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ALASKA TRIBES SUE FOR EQUAL STATE LAW
ENFORCEMENT SERVICES
The Native American Rights Fund, on behalf of
ten Native villages and seven Native individuals,
filed a civil lawsuit on October 25, 1999, in the
Superior Court for the State of Alaska, seeking
declaratory and injunctive relief against the State
of Alaska for failure to provide minimally ade-
quate police protection to off-road Native villages
and for discriminating against them in the provi-
sion of State law enforcement services.
In Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie, the State
argued that Native Villages were not Indian
country and therefore lacked taxing authority
to raise revenue for tribal governmental ser-
vices, like police protection. The State claimed
that tribal taxing authority was not necessary
because the State was providing all essential
governmental services.
The indisputable facts in Alaska Tribes
this new case demonstrate State Law En
the falsity of the State's Services .......
extravagant misrepresen-
tations in the Venetie case. CASE UPDAT]
Nonetheless, based in part Judge Orders
on these misrepresenta- Indian Trust I
tions, Alaska succeeded in
convincing the United Congress Pas,
States Supreme Court in Indian Water
1998 to deny Native
Villages' the critical means Court Rules i]
of providing local police Court Jurisdi
protection through tribal
jurisdiction. Now the time New Board M
has come for Alaska to pay NARF Profile
the price for its dubious
Venetie victory. And that NARF Resour
price will not be cheap. Publications.
When decision time comes
in this new case, it will be the price of providing
equal law enforcement services, in every respect,
to 165 Alaska Native Villages, whose Native resi-
dents the State has treated like second-class cit-
izens for over 40 years.
The complaint alleges that the actions of the
State in unlawfully prohibiting Native villages
from keeping the peace in their traditional ways,
which rendered them defenseless to lawbreakers,
while failing to provide them even minimally-ade-
quate police protection under the State law
enforcement system, violated the Villages' rights
to Due Process of law and basic law enforcement
protection guaranteed by the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution
and Article I of
Sue For Equal
forcement
..................... page I
ES
Court Oversight of
Fund ............ page 7
ses Historical
Rights ........ page 8
n Favor of Tribal
ction ............ page 9
embers ...... page 10
.................. page 11
ces and
................... page 12
VOLUME 25, NO. 1
the Alaska Constitution. The
complaint also alleges that
the State's discriminatory
treatment of Native villages
in the provision of police
protection is based on race
and therefore violates the
Villages' rights to Equal
Protection of the law under
the Fourteenth Amendment
to the United States
Constitution and Article I of
the Alaska Constitution.
The complaint also alleges
that the State's use of State
and federal funds and ser-
vices in State law enforce-
ment programs which dis-
criminate against Alaska
Natives in the provision of
police protection violates
WINTER/SPRING 2000
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