Others include a tribal healer, an affordable housing pioneer, an educator who published an Iñupiaq language dictionary, and parents raising their children to “know who they are, where they’re from.”
Each year, the Alaska Federation of Natives honors standouts in a variety of fields, including education, health and public safety. Here are this year’s awards, with summaries of each winner based on information from AFN.Nome residents Oliver and Wilson Hoogendorn received the Walter Soboleff award.
Oliver Hoogendorn, who is a commercial fisherman, told AFN that the support from their loved ones makes it easier to succeed in things they do.“When I was a kid, I would see successful people and think they did it all by themselves,” he said. “But as I grew older, I quickly learned that’s not the case. We have lots of friends and family and girlfriends who support us in everything we do.”
”We’re always around our culture,” said Jerica Leavitt, standing on stage clad in her traditional regalia. “Allowing our kids to feel the Nuna, the land, and the ocean, our waterways, with every inch of their being instills this sense of belonging.” Nita Yuurliq Rearden was awarded the Culture Bearer award for the 2023 Alaska Federation of Natives President’s Awards.
Tall, originally from Little Diomede, works for the Norton Sound Health Corp., serving people in her Northwest Alaska region.Speaking to the AFN delegates Friday, Tall she was inspired to enter the medical field thanks to the work of Ted Mala, an Inupiaq who in 1990 became the first Alaska Native to serve as the state’s health commissioner,Keats, a late Inupiaq healer and the award’s namesake, who for more than 50 years served health care needs in Northwest Alaska.
AFN said Gore “has led the charge for responsible affordable housing and community development through innovation and collaboration.” Hanson, giving a brief speech to the AFN crowd, thanked her parents for teaching her that culture and traditions are an important part of her identity.The late Margaret Agnguarta Roberts received the Citizen of the Year award for her “tireless contributions” toward improving the lives of Alaska Native people.
“She was like a warrior,” Kitka said, adding that Roberts recognized the inherent sovereignty of tribes before Alaska tribes were federally recognized in the 1990s.Linguist and educator Edna Paniataq Ahgeak MacLean received this award after dedicating over 50 years to preserving the Iñupiaq language.
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