By Mary M. Brooks, UAS Student Intern
Title: Chilkat Indian Village, IRA, v. Johnson Legal Documents, 1976-1994
ID: MS/035
Primary Creator: Chilkat Indian Village
Extent: 1.0 Boxes
Date Acquired: 07/01/2010
Subjects: Tlingit Indians--History.
Languages: English
This is a collection of photocopies that document the legal and historical background of a landmark case concerning ownership of Tlingit cultural objects that were removed from the Village of Klukwan, Alaska in 1984, Chilkat Indian Village, IRA, v. Johnson. The disposition of this case heralded a fundamental change in how Native Alaskan peoples would be able to determine or reclaim their cultural property via the Native American Graves Protection Repatriation Act of 1990. It also set a precedent whereby a United States court stated that it was unable to dispense justice in cases concerning tribal laws and ownership and justice would be best served by allowing the Native Alaskan peoples the right to settle according their already established laws. Also, this collection is important as it provides insight into the basic Tlingit belief of balance in all things and the dangers inherent in its loss of balance due to tensions created when disagreements cannot be resolved. In this case the disagreement exists between the clan, the Gaanaxteidí, multiple clan individuals who claim the role of the sacred caretaker status in the Whale House, a division of the Gaanaxteidí clan, and Michael Johnson, an art dealer from Santa Fe, New Mexico. The issue at hand has to do with who has the right to remove or sell the clan’s cultural property and how will the issue of legal redress be satisfied.
Folder one contains copies of court documents and summaries ranging in date from 1978 to 1993. These photocopies reveal the sequence of legal events that culminated in Judge Bowen’s ruling in favor of the clan and have the disputed Whale House cultural objects, in returned to the clan site in Klukwan, Alaska.
Folder two contains a five-part series published in the Alaska Daily News written by Marilee Enge that chronicles the history of the Whale House from circa 1750 to 1993. The story follows the Gaanaxteidí clan and Whale House members as they attempt to determine, once and for all, the ownership of Whale House objects. This series highlights the complexity of the problem both legally, socially and culturally. Although Tlingit law is absolute about At.óow and clan ownership, House Caretakers also feel a vested interest as these objects are passed along for safekeeping through the matrilineal lines. Time and again, clan members attempted to determine the issue of ownership by use of the United State legal system, however the situation would not show any forward movement until Judge von der Heydt ordered the case to the tribal courts for a ruling. Von der Heydt stated that the village of Klukwan was a federally recognized tribe and had the power to pass laws. This was the first time in Alaskan history that a case would be referred from federal court to a tribal court.
Sources:
Rachael Grad, “Indigenous Rights and Intellectual Property Law: A Comparison of the United States and Australia,” Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law 13, no. 203 (Winter 2003): 203-31.
Vanessa Magnanini, ""Constructing Tribal Sovereignty for the 21st Century: The Story of Law,” Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School | Boston College Law School Research. Accessed July 26, 2011. http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/twlj/vol18/iss1/3.
Rosita F. Worl, "Tlingit At.óow: Tangible and Intangible Property," PhD Diss., Harvard University, 1998.
Repository: Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives
Acquisition Source: Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives
Acquisition Method: The material in the collection was created and collected by SHI in 2010.
Included in the folder:
a photocopy of 457 F. Supp. 384 (1978) Estelle De Haven Johnson v. Chilkat Indian Village, Dick Hotch, Johanna Hotch, Joseph Hotch, Rose Hotch, Ruth Kasko, Katzeek Smith, Helen King, Margaret Stevens, Lani Strong, Martha Willard, Marvin Willard, and other unknown residents of Kluwan, Alaska, Defendants., No. J76-12 Civil, September 27, 1978;
a photocopy of 643 F. Supp. 535 (1986) Chilkat Indian Village v. Michael R. Johnson, Inc., a Profit Corporation Incorporated in the State of Washington, and Clarence Hotch Mildred Sparks (Deceased), Margaret Thomas, Wesley Willard, Evans Willard, David Light, Ron Sparks, Raymond Light, Irene Rowan, Clifford Thomas, William A. Thomas, Jr., Christine Martin, Mia Rowan, and Rochene Rowan, Individual Members of the “Whale House Group”, Defendants, and State of Alaska, Intervenor-Defendants.;
a photocopy of J84-024 CIV., affidavit by Rosita Worl regarding the case of Chilkat Indian Village, a Federally Recognized Indian Tribe, Plaintiff, v. Michael R. Johnson, an Individual, Michael R. Johnson, Inc., a Profit Corporation Incorporated in the State of Washington, Clarence Hotch, Mildred Sparks (Deceased), Margaret Thomas, Wesley Willard, Evans Willard, David Light, Ron Sparks, Raymond Light, Irene Rowan, Clifford Thomas, William A. Thomas, Jr., Christine Martin, Mia Rowan and Rochene Rowan, individual members of the “Whale House Group”;
a photocopy of 870 F2d 1969 Chilkat Indian Village v. R Johnson R [sic] which sends the case to tribal court, argued 1987, decided 1989 in United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit;
a photocopy, full text, of 870 F.2d 1469 (1989) Chilkat Indian Village, a federally recognized Indian Tribe, Plaintiff-Appellant v. Michael R. Johnson, an individual, Michael R. Johnson, Inc., a Washington Corporation, The Whale House Group, Defendants-Appellee, and State of Alaska, Defendant-Intervenor-Appellee. No. 86-4312, United State Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, (argued 1987, decided 1989);
a photocopy of tribal court Judge James Bowen’s ruling: Chilkat Indian Village, IRA v. Johnson, 20 Indian L. Rep 6127 (Chilkat Tr. Ct. [Nov] 1993); a photocopy of the full text of Chilkat Indian Village, IRA v. Johnson, et al., No. 90-01 (Chilkat Tr. Ct., Nov. 3, 1993).
a photocopy, full text, of Chilkat Indian Village Tribal Court, Chilkat Indian Village, Ira v. Johnson, et al., No. 90-01 (Chilkat Tr. Ct., Nov. 3, 1993)
