[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 84 (Thursday, June 17, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S6989]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SADIE BROWER NEAKOK

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, in November of 2003, I was honored to 
join with the Senator from Maine, Ms. Collins, in speaking on the 
Senate floor about the need for a national museum honoring the 
contributions of women in American history.
  Senator Collins and I took turns addressing the accomplishments of 
pioneering women from our respective States, who were breaking through 
glass ceilings long before society acknowledged that they even existed.
  One of the women I discussed was Sadie Brower Neakok, an Inupiaq 
Eskimo woman, from Barrow on Alaska's North Slope. Sadie has the 
distinction of being the first woman to serve as a magistrate in the 
State of Alaska. Four years before the United States passed its 
landmark civil rights act, an Eskimo woman was sitting on the bench in 
the State of Alaska.
  But her life was remarkable in so many other respects. For one thing, 
she was appointed in 1960, a year after Alaska was admitted to 
statehood and long before women, not to mention Alaska Native women, 
came to realize that a career in the law was even an option. She 
continued in that role for nearly 2 decades.
  Second, she was not trained as a lawyer. She was trained as an 
educator at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
  Yet when Sadie took the bench everyone knew she meant business. You 
should know that in the early days, the bench was Sadie's kitchen 
table.
  She was tough on offenders, but equally tough on Government officials 
when asked to enforce unjust laws and regulations.
  Ignoring the neutrality and detachment our society expects from its 
judicial officers, Sadie took a great risk when in May, 1961 she 
challenged an arbitrary game regulation which permitted duck hunting 
only after the ducks had already flown south.
  After one subsistence hunter was arrested for violating the law, she 
quietly organized the rest of the community to violate the same law. 
Nearly 150 people came forth bearing ducks and demanded to be arrested.
  The game warden could not keep up with the violators. There was not 
sufficient space in the jail to house them all. Sadie refused to charge 
them. In response to the community emergency, the regulation was 
changed.
  Reflecting on this well known episode of civil disobedience, the 
Alaska Commission on the Status of Women in 1983 noted, ``It was, 
perhaps, judicial activism at an awkward peak, but it brought necessary 
change for the people of Barrow.''
  Finally, Sadie was already an accomplished teacher, a public health 
worker and a social worker before taking the bench. She was working on 
her fourth career before many women embarked on their first job outside 
the home.
  This is not to say that Sadie ignored the home. She was the mother of 
13 children and cared for numerous foster children. In fact, she is 
regarded as the mother of all Barrow, which today has a population of 
about 4,500 people. She was a renowned seamstress, capable of making 
virtually anything from cloth or fur. Her life makes the aspiration 
shared by many women of ``having it all'' seem like a cliche.
  I have the sad duty of informing the Senate that Sadie Brower Neakok 
passed away last Sunday at the age of 88. When asked once what the best 
part of her work was, Sadie replied, ``gaining the respect of my 
people.'' Today in Barrow, AK, which remains an Eskimo community where 
people still speak their Native language, the community will turn out 
to demonstrate the depth of that respect.
  If there were a National Women's History Museum, young women 
everywhere would know Sadie's name and be able to take inspiration from 
her story. Until then it will take a bit more effort for people to 
learn more about this remarkable woman.
  Fortunately, Sadie's story is not lost to history. It is preserved 
for eternity in recorded oral histories and in the book ``Sadie Brower 
Neakok--An Inupiaq Woman'' by Margaret Blackman.
  It was a privilege to honor the life of Sadie Brower Neakok on the 
Senate floor last November. Today we extend our sympathy to Sadie's 
family and to all of the Inupiaq people of the North Slope on the loss 
of a respected Elder and a great leader.

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