Dorough was part of the Alaskan tribal sovereignty movement for decades and served on the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2011 to 2016.

[3] While attending high school, Dorough organized an independent study working on the 1976 campaign of Inuit politician Eben Hopson for U.S. House of Representatives.

[4] Before accepting her high school diploma, she completed the American Indian Lawyer Training Program in San Francisco and earned a certificate as a Tribal Court Advocate.

[6] Her daughter Hannah was born the day after she completed her comprehensive exams for her Ph.D.[7] After working as a paralegal for multiple organizations, in 1982 Dorough became the Executive Director for the Inuit Circumpolar Council in Anchorage, a position she held until 1989.

[3] After leaving her position as assistant professor, she continued her affiliation with the university as a senior scholar and special advisor on Arctic Indigenous Peoples.