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Holly Miowak Stebing: "I just feel an honor to tell Barack Obama that I like his policies toward Native Americans and Alaska Natives."Photo courtesy of Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis' blog

Inupiaq Woman Tells Obama Her People's Story

By Kevin Abourezk

As her college peers spent their summer guarding pools and attending classes, Holly Miowak Stebing traveled the roads of Alaska interviewing Native Alaskan elders.

The 20-year-old Inupiaq woman from Anchorage can't imagine a better way to spend her summer days than talking to her elders about their experiences with segregation.

"Alaska had a lot of racial hatred toward Natives," she said. "It caused a lot of our elders to lose pride in their culture."

For the daughter of Alaska's first female Native attorney, making a difference is a way of life.

On Thursday, Miowak Stebing took it a step further as she and 10 other hand-picked supporters joined Sen. Barack Obama backstage at Invesco Field in Denver before he accepted his party's presidential nomination. The 10 supporters then got a front row seat to Obama's acceptance speech.

She planned to tell the man whose campaign she has been contributing $5 and $10 to each month since February that his message of hope must take physical form in Alaska. She said violence against Native women, one of three of whom has been assaulted or raped in their lifetime, must stop and drilling for oil in Anwar must not be permitted.

"I just feel an honor to tell Barack Obama that I like his policies toward Native Americans and Alaska Natives," she said.

Most importantly, she planned to share with Obama her people's story of segregation, poverty and indomitable hope.

It's a story she knows well after having spent many weeks this summer visiting Alaskan Native elders about their segregation experiences. She did the interviews as part of an internship with the First Alaskans Institute, a leadership program for Native Alaskans.

Segregation of Native and white Alaskans in schools, communities and industries continued until 1945, Miowak Stebing said.

At the same time, the federal government worked to erase Native culture and identity by forcing them into boarding schools where they were punished for speaking their indigenous languages.

Miowak Stebing credits much of her thirst for service and learning to her mother, Ella Anagick, who was Alaska's first Native female attorney.

"It's really made me understand that I need to hold my head up," she said of her mother's achievements.

Anagick she's proud of her daughter and is hopeful she will one day work to address Native concerns.

Miowak Stebing is a senior Native American Studies major at Stanford University and is considering graduate school after she graduates in June. She is interested in public policy or education, she said.

Wizipan Garriott, Native Vote director for the Obama campaign, said Miowak Stebing is a great ambassador for Indian Country.

"It's great that we can have someone featured who's so well accomplished," he said.

[Editor's note: The photo of Holly Miowak Stebing, taken at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, is courtesy of Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis' blog and is used with permission.]

Kevin Abourezk's "Red Clout" columns are available for syndication. Please contact reznet to purchase republishing rights.

Kevin Abourezk, Rosebud Lakota, is a reporter and editor at the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star. He writes reznet's "Red Clout" political blog and teaches reporting at the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute. Abourezk was awarded a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism in 2006.

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