Miller, Rosalie J.

Rosa Miller is a member of the Aukwaan (Aak' w Kwaan) Tribe in Juneau, Alaska, the original Juneau clan. Her mother, Bessie E. Visaya, who died in 1995 at 97, was the matriarch of this tribe. Rosa is active in the Alaska Native Sisterhood and is the leader of the Mt. Juneau Thlinget Dancers. She is also known for spearheading efforts to keep the NOAA facility out of Indian Point and working to block development of Berners Bay. She has overseen the ousting of an Auk Kwan chief, worked to repatriate ancestor remains, and struggled to gain federal recognition for the Auk Kwan people, currently only recognized as members of the Tlingit and Haida Central Council. The Alaska Native Brotherhood was started in 1912 by a group of eleven young Indians who had attended Sitka Training School (now Sheldon Jackson College). It is believed to be the oldest regional native organization in the United States. The Alaska Native Sisterhood was formed shortly thereafter, as a contributing partner in their activities and community service projects. [Portions from: "Keeper of the ways," by Paysha Stockton, Juneau Empire, Jan. 15, 1999].

Rosa Miller is a native of Greece and a former member of the Jewish community of Salonica, Greece. She witnessed the deportation of nearly 70,000 Greek Jews from Salonica before fleeing to Athens, Greece, with her family. She left Greece in 1953. Miller presently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland.