Alaska Natives need know about U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan’s deeply troubling record of waging a war against Alaska Natives when he was supposed to be protecting us as Attorney General.

When Dan Sullivan was Alaska’s Attorney General, he wasted an opportunity to make a real difference for Alaska Natives. Instead he added to Alaska’s long history of prosecuting Alaska Natives every time we’ve tried to assert our rights – from our right to hunt and fish on our own land to our right to enforce our own laws – most notably in the cases of Katie John and Kaltag.

Sullivan could have led by example and stood with Alaska Natives in both those cases. But he didn’t. He chose to take Alaska Native rights to court, following in the footsteps of so many state officials before him who didn’t take the time to understand these issues, instead waging a war on tribal rights and subsistence.

As Attorney General, Dan Sullivan took Katie John to court again for wanting the right to hunt and fish on her tribal lands along the Copper River. Sullivan appealed the case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals — even though the state had lost several times before. She was an Athabascan elder and had already spent over 20 years in litigation.  Sullivan made certain that Katie never saw the case settled. Instead she spent the rest of her life fighting the state for the right to live off her land the way her tribe had for thousands of years.

But it wasn’t just subsistence rights Dan Sullivan tried to take away from us. Sullivan also didn’t think tribes should have the right to protect a child from an unsafe, unwelcoming environment. He pursued tribes even further, choosing to hire an expensive Outside law firm to reexamine the Kaltag case, even arguing it should be sent to the Supreme Court. Sullivan sided with an abuser, creating obstacles for a child to have a safe home. Thankfully, the Supreme Court refused to take the case up.

In both the Katie John and Kaltag cases, Dan Sullivan prosecuted Alaska Natives even after the District Court had ruled in our favor. His resolve and determination to take away subsistence rights from Alaska Native tribes is alarming. What’s more, he spent countless state resources and money just to make a point. Sullivan’s fight with Alaska Natives didn’t end there: as Department of Natural Resources Commissioner for Alaska, Sullivan wrote HB 77. If the bill had passed, it would have taken away both our ability to reserve waterways for subsistence fishing and our input on land decisions.

Beyond taking away our rights, he has also stumbled over whether he would support the Violence Against Women Act, a law that has been crucial to our public safety. These are issues that should be Alaska 101 for Senate candidates. And Dan Sullivan is getting a failing grade.

As Election Day rapidly approaches, it is absolutely critical that all Alaska Natives understand exactly what Dan Sullivan did when he was in a position of power. Our people have been prosecuted and persecuted at the hands of the state government for too long, and we don’t need more people in power challenging our right to raise our own children or live off our own land.

Actions speak much louder than any words Dan Sullivan might say on the campaign trail as he runs for U.S. Senate. We need real leaders, like Mark Begich. Not Dan Sullivan.

Michael Baines
Sitka