Elizabeth Peratrovich

"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."

It was then that a new era in Alaskan racial relations had started all because of one Woman. That Woman's Name was Elizabeth Peratrovich, a strong and determined woman. Elizabeth helped pave the way for Alaskan Native rights. She was a civil rights hero. Today I am going to tell you why Elizabeth Peratrovich should be recognized as a pioneer for the civil rights movement.

On July 4th, 1911 in southeast Alaska Edith Tagcook Paul gave birth to Kaaxal.gat a baby girl who would grow up to become Elizabeth Peratrovich. Her mother Edith was a Tlingit woman of the LuKaax.-`adi clan of the Raven moiety. Her father was William Paddock, an Irish man. William and Edith weren’t married. William was married to Edith’s sister Anna. Edith knew she could not care for her child alone so she turned to the Salvation Army to find a home for her child. That is where Elizabeth met her new parents Andrew Wanamaker and his Wife, Jean. The couple took their new daughter to their home in Sitka and that is where Elizabeth’s life began. Andrew, Jean, and Elizabeth lived what Alaskans call a subsistence lifestyle and followed many of the Tlingit ways. In the summer they climbed the mountains to pick blueberries, salmonberries, and highbush cranberries. down on the beach, they dug clams and fished for salmon, halibut and herring. Elizabeth learned how to dry and can fish and preserve berries for the winter. Because Elizabeth’s parents both spoke English and Tlingit Elizabeth was fluent in both. Sometimes Elizabeth would join in at Ku.`eex’, a big celebration to honor the memory of someone who had died or sometimes raise a new totem pole or dedicate a house. She would dance the ancient Tlingit dances in her traditional clothing. At these celebrations, Elizabeth would eat smoked fish, gumboots and Herring eggs which were her favorite. She would then listen to the speeches. There were always a lot of speeches at Ku.`eex’, and Elizabeth liked to sit and listen to them taking all the words in. The Tlingit people consider public speaking an important skill and one that requires careful thought. For thousands of years, the Tlingit and other southeast Alaska natives people did not use written languages. Instead, they told stories, made up dances and songs and created weavings, totem poles, and carvings to remember people and events. Elizabeth's adoptive mother was an amazing weaver. She taught Elizabeth how to dig, dry and weave spruce roots into baskets so tight they could hold water. Elizabeth loved Her Tlingit Heritage and her life. Andrew and Jean adored her and she grew up believing they were her birth parents. When Elizabeth went to school she discovered that there were no Alaska Native teachers and speaking Tlingit was not allowed. Sometimes the teachers would even punish them if they spoke their native language. As she got older Elizabeth she was troubled to see Alaska natives and other minorities were separated in many ways from white people. they were separated in Schools, Hospitals, movie theatres, and even cemeteries. Elizabeth’s father was a captain of a ship and a minister and when Elizabeth was old enough she would go with her father to other villages where he preached. Elizabeth would listen to her father's speeches. She was very intent on learning everything she could and when she found out that if she spoke seriously and chose her words carefully people would listen to her little did she know that she would grow up to be an important speaker. When Elizabeth was her family moved to Law`aak a Native village in the southern part of southeast Alaska it was there where she met her future husband Roy Peratrovich. Education was very limited and many kids would have to go to faraway schools to finish their education. Elizabeth went to the Sheldon Jackson school and Roy went to a school called Chemawa Indian School in Oregon. Elizbeth and Roy ended up going to the same high school and finished there and that’s when their relationship blossomed. They both went to college together.

On December 15th, 1931 Elizabeth and Roy married in Bellingham and soon after headed back to Klawock. During the next few years Elizabeth gave birth to three children first Roy Jr. then Frank Allen and last but not least Loretta Marie whom they called Lorie. Roy Sr. Joined the ANB (Alaska Native Brotherhood). While in Klawock, he served as a Chief clerk, policeman and postmaster and then was elected mayor for four consecutive terms. Elizabeth spent most of her time caring for their children, but she also supported her husband in his efforts to help Alaska native people. ( Boochever, Fighter in Velvet gloves 20.) Elizabeth served as grand vice president of the ANS (Alaska Native Sisterhood) for a while before becoming Grand President in the early 1940s. Meanwhile, Roy had been elected grand president of the ANB. But Elizabeth knew they could do more in the territorial capital of Juneau. So in 1941 at the age of thirty, she convinced her husband to move their young family to the biggest city in southeast Alaska. (Boochever, Fighter in velvet Gloves 21).

Juneau had a population of 6,000 and was evolving more and more. Moving there from the small Village of Klawock with a small population of 450 was a big change for the whole family. Many of the people in Klawock were related and everyone knew each other so incidents of racism were rare. But in Juneau and a lot of other communities in Alaska racial discrimination was common. When the Family arrived in Juneau Elizabeth saw a lot of hateful signs. One sign screamed at her, “WHITE TRADE ONLY!” It was especially offensive because the Tlingit had been accomplished traders for thousands of years, navigating river basins and mountain ranges from southeast Alaska to the interior (Boochever, Fighter in Velvet Gloves 23). You must be wondering why the young couple wanted to bring their family to such an unfriendly place? It helped that Elizabeth’s parents were there but Elizabeth had a bigger reason. As Alaska’s Capital Juneau was the place where the future of Alaska Native people would be decided. Elizabeth's fierce love for her children and her desire to protect them gave her courage (Boochever, Fighter in Velvet Gloves 24). Elizabeth and Roy would work alongside each other and other Alaska Native Leaders. Together they would do everything to End racism in Alaska. But before they did all that they had to find a place to live. They found several homes with for rent signs. The houses were near the fifth street school and the houses looked to be well maintained. It was the perfect place to raise their children. Roy called the man that was selling the house and he told them to meet him the next day. When they met the man the next day the owner looked at that and asked Roy, “Are you Indian?” Roy answered, “ Yes, I am.” The man looked at Elizabeth and asked, “Your wife too?” “Yes.” Replied Roy. “I’d like to help you, but the other people who live here don’t want me to rent to Indians.” Elizabeth and Roy left more determined to find a way to prevent people from telling Native Alaskans what they can and can’t do. Roy and Elizabeth eventually found a house near the school and directly across from the federal building where Roy worked as a territorial treasury. Not long after the family was Settled Elizabeth’s Mother became ill with a kidney disorder. The family was very saddened when Jean passed away on November 28, 1941, at the age of fifty-seven. Roy Jr. Said of his Grandmother Jean Wanamaker, “she spoiled me rotten and I loved her very much.” (Roy Jr., Fighter in Velvet Gloves 25).

The Period between 1941 and 1945 marked the United State's involvement in world war II and a time of great disrespect for Alaskan native people. (Boochever, Fighter in Velvet Gloves 31) One of the worst injustices was forced the relocation of nearly nine thousand men, women, children and elders from their homeland in Aleutian islands to crude, overcrowded camps in old canneries and other dilapidated facilities in southeast Alaska (Boochever, Fighter in Velvet Gloves 31). Even though Alaskan Native Men and Women were actively supporting the war effort they were still harshly discriminated against. The Army issued an order that prohibited Soleirs from associating with Alaskan Native Women in public, That means that if a native soldier was caught talking to his sister or mother in public he could be harshly punished. The Hateful actions and hateful signs didn’t stop and So Elizabeth and Roy had enough. Elizabeth and Roy sent a letter to Governor Earnest Gruening Urging him to have the hateful signs taken down. Gruening was sympathetic to their cause although he was unsuccessful in taking the signs down he worked closely with Anthony Diamond (Alaska’s Territorial Representative in Congress) and others like Elizabeth and Roy Sr, to draft an anti-discrimination bill and present it to the Alaska Territorial Legislature in 1943. The bill did not pass and it would not be reconsidered until 1945. Elizabeth decided that to pass the anti-discrimination bill, they needed support from all over Alaska not just Juneau so Elizabeth Set up a meeting with Governor Gruening to come up with a plan. In 1945, Governor Ernest Gruening, Congressional Representative Anthony J. Dimond, and Mayor Edward Anderson, of Nome, helped introduce legislation for equal rights of Native people. The anti-discrimination bill passed quickly through the house in a vote of 19 to 5. It was not until it reached the Senate that a two-hour discussion of the bill began, opposition arose (Pierce). "Far from being brought closer together, which will result from this bill," Senator Allen Shattuck began, "the races should be kept further apart. Who are these people, barely out of savagery, who want to associate with us whites with five thousand years of recorded civilization behind us?" Senator Frank Whaley did not want to sit next to an Eskimo in a theater, because they smelled. Senator Collens spoke in opposition as well, stating "The Eskimos are proud of their origins and are aware that harm comes to them from mixing with whites. It is the mixed, who is not accepted by either race, that causes the trouble. I believe in racial pride and do not think this bill will do, other than arouse bitterness." (Pierce) Elizabeth listened to the argument thoroughly taking all the hateful words. Others Senators were in favor of the bill such as O.D. Cochran. Roy Was invited to speak as The ANB Grand President. “Only Indians Only Indians can know how it feels to be discriminated against. Either you are for discrimination or you are against it accordingly as you vote in this bill." Following Roy's testimony, an opportunity was given for anyone present to voice his or her opinion. It was then that the strong, proud Elizabeth calmly rose and requested to speak. In the presence of mostly white and predominantly male legislators, I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery would have to remind gentlemen with five thousand years of recorded civilization behind them of our Bill of Rights. When my husband and I came to Juneau and sought a home in a nice neighborhood where our children could play happily with our neighbors' children, we found such a house and had arranged to lease it. When the owner learned we were Indians, they said "no." "Would we be compelled to live in the slums?" She continued to give a well worded, intense idea of the discrimination that the Indians and other Native people lived with on a daily basis. Having been a victim of this blatant prejudice in her daily life, Elizabeth told the assembly that "the finest of our race (has been forced) to associate with white trash." A silence set in over the crowded hall. (Pierce) Senator Shattuck asked Elizabeth if she thought the proposed bill would eliminate discrimination. Her reply which was a poignant part of her testimony was, "So laws against larceny and even murder prevent these crimes? No law will eliminate crimes but at least you legislators can assert to the world that you recognize the evil of the present situation and speak your intent to help us overcome discrimination." When Elizabeth was finished speaking a rousing applause came from the crowd and Senate. Strong opposition could not dare to oppose the fervent plea of this Tlingit woman. On February 8, 1945, the Senate passes the anti-discrimination bill, 11 to 5. She had helped begin a "new era in Alaskan racial relations."

So what did we learn today? We learned About Elizabeth’s Peratrovich’s Early life, We also learned about her family and how much she cared for them and lastly the most important thing that we learned is that Elizabeth is a civil rights hero and should be recognized for her work. Elizabeth helped create the Anti-Discrimination bill and is the reason it passed. It was the First Anti-Discrimination law in the united states and it was because of her. I think Elizabeth Should be more recognized across the United States as one of the Civil rights heroes. Elizabeth Peratrovich passed away on December 1, 1958, after a long battle with cancer, She will always be remembered for bringing the light of equality to the world.