In Sisterhood: THE HISTORY OF CAMP 2 of the ALASKA NATIVE SISTERHOOD

Edited by: Kimberly L. Metcalfe

$34.95 hardcover

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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

In Sisterhood, the first book-length history of Alaska's Tlingit women, recounts the remarkable lives of the women of Alaska Native Sisterhood's Camp 2, who grew up in towns and villages along Alaska's southeast coast, fishing in canoes with their grandmothers and helping their families gather seaweed, pick berries, and smoke fish.

If caught speaking Tlingit in school, their mouths would be taped shut, their hair tied in white rags, and their hands beaten with wooden rulers. They suffered ongoing discrimination, as schools and hospitals in the Territory of Alaska remained segregated, and signs prohibiting Natives from entering could be found hanging from businesses well into the 1940s.

Since the founding of their organization in 1926, the women of Juneau's Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 2, alongside their brothers in the Alaska Native Brotherhood, have fought for equal education, health care, and voting rights, and helped to win an historic settlement of claims to their traditional lands. In these pages, the women of Camp 2, and three men with close ties to the organization, tell the story of how the Alaska Native Sisterhood touched their lives and helped to change the course of Alaska's history.

REVIEWS

As I read these life stories of the remarkable women and men of Juneau's Camp 2-each one unassuming, unpretentious, and motivated solely by their respect and love for the organization -my heart filled with pride. Once I began reading, I could not put In Sisterhood aside. These members of Camp 2 leave their imprint on the lives of all who follow, their accomplishments embodied in the benefits we enjoy today as Alaska Natives. - Ethel Lund, member, Alaska Native Sisterhood Executive Committee

The issues addressed by the Alaska Native Sisterhood and Brotherhood since their inceptions remain as important in the 21st Century as they were in the 20th: civil rights, equal justice and opportunity, education, health care, safety for women and children, and subsistence. In Sisterhood preserves the stories of a remarkable group of women who worked to advance the causes of their culture while raising their families. Their contributions are something all Alaskans can be proud of. - Fran Ulmer, Camp 2 member and former Lieutenant Governor of Alaska

I am so grateful for all I have learned and all the good times I've had since joining Camp 2 in 1998. I am delighted now to be able to hear again, speaking from the pages of this book, the voices of not only my mentor, Harriet Roberts, but those of many other of my Camp 2 heroines-those who have passed and those still living. Gunalcheesh! - Honorable Beth Kerttula, Alaska House of Representatives, and member of Camp 2

When I was a child growing up in Craig, the ANS held social gatherings, led fundraising efforts for the land suit against the federal government, and were always there for the families when someone died. They were the center of the community. In Juneau, Camp 2 has for generations fought for civil rights, land claims, and better educational opportunities for Native children. The stories told by the role models in these pages will continue to inspire all of us far into the future. Gunalcheesh! - Ed Thomas, former President, Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska