Villagers Block Road Near New Hatchery

ANCHORAGE

A simmering dispute over Native sovereignty in the Athabaskan village of Chickaloon, about 75 miles northeast of here, has heated up after villagers blocked a road to stop coal company trucks from using it.

Three protesters were arrested Friday and later released. Five tried to block the same road yesterday, but a truck kept going and struck one of the protesters, a witness said.

David Harrison, Chickaloon's tribal administrator, was not believed to be seriously injured, but family members were trying to persuade him to get treatment, said his brother, Gary Harrison.

Chickaloon Indians object to a coal mine at nearby Castle Mountain because they believe it will pollute the water and ruin the village's new salmon hatchery.

They also say the Chickaloon River Road, which Hobbs Industries Inc. coal trucks use to haul coal from the mine to the Glenn Highway, belongs to the village and not the state.

Coal mines in Chickaloon between 1914 and 1922 contaminated water and wiped out the river's salmon run. In recent years, the village built a hatchery and a small run of salmon has returned.