El Norte: Law of the Tundra

I have not written for this blog in some time. What can I say, I’ve been busy. I have a lot of clients now, and I’m busy learning to be a trial lawyer. Taking on something new is always tiring, and this has been no exception. So far so good.

As for being a lawyer in Bethel, it has been a unique and humbling experience. The majority of my clients live in small villages scattered across the tundra. Towns like Napakiak, Pitkas Point, Goodnews Bay, Akiak, Kwethluk, Hooper Bay, Akiachak, and so on. Whenever I can’t find a client for a hearing, often because their VHF or telephone is out of service, I can call the tribal headquarters or town offices and ask about them:

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Ring….ring…. “Hello, town administrator.”

“Hi, have you seen John Doe?”

“Hmm…I think he’s staying with his cousin Bill.”

“Oh, ok, do you have that phone number.”

“I don’t think they have a phone, but I’ll pass along the message.”

“Great, thanks.”

Click.

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Invariably, the person calls back after a while. It would be like me calling the mayor of your town to have her find you. When she does, she’ll take you down to the town hall to call me back.

On the other hand, it can be pretty uncomfortable to be an outsider and a lawyer here. I am often reminded of the famed Chief Justice John Marshall, who proclaimed in a Supreme Court decision 175 years ago that “conquest gives title which the courts of the conqueror cannot deny.” John Marshall would have had no idea how expansive the boundaries of the United States would become. Today, the conquest of which Marshall spoke has expanded all the way to the Alaskan Tundra, and to the lives and homes of the peaceful Yup’ik Eskimos that have inhabited this place for thousands of years. It should be uncomfortable I guess.

Here are some pictures borrowed from around the web of some of the villages in Southwest Alaska.