Traditional Tribal Justice Center

CTAS Application Cover Sheet Federally Recognized Tribe

The Organized Village of Kasaan (OVK) is a federally recognized tribe located on Prince of Wales Island (POW) 30 miles Northwest of Ketchikan, in Southeast Alaska. POW is accessible by a 30-minute flight, or a 3-hour ferry ride from Ketchikan. The OVK was awarded BIA funding in 2019 to start a tribal court. Due to COVID – 19, progress has been slow, but the court is scheduled to be up and running by June of 2022. There are several things hindering their success. 1. The current OVK office building does not have the space to house the entire court staff. 2. They have no area where confidential or personal issues can be dealt with. 3. There is no area or space to meet with Domestic Violence (DV) victims and bystanders. 4. There is no space to provide traditional diversion activities for the youth. All these problems combined lead to one huge problem, the OVK does not have adequate access to the traditional tribal justice system that they are in such need of.

The OVK currently employs four tribal court staff: a tribal court administrator, tribal victims advocate, juvenile wellness coordinator, and a data coordinator. Although the court staff is working hard to provide the services that their jobs entail, the lack of appropriate space is restricting the tribal court from offering full services appropriately to the community. With C-BJA-2021-00054-PROD PA#4 (Tribal Justice System Infrastructure Program) funding, OVK will

Create a space to house the entire OVK tribal court staff.

Provide access of traditional tribal justice to all of POW Island.

Provide a safe space to engage youth in traditional diversion activities.

Provide a safe/confidential space to meet DV victims and bystanders.

Create a space to store and or hold all court related confidential files and

            meetings.

The OVK is one of four tribes on POW and is in one of 12 communities. The Island is 2,230 square miles (about the area of Delaware) with over 500 miles of road system. There is a great need for a traditional justice system on the island and OVK is excited to be the provider of such services to tribal citizens and all who need tribal justice services.

Authorized Designee

LaNeice Congdon is the Organized Village of Kasaan’s, (located in Kasaan, Alaska, Prince of Wales Island) Tribal Court Administrator. LaNeice Congdon is a duly authorized designee of the Organized Village of Kasaan, a federally recognized tribe. The tribe has (1) authorized LaNeice Congdon to submit an application on behalf of the tribe and (2) stated its support for the project and its commitment to participate in the project upon receiving this funding.