyer, business and community liaison for the Alaska Job Corps Center, said that 60 percent of job corps’ student population is Alaskan Native.

Every Alaskan high school student is required to take an Alaskan history class in order to graduate. Barbara Bodnar, program coordinator for the Mat-Su Borough School District’s Alaska Native and America Indian Education program, said the trouble is, that’s only one semester and there should be a lot more.

“We barely touch it and call that good,” Bodnar said. “You can’t cover everything in a semester.”

Bodnar noted that the MSBSD is doing well by revising some their current curriculum and working to broaden the scope for Alaska Native studies and programs.

There are about 3,000 students of Alaska Native or American Indian heritage currently attending the MSBSD, according to Bodnar. She said that while a lot of progress has been made regarding civil rights since Peratrovich’s segregated days of ‘No Natives Allowed’ signs, and boarding schools that literally beat the culture out Native students, the current generation of Alaska Natives still faces ignorance and racism today.

“It is out there,” Bodnar said. “Maybe it’s not as blatant as a sign on the window but it’s still present.”

Bodnar said one of the things that struck her the most after watching “For the Rights of All,” a documentary following Peratrovich’s life and political battles, again with this group was how recent all these civil rights milestones were. She said that parents and grandparents of the Alaska Native attendees could tell them how different things used to be just in their lifetimes.

“It’s not that long ago,” Bodnar said.

Mike Swanson, MSC student retention advisor and one of the staff advisors for the college’s Alaska Native Cultures Club, said that he’s witnessed the modern day racism first-hand since he has children in the school district, “kids saying overtly racist things to them.”

“We talk to school administration. We try to educate people but kids have what they get at home. Most of the things are more ignorant than hateful but they still often have the same impact,” Swanson said. During the panel discussion, one Alaskan Native Job Corp student asked all the Natives in the room who could speak their tribe’s languages. Only a handful of hands raised and the young man said, “See? It’s not that many. We need to hold onto our culture.”

Twitchell noted that as time goes on, more fragments of Alaskan Native culture are “going extinct” so she urged the room full of young Alaska Natives to go home and talk to their families and learn about their heritage.

“Our elders are getting older and they’re not gonna be here forever,” Twitchell said.

Twitchell noted that Peratrovich’s efforts were substantial but she didn’t act alone and there and there has been a lot of work done before and after her time. She asked the room how many were 18 and older and registered to vote. She implored the eligible voters to vote for the changes they want to see, including more Alaska Native representation in the police arena to voice their needs.

“Our ancestors fought for us. You need to vote,” Twitchell said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com