Equality in Education: How the Molly Hootch Case Ensured a Quality Education for Alaska Native Students

This is the true story of a girl named Molly Hootch and how her name became synonymous with equality in education for the State of Alaska. Molly Hootch, a 16 year-old Alaska Native girl from the Yukon River village of Emmonak, was first on a list of 27 plaintiffs in a suit which was filed in the Superior Court in Anchorage in August 1972 by Christopher Cooke. The plaintiffs were asking for a school to be built in their village so they would no longer be sent away to boarding schools for their high school education.

This suit was filed on behalf of Alaska Native children and their parents in three villages in the Bethel area of Southwest Alaska who wanted high schools in their villages. The parents were growing tired of sending their children away to boarding schools because a quality education could not be offered in their own villages. Many of these children were being sent to boarding schools located in Chemawa, Oregon, and Chilocco, Oklahoma -- far away from remote Alaska. By 1968, 1,000 Alaska Native children were attending these two BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) high schools. Eventually boarding schools were established in Alaska, but still this was not a positive change for the Alaska Native children since they were taken from their homes and placed in social situations that did not fit their beliefs, customs, and values. It had an adverse effect upon the students and there were many reports of abuse and neglect.

The suit, filed on behalf of Molly Hootch and the 26 other plaintiffs, was filed as a class action on behalf of all Alaska Native children in villages without high schools. The State of Alaska was apprehensive about settling this suit stating that the court must "protect the interests of the State and of persons in the alleged class who do not share Molly Hootch's personal priorities regarding the directions of rural secondary education" (Memorandum of Points...in Support, 1973, p. 11). Also, the state said that it was financially unable to provide village schools and that these schools would be "ill-conceived", "marginal", and would have "potential adverse educational effects" (1973).

Cooke was persistent and stood by his suit with two legal claims. The first claim stated that the State of Alaska was not providing local high schools in rural villages violating the constitution of Alaska which contains a clause that the state must establish and maintain a system of public schools. The argument was strong in that it was not beneficial for students to be away from home, family, and culture for 9 months out of the year. However, this claim was thrown out after the State of Alaska ruled that local high schools were not required.

The second claim claimed that the State of Alaska was not providing local high schools in Alaska Native villages and was perpetuating a pattern and practice of racial discrimination against Alaska Natives. This was in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution, federal discrimination laws, and the Alaska constitution. Records were examined and they confirmed this pattern -- 95% of children coming from the villages without high schools were indeed Alaska Native children. This strongly supported the second claim of the suit.

The Alaska Attorney General at the time, Avrum Gross, told the governor, Jay Hammond, that he should work toward a program for rural high schools being built in the villages since this suit was taking a racial discrimination bent. Eventually a settlement was agreed upon which consisted of two parts. The first part was a Statement of Agreed Facts that was put in place to prevent the same discrimination from happening again. The second part was a consent decree which defined the villages which would have high schools constructed.

Many of these schools became known as Molly Hootch schools in honor of the first name on the plaintiff list. This case is also referred to as the Tobeluk v. Lind case because that was the name of the suit when settlement was finally reached. Due to the Molly Hootch schools, a road was opened for many schools to be built in remote Alaska villages opening the door for equality in education for all students.

Sources:

http://www.alaskool.org/native_ed/law/mhootch_erq.html

Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment (May 18, 1973), Hootch v. Alaska State-Operated School System.

Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Action as to the Class (May 18, 1973), at 11, Hootch v. Alaska State Operated School System.

Memorandum to Gov. Jay S. Hammond from Attorney General Avrum M. Gross, "RE: Bond Issue for Rural Education" (August 7, 1975) at 3, attached as Ex. Q to Plaintiffs' Second Supplemental Memorandum in Support of Motion for Costs and Attorneys' Fees, Tobeluk v. Lind (February 11, 1977).