Four candidates are running to represent the lower Kuskokwim in the Alaska State House, with the state’s primary election scheduled for Aug. 20, and the general election scheduled for Nov. 5.
Nellie Jimmie of Toksook Bay says she wants to represent House District 38 to advocate for the rural communities of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
District 38 covers lower Kuskokwim communities, including Akiachak, Akiak, Atmautluak, Bethel, Chefornak, Chevak, Eek, Kasigluk, Kipnuk, Kongiganak, Kwethluk, Kwigillingok, Mekoryuk, Napakiak, Napaskiak, Newtok, Nightmute, Nunapitchuk, Oscarville, Quinhagak, Toksook Bay, Tuluksak, Tuntutuliak, and Tununak.
Jimmie is running against incumbent Rep. Conrad "CJ" McCormick, Bethel Democrat Victoria Sosa, and Quinhagak Veterans of Alaska Party candidate Willy Keppel.
Jimmie sat down with KYUK’s Sage Smiley to talk about why she wants to represent the lower Kuskokwim in the State House.
Read a transcript of the interview below. It’s been lightly edited for clarity and flow, and may still contain minor transcription errors.
KYUK (Sage Smiley): Thank you so much for taking the time to do an interview with KYUK today. Can you, first of all, just introduce yourself? Who are you, for people who don't know you?
Nellie Jimmie: My name is Nellie Jimmie. My Yup’ik name is Unangiq. I'm from Toksook Bay. I come from the Nunakauyarmiut Tribe. I'm a descendant of Yup’ik – my grandparents' names are Fritz and Stella Jimmie. And that's my father's side. And then my mother, she's Native American from down in the lower 48, [and] we come from Lakota and Ojibwe descendants. My grandparents' names are Herbert and Helen Welsh from Baraga, Michigan. And then I was born in Bethel. We lived in Bethel for a few years, and then we permanently moved out here to Toksook Bay, and this is where I was raised, with family members out here too. So it was really good that we moved out here. I grew up basically like a tomboy, because at that time, I guess my father didn't think he was going to have any sons. So I grew up hunting and fishing with my dad, commercial and subsistence, and then ate traditional foods with him. So not a picky eater, I can admit to that. And then I'm also a single mother of two daughters, and I have one grandson. Pretty much believe in the traditional teachings. I dance with our Native group. So we get to travel to other villages and perform. We actually performed this year at the Cama-i Festival, which was a really good experience, you know, bigger crowd, and so that was very eye opening and very fun. It was a very positive experience. I just love to sew, knit, work on anything subsistence. I got to be part of a project where we finally made a homemade baby suit out of qengaallek, sea ducks. And that hasn't been done for so many years. So it was a privilege and honor to be working with Elders, you know, learning step by step on how to make those – it's a really good experience. Yeah, so I believe in all of my teachings, both from Yup’ik side and then my Lakota and Ojibwe side. I carry with those within me to try to live by them, and really appreciate all the teachings that I've received and hoping I could be, you know, part of the ones to pass them down to the next generations down the road. Yeah, I think that’s about it.
KYUK: What makes you want to run to represent the lower Kuskokwim in the Alaska State House District 38?
Jimmie: Just to give a rural perspective to the state legislature. To represent the people, and bring a strong voice and a different perspective being out here in the rural [areas] where I get to see ways of living firsthand, not just in my community, but in so many other communities that are still in need of just basic living, needs which many still do not have, and I feel very deeply for them. And just to give back to the community in that way, just to give a voice for those who can't be heard.
KYUK: What legislative experience do you have? You haven't been in the state legislature before, but have you served on other boards, or commissions, or councils?
Jimmie: I'm part of the [Alaska Village Electric Cooperative] board, which I was elected by my community, which really showed that, you know, they saw something in me to bring out to represent them. So I humbly accepted that, and there's a good experience, and opened my eyes to what else I could do, not just for me, the community, but for the district, also for the [Yukon-Kuskokwim] Delta. And I would say, even if I don't have legislator experience, I would say the life of living out in the rural [area] has given me so much experience to work with, and so much to bring up. And I would just say, just the experience of being out in the rural area of what so many of our villages have to endure. And I don't say it as like, you know, we're weak or we're insufficient. We are strong people. We are resilient people, but we do need better assistance with infrastructure, basic living needs, subsistence, that type of stuff.
KYUK: So that leads really well into my next question, which is what are the motivating issues, the big things that made you want to run for legislature that you'd want to focus on if you were elected?
Jimmie: In the rural area, there are very many needs which have to be met, but if I had to choose my top priorities, they would be basic living needs of running water and sewer in many villages that still do not have them to this day; subsistence rights; and the education funding needed for not just in the rural area, but in the whole state of Alaska. I believe with the education funding, which both my daughters have attended Head Start, as well as Parents as Teachers, they are in danger of being gone due to the lack of funding. And also for the students, for not just education, but also for physical activities, which really resonates within the communities. Basketball, [Native Youth Olympics], volleyball, as well as other curricular activities [like] band, which many of them do not have that now. I had it. I was lucky to have it when I was in high school. So there's a very high need for us to protect or keep the education funding coming out here to the schools for our children to thrive, to keep our Native culture going very strong out here as well.
KYUK: Are there any other issues that you want to mention that are motivating you to run for office?
Jimmie: Yes, there are. There's the subsistence rights. There's the infrastructure also as for housing, the limited number of housing, with the shortage of housing, the Missing [or] Murdered Indigenous [Persons], the community transportation system, the bypass systems, the the cost of living, the price of groceries, stove oil, gas, just everything combines into one in some way where they all need to be made more affordable living out here.
KYUK: What do you want to change about the way this district, the lower Kuskokwim, is represented, if you're elected?
Jimmie: Just a better understanding of our culture, our Native ways of living out here in the rural area and the whole [Yukon-Kuskokwim] Delta. I mean, it's a huge miscommunication, not understanding the way of living out here, just about that, yeah. Just to bring a better understanding of the Native people.
KYUK: How do you plan to campaign during this campaign?
Jimmie: I pretty much have been traveling to as many villages as I can, which out here in the [Yukon-Kuskokwim] Delta is very hard to do just because of the cost of the airfare. So I've just been to a handful, and I was honored to speak with Elders listening to their concerns and receiving tribal support, endorsements from the Native tribes, and also some corporations as well. But yeah, just reaching out to villages.
KYUK: Why should someone vote for you?
Jimmie: Because I would bring a good voice to the state legislature regarding our issues, and I believe in fighting for our people out here.
KYUK: Is there anything else important that you want people to know about you, or you as a candidate, or the issues that you care about, that we haven't talked about?
Jimmie: I'm also a grandmother, so that really resonates with me for working towards something that will be better – if it's not in my lifetime, if I can open that door down the road for our children or our great-great grandchildren, that would make me feel accomplished. Like even if I can open the door and get that in motion, get that what I want to get done in motion.
KYUK: Well, thank you very much for your time and good luck on your campaign.
Jimmie: Quyanaqvaa, thank you so much.
Stay tuned for more KYUK election coverage in the coming weeks. Find other KYUK 2024 elections coverage here.
