Kawerak Stands with the Black Community
Kawerak Inc. stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. We mourn and condemn the senseless murders of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others who died at the hands of police in our country. As an Alaska Native tribal organization founded to advance political, social, economic and cultural conditions in the Bering Strait Region, we recognize that injustice caused to our brothers and sisters obstructs a thriving world. We recognize we have a voice, and a responsibility, to continue to pursue a new path forward toward equality for all.
Kawerak is a law enforcement-providing agency. Although we recognize there is still work to do, we are proud to say the majority of our Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) force is Alaska Native. We are proud to say we support our VPSOs through their education and training in the program. We hold our officers to high standards and encourage more young people of color to consider a career in law enforcement. Although equal representation in our force is at work against systemic issues such as underfunding of the VPSO program, and a State-mandated model that doesn’t allow for itinerant / traveling VPSO’s, and lack of housing for our officers – that does not give us an excuse to not work harder, consider possible solutions, dismantle current systems and build a better one.
Kawerak is also an educational institution, housing our Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Here we bring in cultural education to our classrooms, using our traditional languages, dances, values and learning about the land. Here we have to balance these priorities with State requirements for the Western-style education system, which historically and at present devalues indigenous education. We actively support tribal compacting of our education system as well, to deconstruct embedded racism.
In the justice system, our staff at Katirvik Cutural Center and our Wellness program conducted cultural humility training for all judges across Alaska. We called upon the local, state and federal governments to make changes to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis, hosting talks and roundtables. Additionally, we hired a staff attorney to focus on building up and supporting our Tribal Courts in the Bering Strait Region. Bringing justice locally will work to reduce the overrepresentation of Alaska Natives in the criminal justice system caused by years of systemic racism.
We are working to address the injustice and racism that pervades these systems and we call on others to stand as allies and do the same in their circles and spheres of influence. We recognize we cannot reach our mission, “advancing the capacity of our people and tribes for the benefit of the region” without equity and justice.
Additionally, this work cannot be done by organizations alone. Our ancestors like Alberta Schenck, championed equity work in our communities. Individual work will make a difference in this movement, but action is critical. When you see or hear something that isn’t just or fair, speak out; when we are silent, we add to the problem. Some ways you can do that are by taking Kawerak’s workshops in Cultural Humility, Knowing Who You Are, Undoing Racism, and Decolonization through the Katirvik Cultural Center and Kawerak Wellness. You can also participate in Kawerak’s hosted community conversations on racial equity in partnership with our friends at First Alaskans Institute. You can advocate to receive Kawerak’s education and services from your employer to address racism in the workplace and examine policies for issues related to equity. We all can take the time to educate ourselves, listen to differing perspectives and learn about the history of this nation from the perspective of marginalized groups.
Our traditional values tell us we need to help each other and support our community, and that includes the Black community. Each one of us must work to perpetuate a culture that recognizes the inherent value and dignity of all human life.
Black Lives Matter.
Below are links to other helpful resources.
Links to resources:
https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/kivel3.pdf
https://encompassmovement.org/8-ways-white-folks-can-support-poc/
https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2018/what-is-white-privilege-really
