We honor Katie John Day, a powerful Ahtna Elder whose courage and determination protected the subsistence rights of Alaska Native people.

Katie John filed a lawsuit in 1985 against the State of Alaska and later the federal government. Her argument was simple but powerful: Alaska Natives have the right to continue their traditional subsistence fishing on federal waters.

The case centered on the interpretation of Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), which promises rural Alaska residents—many of whom are Alaska Native—the priority for subsistence uses on federal public lands.

In a key ruling in 1994, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Katie John, stating that navigable waters within federal conservation units in Alaska are subject to federal subsistence priority under ANILCA. This meant that the federal government, not the state, had management authority over those waters when it came to subsistence.

We remember her today and every day as we carry forward the work to protect and defend our subsistence rights.

More information: https://narf.org/cases/katie-john-v-norton/

Photo Credit: Native American Rights Fund