ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Athabascan elder Katie John, whose name became synonymous with subsistence rights for indigenous people after she won a landmark case over placing a fish wheel on the Copper River, died on Friday. She was believed to be 98.
The Metnasta Lake woman died at Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, according to hospital spokeswoman Fiona Brosnan.
“Alaska has lost a steadfast advocate for Native subsistence rights,” U.S. Sen. Mark Begich said in a statement. “From her fish camp on the Copper River, Katie John gave Alaska Natives across our state a voice to their long-sought protection of traditional hunting and fishing rights.”
John was lead plaintiff in a 1990 lawsuit that resulted in stronger Native subsistence fishing rights in Alaska.
The case was filed after the state refused to allow her and another elder, Doris Charles, access to a long-abandoned fish camp in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
John was fighting to keep her family’s fish camp at the juncture of Tanada Creek and Copper River, the Anchorage Daily News said.
The legal fight took a decade before John prevailed and was allowed to place her wheel on the river.
The case followed a federal takeover of subsistence hunting on federal lands and established that the federal government has authority on most waters in Alaska to ensure a subsistence priority for rural residents.
The federal takeover came after the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that the state constitution guarantees all residents equal access to Alaska fish and game. That ruling put the state at odds with the federal Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, which required a rural preference for subsistence.
In 2011, John received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It was bestowed in recognition of her advocacy of indigenous rights and her ongoing efforts as a teacher of culture and language.
Among other achievements, she helped create the alphabet for the Ahtna dialect of Athabascan.
She and her husband, Fred John, raised 14 children and six foster children.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
