Bering Straits Native Corporation honors 14 Elders of the Year from across the region

Bering Straits Native Corporation named 14 Elder shareholders as its 2026 Elders of the Year on Monday, recognizing their efforts to maintain a traditional lifestyle and share their knowledge with young people, according to the corporation's announcement. The corporation listed each honoree under a village corporation in the region.

Glen Adam, Brevig Mission: Adam worked as a cook at the local school for more than 20 years and serves on the village corporation board and city council.

Flora Ann Simon, Council: Simon learned subsistence and traditional practices from her adoptive mother, Belinda, and her brother Henry. A grandmother of six, she still goes berry picking and fishing with her grandchildren.

David Nakarak, Elim: Nakarak, whose Eskimo name is Calaaluk, was born and raised in Shaktoolik and moved to Elim in 1968. He likes to get wood, go boating, hunt and pick berries.

Jack P. Fagerstrom, Golovin: A longtime member of Golovin's search and rescue team, Fagerstrom helped bring cultural artifacts and ancestral remains home from the Smithsonian Institution and organized and led their reburial.

Ruth Hunt, Golovin: Born in Nome in 1950, Hunt has five children, 14 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren, and has passed her subsistence knowledge down to them. She has lived in Kenai for 40 years.

Orville Ahkinga Sr., Inalik (Little Diomede): At 90, Ahkinga is recognized as the oldest living Inaliqmiut. He worked as a postal clerk on Little Diomede before the island had a post office building, when mail came from Wales by skin boat, and retired from maintenance work at the Diomede school at 77.

Rosemary Heinz, King Island: Heinz, whose Eskimo name is Angnoyuk, was office manager for Sitnasuak Native Corporation from 2010 to 2017 and served on the King Island Native Corporation board from 2020 through 2022.

Merlin Howard Henry, Koyuk: Henry, whose Eskimo name is Anannaqsuq, began herding reindeer on foot with his father at 13. The herd he managed once reached about 1,800 reindeer before it migrated with the caribou.

Ethel Fuller, Shaktoolik: Fuller taught for many years as a bilingual-bicultural teacher for the Bering Strait School District and served Shaktoolik Native Corporation as a council member.

Steven "Aleekson" Kiyutelluk, Shishmaref: Born in Teller in 1937, Kiyutelluk worked as a tugboat captain and skipper before returning home. He built his own house, as well as boats and three cabins.

John Ervin Garrison, Sitnasuak (Nome): Garrison joined BSNC's land department in 1974. When unreliable mail and airline service threatened deadlines, he often signed village land selections himself.

Sally Mae Johnson, Sitnasuak (Nome): Born in Nome in 1944, Johnson grew up in Candle and Deering. She often says her greatest achievement is raising her three children.

Theodore Katcheak, Stebbins: Katcheak served as mayor and council member of Stebbins and led the Stebbins Native Corporation and Stebbins Community Association. BSNC credits him with helping implement the federal Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act and with involvement in "successfully challenging the Navarin Basin oil and gas sale and exploration through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals."

James Noyakuk, Teller: Noyakuk lives a traditional subsistence lifestyle and is often out on the land hunting, gathering or hauling water.