Red Hoop Talk EP 75: MARISSA J. MERCULIEFF, Aleut Community of St. Paul Island
Join us Friday, March 4 at 5pm ET for #REDHOOPTALK LIVE as we chat with special guest MARISSA J. MERCULIEFF, a citizen of the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island. What is it like growing up on an isolated island in Alaska? What was law school like? What are the important issues that her Nation is dealing with? How does Marissa stay #ClosetoCulture?
Marissa Merculieff was raised on St. Paul Island in a halibut fishing family. St. Paul is a remote island in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska. Marissa serves her Nation as its Director of the Office of Justice and Governance Administration for the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island (ACSPI).
Marissa left the Island to earn her Juris Doctorate degree from Arizona State University and was the first Aleut person to be admitted to the Alaska Bar Association. After law school, she worked with the Waikato-Tainui tribe in New Zealand on an environmental co-management structure over its ancestral river. She then returned to St. Paul to work with the ACSPI Tribal Government to provide culturally appropriate policy direction, advocacy, training, and technical assistance. As ACSPI works towards self-sufficiency and independence, Marissa dedicates her efforts to building and enhancing self-governance, economic strength, and stability and to securing health and welfare resources for the Aleut people of St. Paul.
Marissa’s professional expertise covers Tribal courts, Tribal governance, environmental law, trademarks, and copyright law. Marissa sits on the steering committee for Business for Climate and Conservation Action and Climate Strong Islands Network. In 2022, she was appointed by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to serve on its Native Nations Communications Task Force.
