March 12 was Ashley Johnson-Barr Day in Alaska. It’s named in remembrance of a Kotzebue girl who was assaulted and murdered in 2018. Purple was one of her favorite colors, so to mark the day, people throughout the Northwest Arctic and the state dress in purple clothes and paint their nails purple.
The Alaska Legislature established the day in 2020, to honor the late Kotzebue girl on her birthday.
Ashley’s father, Scotty Barr says the day — and Ashley’s memory — have sparked larger conversations about missing and murdered people across Alaska and encouraged more conversation about an issue hidden for decades.
“Over the years, ever since the bill has been passed, I feel like a lot of entities, as well as close families that have lost their loved ones are willing to finally speak up,” said Ashley’s father, Scotty Barr.
In 2018, 10-year-old Ashley was abducted from a park in Kotzebue, which is now named after her. After an intensive eight-day search, Ashley’s body was found outside of town on the tundra. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Ashley’s killer was convicted four years ago and sentenced to 99 years in prison.
Barr remembers his daughter as a kind, loving child. He says she went to church every week, enjoyed swimming, playing basketball and berry picking.
“She was a very loving person, kind, and she just fell in love with everybody. Everybody knew her,” he said. “She had a warm, welcoming smile. Her heart was pure.”
In the years since Ashley’s death, there have been several state and federal actions to address the missing and murdered Indigenous people crisis. On the federal level, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski sponsored Savanna’s Act and cosponsored the Not Invisible Act, which aimed to improve data collection and coordination between tribes, law enforcement, the federal government and survivors. Both were signed into law in 2020.
Last year, in Alaska, legislation was signed into law that made several policy changes and led to the establishment of an MMIP task force.
Barr believes there has been good progress, but change is also needed on more personal levels.
“We live in a tough and evil world, so we have to go and educate and bring awareness to our loved ones on a daily basis,” said Barr. “We need to educate our young men to respect the young ladies and women, their sisters, their mothers, their grandparents, their grandmas, their aunts.”
Ashley Johnson-Barr would have been 17 this year.
