FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
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    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
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    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
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    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
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    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Elizabeth Peratrovich Portrayed On $1 Coin

By ALEX DeMARBAN
Anchorage Daily News
    ANCHORAGE (AP) — A young Alaska Native woman left an impression on Alaska’s territorial Senate in 1945, delivering a speech that led to the passage of the nation’s first anti-discrimination law.
    Now, the late Elizabeth Peratrovich is leaving her impression on a $1 coin.
    The U.S. Mint unveiled the design of the coin Oct. 5 at the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood convention in Anchorage. The 2020 Native American coin will go on sale early next year.
    The coin will feature a portrait of the late civil rights leader — composed and graceful, her hair in tight rolls — above words that highlight her legacy: “Anti-discrimination Law of 1945.” An image of a raven, depicting her Tlingit lineage, soars near her.
    “The coin will be a lasting tribute to Elizabeth Peratrovich and her relentless efforts to tear down the wall of discrimination against Alaska Natives,” said Patrick Hernandez, acting deputy director of the U.S. Mint. “Perhaps Elizabeth was like the raven, crying out until the darkness of discrimination was dispelled.”
    The coin will teach the world about Peratrovich’s brave acts and “what Alaska was like” and wants to be in the future, said Gov. Mike Dunleavy, speaking after the coin’s unveiling.
    “This is history in the making,” said Dunleavy, who on Saturday also signed a bill that establishes November as Alaska Native Heritage Month. “There will be people not just in Alaska, not just in this country, but in this world that will understand what this courageous woman did for all of humanity.”

This undated line drawing released by the U.S. Mint shows a new $1 coin that features Elizabeth Peratrovich, a young Alaska Native woman who left an impression on Alaska’s territorial Senate in 1945 by persuading the body to pass one of the nation’s first anti-discrimination laws. The U.S. Mint unveiled the design on Oct. 5, 2019, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood convention in Anchorage. The coin features a portrait of the late civil rights leader, composed and graceful, her hair in tight rolls, above words that highlight her legacy: “Anti-discrimination Law of 1945.” An image of a raven, depicting her Tlingit lineage, soars near her. The 2020 Native American coin will go on sale early next year. (U.S. Mint via AP)

    Peratrovich and her husband, Roy Peratrovich, championed the Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act depicted on the coin.
    During the World War II years in Juneau, they were appalled by the “White Trade Only” signs they saw outside public establishments, said Jackie Pata, a Tlingit and former executive director of National Congress of American Indians.
    Leaders of the Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, the Peratrovich couple traveled to Alaska communities, building support against discrimination, Pata said. They sought help from from territorial Gov. Ernest Gruening, who signed the bill into law on Feb. 16, now Elizabeth Peratrovich day.
    At the age of 33, Peratrovich uttered her memorable testimony after a territorial senator suggested that people “barely out of savagery” shouldn’t associate with “whites with 5,000 years of recorded civilization.”
    “I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind the gentlemen with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind them of our Bill of Rights,” she answered.
    Elizabeth’s passionate testimony changed the vote, Pata said Saturday. The bill guaranteed equal access in restaurants, hotels and other places nearly 20 years before Congress approved the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
    “That small woman who stood there in that Legislature, had more power than those she stood amongst,” Pata said.
    Later, Elizabeth fought for health care and educational rights, and for Alaska Natives to become part of the National Congress of American Indians, Pata said.
    The Native American coin program, the result of an act passed by Congress in 1997, honors a Native American person or tribe each year. One side always features Sacagawea, the Lemhi Shoshone woman who assisted the Lewis and Clark expedition.
    The Mint worked with Alaska Natives to help design the Elizabeth Peratrovich coin, officials with the agency said.
    It can be spent or collected, and will be produced at the U.S. Mints in Denver and Philadelphia, said Michael White, a spokesman with the U.S. Mint.
    A roll of 25 will cost $32.95, a bag of 100 will cost $111.95 and boxes of 250 will cost $275.95, White said.
    Peratrovich died in 1958, at age 47.
    “Even at this moment, she is still speaking,” said Paulette Moreno, grand president of the Alaska Native Sisterhood.

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

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