By Dana Ruaro

The Alaska Native Brotherhood, the Alaska Native Sisterhood, Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Sealaska Corporation, S.E. Alaska Village Corporations and SEARHC, as Indian entities, recognize Mrs. Elizabeth Peratrovich as our civil rights leader.

Mrs. Peratrovich was born to Andrew and Mary Wanamaker on July 4, 1911 in Petersburg. She became active in the ANS, as her husband was active in the ANB. The year Mrs. Peratrovich appeared before the 1945 Alaska Territorial Legislature, she and Roy were the ANB and ANS Grand Presidents.

The Alaska Native Brotherhood and the Alaska Native Sisterhood were formally organized in 1912 and 1923, respectively. They worked diligently to overcome discrimination. They secured the rights to citizenship, to own land, to own a business and to vote. Indians paid the required territorial taxes, but were not allowed to attend public schools. Indians were called to military service; however, their widows could not receive widow's benefits. Indians struggled to take their place in the work force so they could provide for their families and offer their children the right to an education. The ANB and ANS believed, then and now, education is the key to progress.

Roy and Elizabeth moved from Klawock to Juneau in 1941 seeking employment. They were not allowed to lease the house of their choosing due to their race. Non-Indians associating with Indians were refused service. Signs were everywhere saying: "No Indians Allowed" and "White Trade Only." The ANB and ANS, with Roy and Elizabeth, decided it was time to again approach the Legislature regarding discrimination against Indians.

The Anti-Discrimination bill was introduced in the 16th Legislature by Edward Anderson. The bill passed by a vote of 19 to 5. When the bill came up in the Senate, a two-hour discussion ensued where it was violently opposed by Allen Shattuck. Senator H. R. Walker asked Roy Peratrovich. Mr. Peratrovich told of the governor of Alaska's report to the Secretary of Interior, which recognized the existence of discrimination. He also quoted the Democratic Party plank, which favored action on the Natives' behalf.

During the debate on the bill, an opportunity was given the public to voice their views. Elizabeth rose and crossed the Senate floor to seat herself next to the Senate President on his raised platform. The bill had been violently opposed before and during the debate on the floor. Elizabeth was poised when she answered Allen Shattuck's challenge when he said, "Far from being brought closer together, which will result from this bill," he said. "The races should be kept further apart. Who are these people, barely out of savagery, who want to associate with us whites with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind us?"

As Elizabeth stood before the all-male Legislature, the packed gallery was tense with expectation. "I would not have expected," said Elizabeth in a strong steady voice, "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 sought a home in a nice neighborhood, where our children could play happily with our neighbors' children, we were told by the owners we could not lease because we were Indians. Would we be compelled to live in the slums?" Mrs. Peratrovich said, "There are three kinds of persons who practice discrimination. First, the politician who wants to maintain an inferior minority group so that he can always promise them something. Second, the Mr. and Mrs. Jones who aren't quite sure of their social position and who are nice to you on one occasion and can't see you on others, depending on who they are with. Third, the great superman who believes in the superiority of the white race."

"Discrimination suffered by herself and her friends," President Peratrovich told the assembled body, "has forced the finest of our race to associate with white trash." There was awesome silence in the packed hall.

Asked by Senator Shattuck if she thought the proposed bill would eliminate discrimination Elizabeth queried in rebuttal, "Do your laws against larceny and even murder prevent those crimes? No law will eliminate crimes, but al least you as Legislators can assert to the world that you recognize the evil of the present situation and speak your intent to help us overcome discrimination."

The Senate passed the bill 11 to 5 on Feb. 8, 1945. The Anti-Discrimination Act was signed on Feb. 16, 1945, now Elizabeth Peratrovich Day.

As we pause to reflect on the struggle for democracy by the ANB and ANS members who came before us and the stand Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich took that day in 1945, we, the ANB and ANS members in Southeast Alaska, Anchorage and Seattle, honor their accomplishment.

It is our prayer, 59 years after the Anti-Discrimination Act was passed, that all of us in each community will continue to uphold the stands and ideals set for us by our ancestors. We will at all times treat each individual with respect, step forward to help those in need and support each individual's role in our society.

• Juneau resident Dana Ruaro is an executive council member, the ANS Grand Camp Sergeant-at-Arms and the vice-president for ANS Camp 70.