Google faucets Tlingit artist for Doodle honoring Alaska Native civil rights icon Elizabeth Peratrovich

Google Doodle of Alaska Elizabeth Peratrovich, Icon of Native Civil Rights, by Michaela Goade (Source: Google)

If you have to google something on Wednesday, you might see a familiar face.

The tech company’s doodle of the day is from Elizabeth Peratrovich, the Alaskan Alaskan civil rights icon. For the illustration, they approached the Tlingit artist Michaela Goade, who lives in Sitka.

“It meant a lot to work on this project. Elizabeth Peratrovich often does not get the recognition she deserves, and her story is important, inspiring, and powerful. It feels good to be able to portray this strong Tlingit woman – herself as a Tlingit artist, ”Goade told Google. “It means a lot to be able to represent our nation in this way and to exalt Elizabeth’s life and work.”

An early draft of the Elizabeth Peratrovich Google Doodle by Michaela Goade (Source: Google)
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An early draft of the Elizabeth Peratrovich Google Doodle by Michaela Goade (Source: Google)
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Goade said Peratrovich’s 1945 testimony with the Alaska Territorial Legislature inspired her art. It also contained elements in honor of Peratrovich’s ancestry – she belonged to the Lukaax̱.ádi clan of the Raven Moiety.

“In the Tlingit creation stories, Raven was the one who brought daylight to the world. In the doodle, Raven holds the sun, which is a reference to this creation story. Elizabeth brought light to the world in a similar way, ”she said.

Goade said she hoped the illustration helps more people learn about Elizabeth Peratrovich’s history and civil rights work.

In 1941, Peratrovich and her husband Roy moved to Juneau, but when they tried to buy a house the seller denied them because they were from Alaska. Experiences like this sparked Peratrovich’s activism for Native Alaskan equality. And in the same year, the Peratroviches worked with the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood and lawmakers on Alaska’s first ever anti-discrimination law.

The law failed when it was introduced in 1941 but was passed on February 16, 1945 after Peratrovich’s speech to the legislature provoked a passionate response from the gallery.

The Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945 was the first of its kind in the United States. In 1988, Alaskan law made February 16 Elizabeth Peratrovich Day.

Earlier this year, around the 75th anniversary of the Anti-Discrimination Act, the US Mint released a $ 1 coin in honor of Peratrovich. It is the first coin to feature a Native Alaska.