IT WAS chilly and overcast on the eve of election day in Anchorage. A white van with a decal on the side that said “Get Out The Native Vote” pulled up to the front door of a nondescript office building in the middle of this nondescript city at the foot of the snow-draped Chugach Mountains. Michael Orr, wearing a bright blue kuspuk—a traditional, hooded tunic popular among Alaska Natives—climbed into the first row of seats. Mr Orr, 43, is Siberian Yupik from a clan of whalers and traders that straddled Russia and Northwest Alaska. Television and telephones came to the region when Mr Orr was a child. He is now president of Sitnasuak Native Corporation, with offices on the fourth floor above, and operations that include real estate and fabrication of military apparel. The company has about 1,000 employees, annual earnings of $120M, and activities from Alaska to Puerto Rico.
This election season an enthusiastic Get Out The Native Vote effort has spread across the state, with voter-registration drives, candidate forums, potlucks and voting guides in five different Native languages. The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN)—the largest Native organization in the...Continue reading
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