Nellie Jimmie | |
---|---|
Unangik | |
Member-elect of the AlaskaHouseofRepresentatives from the 38th district | |
Assuming office January 21, 2025 | |
Succeeding | Conrad McCormick |
Personal details | |
Born | 1979 (age 44–45) Bethel,Alaska,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Children | 2 |
Nellie Darlene Jimmie (Yup'ik:Unangik;born 1979) is an American politician and community leader serving as a member-elect of the Alaska House of Representatives for district 38. She previously operated a local business and was a representative on the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative board for Toksook Bay,Alaska.
Nellie D. Jimmie,also known by her Yup'ik name Unangik,was born in Bethel,Alaska,in 1979. [1] She is of Yup'ik,Ojibwa,and Lakota descent,and her upbringing was rooted in the subsistence lifestyle of her community,including activities such as fishing,hunting,and gathering. [1] Her parents are Alexie and Aleta Jimmie,from whom she learned traditional knowledge and cultural practices. [1] Jimmie spent her early years in Bethel before moving to Toksook Bay in 1987. [1]
She graduated from Nelson Island High School in 1996 and later attended the Alaska Job Corps Center,completing a program in 2000. She completed some college coursework at the University of Phoenix in 2009. [1]
Jimmie served as the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) board representative for Toksook Bay. She worked with her family in operating Bayview General Merchandise Inc. [1]
During the 2024 Alaska House of Representatives election,Jimmie ran to represent district 38. [2] [3] Her opponents included the incumbent,Conrad McCormick,a Democrat from Bethel;Willy Keppel of the Veterans of Alaska Party;and Victoria Sosa,a Democrat from Bethel who dropped out of the race but remained on the ballot. [2] [3] She secured 44 percent of the vote in the primary election. [2] McCormick outraised Jimmie by a substantial margin,bringing in $37,558 to her $6,565 as of October 17. [4] In the general election,Jimmie won with 51.04 percent of the vote after the ranked-choice voting process,narrowly defeating McCormick by 58 votes. [3]
Jimmie's campaign emphasized addressing housing shortages,improving water and sewer infrastructure,and managing subsistence resources. [1] [2] She advocated for enhanced support and training for village public safety officers and highlighted the need for public health services in rural areas,such as having medical examiners available closer to remote communities. [2] Her legislative priorities included preserving traditional ways of life,addressing climate change impacts such as erosion and flooding,and fostering cooperation with tribal governments. [1] [2]
Jimmie resides in Toksook Bay,Alaska,where she has lived since 1987. [1] She is the mother of two daughters. [1] Since 2012,she has been a member of the Nunakauyak Dance Group,participating in traditional Yup'ik dances. Her hobbies include sewing,crafting,and subsistence activities. [1]
The Yupik are a group of Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples of western,southwestern,and southcentral Alaska and the Russian Far East. They are related to the Inuit and Iñupiat. Yupik peoples include the following:
Bethel is a city in the U.S. state of Alaska,located on the Kuskokwim River approximately 50 miles (80 km) from where the river flows into Kuskokwim Bay. It is the largest community in western Alaska and in the Unorganized Borough and the eighth-largest in the state. Bethel has a population of 6,325 as of the 2020 census,up from 6,080 in 2010.
Nightmute is a city and village in Bethel Census Area,Alaska,United States. The population was 208 at the 2000 census and 280 as of the 2010 census.
Toksook Bay(TOOK-sook or TUCK-sook) is a city and village on Nelson Island in Bethel Census Area,Alaska. The population was 590 at the 2010 census,up from 532 in 2000. As of 2018,the estimated population was 667,making it the largest village on the island.
Nelson Island is an island in the Bethel Census Area of southwestern Alaska. It is 42 miles (68 km) long and 20–35 miles (32–56 km) wide. With an area of 843 square miles (2,183 km2),it is the 15th largest island in the United States. It is separated from the Alaska mainland to its north by the Ningaluk River,to its east by the Kolavinarak River and from Nunivak Island to its southwest by the Etolin Strait.
Ann Fienup-Riordan is an American cultural anthropologist known for her work with the Yup'ik of western Alaska,particularly on Nelson Island and the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta. She lives in Anchorage,Alaska. She received Historian of the Year awards from the Alaska Historical Society in 1991 and 2001.
