An outspoken advocate for Alaska Native land claims died August 9 at the Alaska Native Medical Center. Funeral services were held August 14 in Cantwell for Ruby Tansy John, 55, who died of a long illness.   Mrs. John was respected throughout the Ahtna Region, but she also deserves statewide honor for the courageous stands she took in the late 1960s as an advocate for Alaska Native land claims. Gov. Tony Knowles ordered state flags within the Ahtna Region lowered to half-staff in her memory.   Mrs. John was born Sept. 27, 1943, in Cantwell. She was a graduate of Cantwell Elementary School, West High School in Anchorage and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1966. It was at UAF where she became involved in Alaska Native politics. She worked for the Fairbanks Native Association and later served on the Ahtna Board of Directors. She was an active member and past president of Cantwell Native Council.   Before she was married to her husband, Alec John, she testified at the first congressional hearings held on land claims in February of 1968 in Anchorage and questioned why there was even a need for Alaska Natives to make a plea for what already belonged to them.   "I don't see why I have to be up here saying give us back our land, when in fact the land is ours," she said.   The effort by Alaska Natives to gain title to at least 40 million acres could not be considered asking for too much land, she said. And she stressed that she was concerned about the future of rural communities such as Cantwell.   "Cantwell Village was really an Indian village. But, with the coming of the white people, it

has become more and more a white village. My people have become 'whites' without even realizing it. My people still hunt, fish and trap, but more and more of them are doing whitemen's work.   "The future of Cantwell and other Native villages is very dim. Cantwell is already almost absorbed in the white world. The people do not want to stop progress but want to be a part of progress and benefit from it. But we can't benefit from it if we don't have title to our land.   "My people have always thought they owned the land. They never heard of the word 'title.' It is a white man's tool which the Indian never had. We are fighting for the white man's tool. We never thought that we needed any such thing, but we find that we have nothing without it in our present society. The white man has taken our land for the highways. They have even moved our graveyard. All of this happened because we didn't have 'title.' Homesteaders and the State are taking our land that we own, but don't have title to.   "We don't want reservations. We just want title to our land so that we can put it to economic use. The benefits we derive from the land will benefit all society, Indian and white alike."   Mrs. John was a co-owner and operator of Tsesyu Service Station and Time to Eat Restaurant in Cantwell since 1972.