I would like to express my personal
feeling to the Inuit Nation which includes the Inupiat, Yupiks,
Ingaliks, the Tlingit, Haida and the members of the Alaska Native
Claims Settle Act, which you have served so well during the times
when the State of Alaska and the United States government were and
are still trying to resolve. You (Honorable Eben Hopson), to my people, were a
personal friend in regards to our way of life: a fair and consistent
leader in times of indecision during the Alaska Native Land Claims
Settlement negotiations; a strong leader of the local government as
expressed during the fulfillment of the incorporation of the North
Slope Borough; and an advocate of the circumpolar nations' indigenous
people, who through your efforts have established the Inuit
Circumpolar Conference across five sparsely populated, yet widely
spread nations, which will be the basis of your hopes and dreams.
You have lit the torch for us and the generations
to come. We shall from herewith-on carry the torch for you.
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