ATHABASCAN LEADER & ACTIVIST MARY JANE FATE DIED
Born September 4, 1933, in Rampart, Alaska, her family were subsistence hunters. Fate graduated in 1952 from boarding high school in Sitka before attending the University of Alaska, Fairbanks to study accounting. In 1963, she helped found the Fairbanks Native Association, serving on its board and later as president. After lobbying for the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971, Fate was a board member and president of the Rampart Village Corp. Co-founding the North American Indian Women’s Association, she became its president in 1975. In 1976, Fate co-founded the Breast Cancer Detection Center of Alaska. In 1981, Fate served on the Alaska Judicial Council-1st woman & 1st Alaska Native. She also was 1st woman co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives (1988-89). She was on the University of Alaska Board of Regents (1992-2000) and, in 2001, was appointed by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. Fate was inducted into the Alaska Womens’ Hall of Fame in 2014.
Source: Alistair Gardner, “Mary Jane Fate, who strove to improve life for Alaska Natives, dies,” Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 4/14/2020. Retrieved 6/30/2020, http://www.newsminer.com/alerts/mary-jane-fate-who-strove-to-improve life-for-alaska-natives-dies/article_92f833d4-7dfd-11ea-ab6e-c3f305a91fef.html Photo: Courtesy of Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame.
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