I told you how many grandchildren I have. When I'm gone, how are they going to live? . . . That's why I've got to do it for all my grandchildren and great-grandchildren and my great-great-grandchildren. I don't do this for myself. I'm too old for that now. I'm thinking about the many days ahead.

Katie John was an Ahtna Athabascan woman who fought tirelessly to protect the subsistence way of life for Alaska Native peoples. Born in 1915 at Slana, Alaska, she was raised to live off the land in the Native Village of Baltzulneta, or “Roasted Salmon Place”. As a strong advocate of the Ahtna Athabascan language, she helped create the first written alphabet in the 1970s and taught the language to her 14 children, six foster children, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In 1984, the Alaska State Board of Fisheries denied a request to subsistence fish at the now-abandoned Baltzulneta, ending a way of life that had been practiced by the Ahtna Athabaskan people for generations. This denial resulted in decades of litigation and the Supreme Court decision, Katie John v. Norton. Ultimately, she prevailed, with the Supreme Court recognizing the right of rural Alaskans to subsistence fish and hunt at their historical grounds and ensuring protection of this right on federal lands and waters. After Governor of Alaska Tony Knowles met with John, he stated, “I understand the strength, core and values that subsistence gives to Katie John’s family and to the thousands of similar families… I know-we all know that what Katie John does is not wrong. It is right-right for her, right for the village.” Not only was John a leader in protecting subsistence rights, but she empowered others to continue their Native culture and intrinsic connection with the land.

Credit: This plaque was created by SUTL Cohort 30.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch News