Town Law and Village Law: Satellite Villages, Bethel and Alcohol Control in the Modern Era — The Working Relationship and Its Demise

• Main Author: Conn, Stephen
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Justice Center, University of Alaska Anchorage 1982
• Subjects: Alaska history; Alaska Natives; alcohol & alcohol abuse; Bethel; AK; bush justice; history; law enforcement; local option (alcohol); rural justice; traditional law ways; eskimo*; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7352

A revision of this paper was incorporated into the monograph "No Need of Gold — Alcohol Control Laws and the Alaska Native Population: From the Russians through the Early Years of Statehood" by Stephen Conn and Antonia Moras (Alaska Historical Commission Studies in History #226, 1986). In southwestern Alaska the underpinning of the working relationship between official law and village social control was tied to alcohol control. This paper examines the breakdown of this relationship in the 1960s and its impact on village law. It also assesses the role of town liquor policy and town police and treatment resources on alcohol-related violence in the villages in the 1970s. It argues that a recent movement to reinstitute prohibition of importation and sale in many villages must be understood as a desire for renewal of a working relationship between two centers of legal authority. Research conducted pursuant to Grant No. 1 H84 AA03183-01 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Abstract / Introduction / The Breakdown / Accidents and Deaths a Focal Point / Translation of an Interest Into a Demand / Village Council Reaction to the New Rules on Drinking / Drunken Comportment and the Law / The Reign of Councils / The Problem From a Traditional Perspective / Eskimo Law Ways / The Village Council and Its Social Reality / The 1970's – The Town and Its Satellites in the Region / Village Alcohol Control – The Wet Years in Bethel (1970–1973) / Wet Years / Dry Years / Analysis of Town-Village Relationships / Epilogue / Conclusion / Footnotes / Bibliography / Graphs & Tables / Appendices