01.13.17

Sullivan Honors Alaskan of the Week: Ernestine Hayes of Juneau

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) this week spoke on the Senate floor in recognition of Ernestine Hayes, of Juneau, who was recently named as the state’s 2017 Writer Laureate. Hayes is the first Alaskan to be recognized as part of Senator Sullivan’s new series, “Alaskan of the Week.”

“The stories of Alaskans doing good work all across our state should be told, which is why I decided to start this new initiative recognizing one great Alaskan each week,” said Senator Sullivan. “I felt it was particularly appropriate for the kickoff to recognize a storyteller. Ernestine Hayes is a talented Tlingit writer, known for her works ‘Blonde Indian’ and ‘Tao of the Raven.’ It was an honor to recognize her on the Senate floor.”

The following is the statement submitted to the Congressional Record:

TRIBUTE TO ERNESTINE HAYES

Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I want to talk a little bit about Alaska this afternoon. Alaska is a beautiful State. Anyone who has visited knows that. Those who have watched any of the numerous television shows featuring my State know that. We have the mountains that seem to go on forever, fish-filled rivers and streams and oceans, miles and miles of beautiful tundra, calving glaciers. 

People save their whole lives to take a trip to Alaska, to see the wildlife, to see the bears, the salmon in the wild. There is no doubt Alaska is physically beautiful, but for those of us who live there, the true beauty of our State comes from our people. From our urban areas to the hundreds of smaller towns and small villages that dot our State, we have so many great citizens doing so many great things throughout all of our communities.

What I want to do is to recognize some of our citizens and tell their stories. So every week I will be doing that. Every week I will be recognizing an Alaskan who has made a special contribution to our great State and great Nation. For the kickoff of the Alaskan of the Week, I think it is appropriate to recognize a storyteller.

Narratives keep the people in my State connected to one another. They keep history and culture alive in our great State. That is what Juneau resident Professor Ernestine Hayes does for us in her writing. Professor Hayes was recognized by the Alaska Humanities Forum and the Alaska State Council on the Arts as the current Alaska State Writer Laureate.

The recognition is well deserved. Professor Hayes teaches writing at the University of Alaska Southeast and is the author of two extraordinary award-winning memoirs, the “Blonde Indian,” and the “Tao of Raven.” Her books chart her unique experiences of growing up in Juneau as a Tlingit at a time when Alaska Natives were denied basic rights and “No Native'' signs were common on storefronts.

Her career as a writer and a teacher began in her fifties. Living the principle that learning should be a lifetime passion, she graduated from the University of Alaska Southeast--magna cum laude, I might add--when she was 55 years old. In between, she moved to California, where she struggled to find purpose, and, as she put it, she was determined to go back home to Alaska or die facing north.

Thankfully, for us, she made it back home. In the “Tao of Raven,'' she weaves in the story of Raven and the box of light. Professor Hayes writes about the importance of giving back to the community. “Although Raven could well have decided to keep light and luster and blinding brilliance for only his own pleasure,” she writes, “he knew that to keep riches to oneself guarantees their decline.''

I congratulate Professor Hayes for being chosen as our State's Writer Laureate and our first inaugural Alaskan of the Week. Thank you, Professor Hayes, for sharing your blinding brilliance. 

I yield the floor.

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