A group of Samoan tribal members held an ava ceremony Tuesday with Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance and Police Chief Sean Case, aimed at growing a “strong and harmonious relationship among governments and the communities they represent,” according to a resolution signed at the ceremony.
Anchorage Daily News reports the ceremony came about a month after 16-year-old Easter Leafa was shot and killed by an Anchorage police officer at her family’s apartment. Leafa — who had immigrated to Alaska from American Samoa, and was learning English — was holding a knife as she approached police and did not obey their commands to drop it, according to the department.
Alaska Samoan Tribal, a group that organized in recent years under its CEO, the Rev. Sam Unutoa, initiated Tuesday’s ceremony to lay the groundwork for better communication between Samoans and city leaders.
Following Leafa’s death in August, Samoan community members in Anchorage held a march to honor the 16-year-old’s life, and demanded answers after the sixth fatal shooting in a period of three months. Community anguish led LaFrance and Case to announce that same month a series of reforms aimed at reducing the number of officer shootings in Anchorage. Among them was a promise to establish a community advisory committee to “provide the community a formal role in advising APD.”
After the ava ceremony, LaFrance signed an official Municipality of Anchorage resolution, a document her office had worked with Unutoa to draft for weeks prior. The resolution calls for “acknowledging the importance of mutual understanding,” ensuring that “policies reflect a commitment to the health, safety and care of each person,” and “engaging in open, honest, and continuous dialogue.”
