Athabaskan drums honor a Yup’ik woman at a vigil for Sophie Sergie. Sergie was 20 years old when she was raped and murdered in a college dormitory in Fairbanks in 1993. Defendant Steven Downs was convicted last week of 1st degree sexual assault and 1st degree murder. He will be sentenced in September.
The vigil was held Friday on the plaza at the Rabinowitz Courthouse in downtown Fairbanks, and was coordinated by the Alaska Native Women's Resource Center, along with Fairbanks Native Association and Tanana Chiefs Conference.
FNA board president Dr. Jessica Black told the group of about 40 people she remembered the crime when it happened, and since the trial began in January, she has heard from former UAF students who were attending the university in 1993.
“And then when the verdict was reached yesterday, I just felt relief in my heart, 'cause as we know, a lot of times we don't get justice as Native people, she said.” So, I'm so grateful for the work that you all do.”
Black read a letter from FNA’s new Justice Director, Shirley Lee, who could not attend on Friday.
“And speak up. Remind the community we remember those who are lost. Do not let the community’s silence allow the victimization of any more of our people -- of any people.
It was Sergie’s murder 29 years ago that prompted Native activist Shirley Demienteff to coordinate annual rallies to remember the unsolved case. It became an annual event, on every April anniversary of the crime. It continues as a Gathering of Remembrance with families of current missing and murdered indigenous and non-Native people in the Fairbanks area.
Lee’s letter said there are as many as 40 unsolved homicides in the Fairbanks area dating back to the 1970s.
Provost Anupma Prakash spoke on behalf of the university. Janelle Chapin, program specialist manager with the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, and Charlene Stern, vice President of Tanana Chiefs Conference also spoke.
