Percy Panigroak Ipalook (April 2, 1906 – December 15, 1990) was an American politician and clergyman from the state of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. Born at

Point Barrow, Alaska Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at , south of the North Pole. (The northe ...

, Ipalook was Iñupiaq. He attended Sheldon Jackson Junior College in

Sitka, Alaska Sitka (; ) is a municipal home rule, unified Consolidated city-county, city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian America, Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Ba ...

and the

University of Dubuque The University of Dubuque (UD) is a private Presbyterian university in Dubuque, Iowa. About 2,200 students attend the university. History The University of Dubuque has had a long history in Dubuque since its founding in 1852. Early years Adri ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. Ordained in 1941, he was a Presbyterian clergyman and missionary and served as a chaplain in the

Alaska Territorial Guard The Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG), more commonly known as the Eskimo Scouts, was a military reserve force component of the US Army, organized in 1942 in response to attacks on United States soil in Hawaii and occupation of parts of Alaska by Emp ...

. One of the first

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

s elected to the territorial legislature in 1948 (along with

Bill Beltz William Earnest Beltz (April 27, 1912 – November 21, 1960) was an American politician and carpenter. Born in Bear Creek on the Seward Peninsula, Haycock, Alaska, Beltz was an Iñupiaq, the Inuit of Alaska. Beltz worked as a carpenter, ele ...

and Frank L. Johnson), he served as a representative from 1949 to 1951 and senator from 1951 to 1955. He served on the Alaska Statehood Committee from 1949 to 1959. Ipalook died in Kotzebue, Alaska in 1990.

References

1906 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Alaska Native people 20th-century Inuit people 20th-century Native American politicians Alaska Territory officials Inuit missionaries Inuit politicians Inupiat people {{Alaska-politician-stub