WASHINGTON – The number one health problem facing Alaska Natives is alcoholism and crime related to alcohol abuse, witnesses told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in a recent oversight hearing.
With growing levels of reported crimes related to alcohol in rural Alaska, their testimony highlights a problem which has only worsened in recent years. However, some villages are seeking new answers to an elusive problem.
Alcohol abuse, alcoholism and the social impacts associated has long been a problem for many Alaska native villages. In a 1994 report, Alaska Native infant mortality and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome rates were more than twice the national average and alcohol-induced violence, especially sexual violence against women and children, were epidemic, contributing to the state’s Native prison population (32 percent), which is double the percentage of the general population.
In a 1999 report of the Alaska Commission on Rural Governance and Empowerment, it was noted that “alcoholism continues as an endemic condition that ravages individuals, families and communities in rural, particularly Native, Alaska.”
The Governor’s Commission reported that 97 percent of all crimes by Alaska Natives are committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol, with alcohol being the predominate contributor.
One answer some see to the problem is greater control by the local village government. With local control comes local solutions that fit each village’s unique needs.
“The tragic consequences of alcohol, drug and inhalant abuse in Alaska Native Villages can only be resolved at the village level by Native people with adequate resources and support from outside the village,” said Julie Kitka, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN). “The state’s local option laws have not worked for Alaska’s Native Villages. They were not designed or written by Native people. The solutions imposed on the villages over the years has come from outside and they have not worked.”
Under Alaska state law, “local option,” a state-incorporated local government or area, prohibits the sale, importation, or possession of alcoholic beverages. Some 52 percent of Alaska Natives live in areas which restrict the availability of alcohol in some form.
Seventy-six communities have voted to ban importation and sale of alcohol, 16 banned just the sale, and 30 banned possession. While these efforts have been somewhat successful experts say that further measures are needed, including greater local control by Native villages.
“One reason why the state law framework fails to completely address the problem may stem from the distances between Native villages and state authorities,” said Jacqueline Agtuca, acting director of the Office of Tribal Justice with the Department of Justice.
“It is difficult for state troopers to cover the necessary distances to investigate alcohol-related offenses and there is no one locally available to manage the problem. Native villages have to be directly involved in solving alcohol related problems and controlling liquor in their communities.”
While problems of distance remain a key part of the problem, tribal leaders say the real answer is greater authority for Native villages. As federally recognized tribes, Alaska Native villages have some inherent authority to address alcohol-related problems within their communities; however, that authority is limited. Since the Supreme Court ruled that “Indian Country” lands are mostly absent in Alaska, Alaska Native villages are left only with the authority of landowners over their own land.
Villages may prevent alcohol from being introduced onto their lands, but they cannot enforce deterrent measures such as civil penalties or forfeitures against non-members.
The federation is proposing legislation which it says places the authority for regulating transactions involving alcoholic beverages and the ability to prohibit the sale, importation or possession of alcoholic beverages, directly with Alaska Native villages. The geographic scope of the legislation would be limited to the exterior boundaries of the village, as identified under the Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act.
The legislation also would enable willing Native villages the ability to handle offenses under tribal ordinances prohibiting or regulating the importation and use of alcohol. Federation officials say their proposal offers a solution which places responsibility directly in the hands of those most concerned.
“For those villages that are within incorporated cities, the authority provided by the legislation would be limited to transactions involving Alaska Natives, and only to the extent tribal law does not conflict with the city’s alcoholic beverage control laws,” said Julie Kitka of the federation. “This legislation would allow the Native villages to do what they think it takes to address local alcohol problems in culturally appropriate and effective ways.”
While officials from the state of Alaska have expressed some concerns over the legislation, AFN is expected to push for introduction early next year.
