FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 3, 2024
| Press Contact: AKNWRC Communications | Tel: (907) 378‑3339 |
| media@aknwrc.org | www.aknwrc.org |
The Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center and Chickaloon Native Village Celebrate Historic Tribal Criminal Law
FAIRBANKS, AK—The Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center (AKNWRC) and Chickaloon Native Village celebrate the historic passage of Alaska’s first Tribal criminal law, a landmark achievement made possible by the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2022 (VAWA 2022). VAWA 2022 marked a turning point for Alaska Tribes by reaffirming their inherent authority to exercise criminal jurisdiction over Alaska Native and American Indian peoples within our Alaska Native Villages.
“Today marks a historic step forward in our ongoing work to strengthen Tribal sovereignty,” said Tami Truett Jerue, Executive Director of AKNWRC. “For too long, our communities have faced jurisdictional barriers in addressing crime within our villages. This new Tribal criminal law creates pathways for justice that are rooted in our traditional values while providing contemporary legal tools to keep our communities safe.”
The passage of VAWA 2022 represents a defining moment for Tribes and Tribal governments. It recognizes their inherent sovereign power to exercise criminal jurisdiction over Alaska Native and American Indian community members. This reaffirmation of jurisdiction laid the essential groundwork for Chickaloon Native Village to develop and implement its groundbreaking criminal law.
“Our ancestors have always had ways of maintaining peace and justice in our communities,” said Chief Gary Harrison, Traditional Chief of Chickaloon Native Village. “This criminal law brings together our traditional knowledge with modern legal authority, allowing us to better protect our people in ways that align with our cultural values and promote healing for all involved. The recognition of our jurisdiction through VAWA 2022 has finally given us the tools to exercise our inherent sovereign rights to protect our people.”
Under the new law, Chickaloon Native Village will exercise its reaffirmed criminal jurisdiction over Alaska Native and American Indian peoples within their Alaska Native Village. The law implements culturally appropriate justice measures while strengthening community safety and accountability systems. This comprehensive approach combines traditional wisdom with contemporary legal frameworks, creating a model that honors both Tribal sovereignty and the need to protect Alaska Native communities.
This historic development marks the beginning of a new era in Alaska Tribal justice, providing a template for other Alaska Tribes seeking to develop their own criminal laws under the reaffirmation of criminal jurisdiction and jurisdictional framework established by VAWA 2022. The collaboration between the Chickaloon Native Village, the AKNWRC, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Judge David Avraham Voluck demonstrates the power of partnership in advancing Tribal sovereignty while showcasing how federal legislation can support Tribal nations in implementing their inherent sovereign authority.
About 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 153 years of combined experience in Tribal governments, nonprofit management, domestic violence, and sexual assault advocacy (both individual crisis and systems), and grassroots social change advocacy at the local, statewide, regional, national, and international levels. AKNWRC’s philosophy is that violence against women is rooted in the colonization of Indigenous Nations.
About the Chickaloon Native Village:
Chickaloon Native Village is an Ahtna Dene Tribal Nation dedicated to protecting its Tribal Citizens, preserving its cultural heritage, and exercising its inherent sovereignty. Grounded in the strength of its traditions and ancestral knowledge, the Nation is committed to addressing modern challenges through innovative governance and restorative practices. By blending cultural values with forward-thinking solutions, Chickaloon Native Village works to uphold justice, empower its community, and sustain its lands and resources for future generations while honoring its responsibility as a sovereign Nation.
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