The Yupʼik or Yupiaq and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl),also Central Alaskan Yupʼik,Central Yupʼik,Alaskan Yupʼik,are an Indigenous people of western and southwestern Alaska ranging from southern Norton Sound southwards along the coast of the Bering Sea on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and along the northern coast of Bristol Bay as far east as Nushagak Bay and the northern Alaska Peninsula at Naknek River and Egegik Bay. They are also known as Cupʼik by the Chevak Cupʼik dialect-speaking people of Chevak and Cupʼig for the Nunivak Cupʼig dialect-speaking people of Nunivak Island.
Lyman F. Hoffman is a Yup'ik politician and Democratic member of the Alaska Senate since 1995. He represents the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta,Alaska Peninsula,and Aleutian Islands. He also served in the Senate from 1991 to 1993 previously,and was a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1987−91 and 1993−95.
Mary Sattler Peltola is an American politician and former tribal judge serving as the U.S. representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district since September 2022. A member of the Democratic Party,she previously served as a judge on the Orutsararmiut Native Council's tribal court,executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission,Bethel city councilor,and member of the Alaska House of Representatives.
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC) administers a health care delivery system for over 50 rural communities in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta in southwest Alaska. The YKHC is accredited by the Joint Commission.
Umkumiut is a seasonal hunting and fishing camp situated in Bethel Census Area,Alaska,United States. This community is not an independent village as it is counted as part of the community of Toksook Bay.
Paul Joseph John was an American Yup'ik elder,cultural advocate,and commercial fisherman. John was a proponent of traditional Central Alaskan Yup'ik culture,including the use of the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language and a subsistence lifestyle,including wild food. Additionally,John helped to settle the village of Toksook Bay,Alaska. A traditional chief of the Nunakauyarmiut tribe,he was a member of the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP),which is based in Bethel,Alaska.
Marie (Nick) Arnaq Meade is a Yup'ik professor in the humanities and also a Yup'ik tradition bearer. Meade's Yup'ik name is Arnaq which means "woman." She also works and travels with the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. Meade is also part of the Nunamta Yup'ik Dance Group. Meade has been documenting the cultural knowledge of Yup'ik elders,including the values,language and beliefs of the Yup'ik people for over twenty years. She is currently an instructor at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Yup'ik cuisine refers to the Inuit and Yup'ik style traditional subsistence food and cuisine of the Yup'ik people from the western and southwestern Alaska. Also known as Cup'ik cuisine for the Chevak Cup'ik dialect speaking Eskimos of Chevak and Cup'ig cuisine for the Nunivak Cup'ig dialect speaking Eskimos of Nunivak Island. This cuisine is traditionally based on meat from fish,birds,sea and land mammals,and normally contains high levels of protein. Subsistence foods are generally considered by many to be nutritionally superior superfoods. Yup’ik diet is different from Alaskan Inupiat,Canadian Inuit,and Greenlandic diets. Fish as food are primary food for Yup'ik Eskimos. Both food and fish called neqa in Yup'ik. Food preparation techniques are fermentation and cooking,also uncooked raw. Cooking methods are baking,roasting,barbecuing,frying,smoking,boiling,and steaming. Food preservation methods are mostly drying and less often frozen. Dried fish is usually eaten with seal oil. The ulu or fan-shaped knife is used for cutting up fish,meat,food,and such.
Tiffany Zulkosky is an American politician. She represented District 38 in the Alaska House of Representatives from 2018 until 2023,after she chose not to run for re-election. Zulkosky is a Democrat and caucused with the House Majority Caucus. In 2018,she was appointed by Governor Bill Walker and unanimously approved by House Democrats to fill the vacant seat in District 38. Zulkosky,who is Yup'ik,was the only Alaska Native woman to serve in the Alaska Legislature.
Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD),or Bethel Public Schools,is a school district headquartered in Bethel,Alaska. As of 2017 it is the largest rural school district in the state,with 4,300 students.
Orutsararmiut Traditional Native Council (ONC) is the largest tribe in the Bethel,Alaska region. It is a federally recognized tribe and a governing body for the community of Bethel,Alaska.
Eugene R. "Buzzy" Peltola Jr. was an American public servant and naturalist who served as Alaska director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and manager of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. He was the husband of Congresswoman Mary Peltola. Peltola died as the result of a plane crash in September 2023.
Mary Ciuniq Pete was an American educator and anthropologist. From 1996 to 2005 she was the director of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Subsistence Division,and from 2010 to 2017 she was a member of the United States Arctic Research Commission. She also worked for the University of Fairbanks at various points in her life,including as director of a satellite campus. For her work in education,subsistence policies,and role in forming a degree program in the Yup'ik language,she was inducted into the 2019 Alaska Women's Hall of Fame.
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