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Wit?Dan Sullivan running a?the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, it's time to examine his record on Alaska Native issues. On subsistence, tribal sovereignty, Indian child welfare, and voting rights, Dan Sullivan's record is clear: He is a divider and a staunch opponent of Native rights.

The right to hunt and fish is critical for rural Alaska. Dan Sullivan has aggressively opposed subsistence interests through litigation and legislation.

As Attorney General, Sullivan waged war on subsistence rights by suing the revered Ahtna elder Katie John. Katie just wanted to continue subsistence fishing on her Native allotment on the Copper River. But Sullivan said no. Fortunately, he lost in the courts.

Sullivan's hostility to Native interests continued when Gov. Sean Parnell named Sullivan Natural Resources Commissioner. Sullivan led the charge in adopting a new Bristol Bay Area Plan which eliminated subsistence hunting and fishing as a land value in key parts of southwest Alaska. Sullivan simply ignored Bristol Bay's residents who consistently voiced opposition to the Pebble Mine.

Sullivan also tried to undermine subsistence fisheries with House Bill 77. Sullivan's bill would have arrogated to him broad discretion to issue permits without any public notice, would have abolished the public's voice in permitting decisions, and would have eliminated Alaskans' right to reserve water for fish. Even after bipartisan opposition killed his bill, Sullivan said "I led that effort and am proud of it."

Sullivan also opposes tribal sovereignty. As Attorney General, he paid a Washington, D.C. law firm over a thousand dollars per hour to challenge a Kaltag Tribal Court order that protected children from abuse. Sullivan and his hired gun claimed the Tribal Court had no power to protect its own village children. Sullivan's hostility to tribal sovereignty was palpable in the state's brief, even when the welfare of a small child hung in the balance. Sullivan lost that case, just as he lost other anti-Native lawsuits like the one against Katie John.

In the recent Parks case, Sullivan went so far as to argue that a tribal court cannot take care of a child at risk of domestic violence by its father — never mind that the father was in prison for domestic violence. Fortunately, the Alaska Supreme Court unanimously rejected his cramped view of tribal sovereignty.

Sullivan's record on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is just as bad. VAWA allows tribal courts to prosecute domestic violence and enforce protective orders with the state.

But without any advance notice or public debate, and at the Sullivan administration's insistence, in 2013 Senator Lisa Murkowski inserted an "Alaska exception" to VAWA which excluded Alaska Tribes from VAWA's new provisions. Alaska Native women immediately protested, and the Indian Law and Order Commission later called the provision "unconscionable."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski has now joined Sen. Mark Begich in seeking to repeal the "Alaska exception." But Sullivan opposes that fix, and he refuses to answer whether he would even have voted to reauthorize VAWA in the first place. Really?

In direct contrast to Sullivan's hostility, Begich drafted and championed strong amendments to the proposed Alaska Safe Families and Villages Act, granting tribal governments the tools they need to protect women and children from domestic violence and sexual assault, and to help communities battle alcohol and drug abuse.

Begich also has a demonstrated commitment to protecting the Alaska Native subsistence way of life. Like his predecessor Ted Stevens, Begich opposes the Pebble Mine, in part because it would destroy the subsistence way of life in Bristol Bay, but also to protect sport and commercial fisheries there.

He knows that mining and fish don't mix.

Begich is also the chief opponent to the Obama Administration in defending the rights of Alaska Tribes to be treated at least as fairly as other government contractors. Thanks to his efforts, the government has paid over $600 million to Alaska and Lower 48 tribal health care providers in compensation for violating their contract rights. Begich also fought back those in his own party who would dismantle the ability of tribal governments to participate in the "8(a)" contracting program.

Begich has a proven record of accomplishments in advancing Alaska Native and American Indian interests, as part of a balanced, all-Alaska strategy. It is a bipartisan and unifying record he has built with fellow Sen. Lisa Murkowski. But Sullivan is a divider, which is why we will be voting for Begich o?Nov. 4.

Attorney?Heather Kendall-Mille?(Athabascan) an?Lloyd Mille?have been practicing Indian law in Alaska and Washington, D.C., for more than 50 years combined. The views expressed here do not represent those of their employers.