Committee Forms to Reduce Sexual Assault
Among Native Women
The following statistics are alarming and intolerable. According to the Anchorage Police Department, while Alaska Natives comprise only eight percent of Anchorage's population, 40 to 45 percent of Native women have reported themselves as victims of sexual assault.
In an effort to deal effectively with sexual assault and prevent the occurrence among Native women, Anchorage Police Lieutenant Tom Nelson and Cindy Pennington have organized the Alaska Native Women Sexual Assault Committee. This committee is part of a task force that is initiating efforts to reduce the epidemic of violence against Alaska Native women through education and awareness.
Sexual assault is an issue of considerable importance to Pennington, an Alaska Native of Alutiiq descent. She contacted Southcentral Foundation to enlist their help. Southcentral Foundation, represented by Marilyn Pierce-Bulger and Shelley Reppel, joined the APD committee and formed the Focus Group Subcommittee to help the police and their agenda. Southcentral's subcommittee is working on gathering information via a questionnaire and interview process with Alaska Native women who have been victims of sexual assault, as well as with the perpetrators of sexual assault.
Pierce-Bulger is part of Southcentral Foundation's Nutaqsiivik program named for the Yupik word meaning "Place of Renewal." Pierce-Bulger hopes to see a Sexual Assault Reporting Team (SART) program developed at the Alaska Native Medical Center. Karen Bitzner of Standing Together Against Rape (STAR) is also part of the police task force and committee. According to Bitzner, Anchorage downtown bars and nightclubs have joined the committee's efforts and begun posting signs warning women to use caution as well as warning perpetrators that they are being watched.
If a woman wants to report a rape, she can call the emergency 911 number or call STAR's 24-hour Anchorage crisis line at 276-7273 or the statewide number, 1-800-478-8999.
CASA Seeks Child Advocates
The Alaska Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program is recruiting volunteers who speak up for abused, neglected or abandoned children. A CASA is appointed by a judge to advocate for what is best for a child, including the right to a safe, nurturing and permanent home. Today there are more than 800 CASA programs throughout the United States. Forty-seven thousand volunteers work with nearly 183,000 children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned. A CASA's main responsibilities include gathering information about the case, representing the child's best interests in the courtroom, meeting with the child regularly, acting as a "watch dog" for the child during the life of the case, and ensuring that it is brought to a swift and appropriate conclusion. No special legal background is required. If you are interested in becoming a CASA, attend one of the following informational meetings or call the Office of Public Advocacy at (907) 269-3500. All meetings are held at the Snowden Court Administration Building, 820 West 4th Avenue, on the following dates: Thursday, August 19 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.; Friday, September 10 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.; and Tuesday, September 21 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Miss CICA Awarded
Second Title of Miss WEIO
On Friday, July 16th at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics held in Fairbanks, Alaska, Lily Tuzroyluke was crowned Miss WEIO. Tuzroyluke is also the titleholder of Miss Cook Inlet Cultural Ambassador (CICA), which she won in June.
Tuzroyluke is a justice major entering her junior year at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Her ambition is to become a tribal lawyer. Although she was born and raised in Anchorage, she has spent time in both Point Hope and Aiyansh, British Columbia, Canada. Her descent is of Inupiaq and Tlingit, as well as Nisga'a from British Columbia.
Tuzroyluke's many interests and talents include writing poetry, playing the violin for the UAA orchestra, running, sewing, and doing beadwork. She is also an actress and member of Cupik Warrior Productions, a local Native-owned enterprise and talent agency.
For the past eight years, she has participated in various athletic events at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics. This year as part of WEIO's opening ceremony, Tuzroyluke and 10 other female runners ran five kilometers in an effort to be the first one to light a seal oil lamp. She also competed in the Blanket Toss and won a first place in Drop the Bomb.
For the Miss WEIO ceremony, Tuzroyluke wore her Tlingit regalia in honor of her mother, Shirley Tuzroyluke. Her Tlingit clan is the killer whale, and she wore killer whale moccasins designed by her mother and carried a traditional red and black button blanket displaying a killer whale rising out of the water, designed by her Aunt Helen McNeil.
"As Miss WEIO, I want to be a positive role model and I want to educate our Native youth about issues that concern me," said Tuzroyluke. "Some of these issues are tribal sovereignty, and finding ways to curb the rising alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide rates among the Native population. Also, I would like to share the legacy of my Native culture with other Alaskans who might not be familiar with it."
