“It’s just a beautiful thing. It’s been a beautiful few days,” said Laureli Ivanoff about Mary Peltola winning Alaska's special U.S. House race. “I keep trying to keep from crying.”
Laureli Ivanoff, a writer in Unalakleet, anxiously scrolled through Twitter on Wednesday, waiting to see if voters had elected the first Alaska Native person to Congress. The news-breaking tweet struck her surprisingly deep.She let the news sink in a minute.Peltola, 49, is Yup’ik and a former legislator. She grew up in Bethel and smaller communities on the Kuskokwim Delta. When she learned, she said that Alaska is a diverse state and she planned to represent everyone.
“A friend of mine celebrated with the king crab dinner in Nome,” she said. “People we’re lighting up theirMegan Onders said the election left her feeling optimistic and hopeful. To Onders, the election feels like a bit of atonement for the historical harm done to Native people and the racism they still face. The relocations, like that of her family from King Island, the suppression of Native cultures and languages — much of it was done by the federal government. Now a Native person will be in Congress making federal law. Onders said it’s something all Alaskans can feel proud of.
Anchorage engineer Dave Ket’acik Nicolai is Yup’ik, his family is from Kwethluk, where Peltola spent her early years and where her mom is from. Like Ivanoff, Nicolai said the upwelling of emotion he felt surprised him. Part of his joy was telling his young daughters that, at least until January, they’ll have a representative in D.C. who is like them.
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