Along with the many elections that took place last fall, former tribal judge Mary Peltola was officially sworn in to represent Alaska’s congressional district. This election not only makes Peltola the first woman to represent the state of Alaska, but the first Alaskan Native to serve in Congress. Her presence also gives full representation in Congress to the three major indigenous groups in the United States. Mary Peltola brings Alaskan Native representation alongside Native Hawaiian, Kaiali’i Kahele, and six Native American representatives. Pelota takes on the title of representative after former congressman Don Young passed away in March of 2022.
Born in Anchorage, Alaska, Peltola is Yup’ik and was raised in the communities Kwethluk, Tuntutuliak, Platinum and Bethel. She studied education at several Alaskan-based universities and became involved in local politics in 1996. Working in every space from legislative intern and campaign manager to congressional nominee, Peltola’s first political office was with the Alaska House of Representatives in 1998. While in office, she served on several standing committees, including finance, resources and health and social services, and helped to rebuild the Bush Caucus — a bipartisan group of representatives and senators who represent rural and off-road communities in Alaska
After finishing her term in 2009, Peltola went on to serve as manager of community development and sustainability for the Donlin Creek Mine from 2008 to 2014, a state lobbyist from 2015 to 2017 and as a judge on the Orutsararmiut Native Council’s tribal court from 2020 to 2021.
Once Representative Young passed away, Peltola was one of the three candidates that advanced to the final round as his successor. While her campaign focused on many different issues, it was mainly described as “pro-fish,” the main source of income for many indigenous Alaskans.
Once elected, Peltola promised to help pass initiatives that would help the presently-decreasing fish market and preserve struggling fisheries, so they can continue to bring in a steady income to Alaskan working-class families. Peltola has also spoken out on her desire to unify opposing groups in politics and bring the focus back to bettering the lives of the American people.
After being endorsed by several bipartisan political figures, staff members and even family members of Representative Young, Peltola won both the September special election and the bid to retain her seat in the November midterms. She won the congressional seat by 54.9% against her opposition, Sarah Palin.
“Thank you to all Alaskans who have put their faith in me as the first woman in Alaska’s history to represent our state in the House of Representatives,” Peltola tweeted upon her first election in September. “It’s a good day to be pro-Alaska.”
In a conversation with NPR, University of Hawai’i Associate Professor, Lani Teves, spoke on what Peltola’s election and indigenous representation means to the public. “It’s a historic moment…having different Indigenous communities represented shows the growing power of Native people across the United States and across the world… people need representation and young people need to see people that look like themselves, that come from their communities.”
Sources: NPR, Wikipedia, KTOO, Twitter
