Press Release: AKNWRC Executive Director Testifies Before The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in Anchorage, Alaska

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 25, 2025

AKNWRC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TESTIFIES BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS IN ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

FAIRBANKS, AK — On Thursday, August 14, 2025, Tami Truett Jerue, Executive Director of the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center (AKNWRC), testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs roundtable discussion titled “The Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Sobeloff Commission on Native Children: Examining Draft Legislation Related to The Way Forward Report,” in Anchorage, Alaska. 

The comprehensive draft Native Children’s Commission Implementation Act of 2025, released by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R‑AK), focuses on strengthening support systems and creating pathways for success for Alaska Native, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian youth and families and represents a major commitment of resources and policy reform.

“Real progress happens when our federal government invests in Tribal governments and Native organizations to create solutions that come from our communities and reflect our cultural strengths,” said Tami Truett Jerue, Executive Director of the AKNWRC. “We must all recognize that safety from violence is inseparable from access to stable housing, food security, healthcare, and economic opportunities that allow families to thrive.”

Building upon findings from The Way Forward Report by the Alyce Spotted Bear & Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children, the proposed legislation addresses several essential priorities, including child welfare, judicial reform, healthcare access, access to safe and stable housing, educational opportunities, culturally appropriate childcare services, and enhanced data gathering capabilities.

The AKNWRC appreciates and thanks Chairman Murkowski’s commitment to ongoing engagement and partnership with Tribal governments, community advocates, and Native-serving organizations, and will remain actively engaged throughout this process to champion important improvements for Alaska Native, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian children and families.

The AKNWRC urges Tribal leaders and community stakeholders to email Murkowski_Outreach@Indian.Senate.Gov with their input on the proposed legislation by September 12, 2025. 

About the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center:

Organized in 2015, the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center is a Tribal nonprofit organization dedicated to ending violence against women with Alaska’s 229 Tribes and allied organizations. AKNWRC board members are Alaska Native women raised in Alaska Native Villages and have 153 years of combined experience in Tribal governments, nonprofit management, domestic violence, and sexual assault advocacy (both individual crisis and systems), and grassroots social change advocacy at the local, statewide, regional, national, and international levels. AKNWRC’s philosophy is that violence against women is rooted in the colonization of Indigenous Nations.

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