|
For a few moments on January 31, 2000, the world stopped for many of us Alaskans. Like the explosion of the Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, the news of the crash of Alaska Airlines flight 261 was overwhelming in its suddenness. The shock of learning of the death of so many of our fellow humans is always heart wrenching. But unlike that Pan Am flight, I knew some of the passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight. The shock was even more extraordinary because, among the 88 people who were killed, some were very close friends. I, like many others, am deeply saddened by the passing of Morris Thompson, his wife Thelma and their daughter Sheryl, who were together on the flight.
With Morris'
death, a light dimmed in Alaska and especially in the Alaska Native
community. It was a light that served as a beacon to many Alaska Natives
a light that was bright enough to shine throughout our entire
state.
With
Morris' death, a light dimmed in Alaska and especially in the Alaska
Native community.
Morris and his family were on
a well-deserved vacation to mark his retirement from Doyon, even though
he wasn't planning to totally step back. He had agreed to serve as chairman
of the Alaska Federation of Natives' new First Alaskans Foundation,
and he already had formulated a number of ideas about where he hoped
the new organization would go.
Morris grew up in humble beginnings in the Yukon village of Tanana and attended high school at Mt. Edgecumbe. Later, he trained along with a number of other Alaska Natives in electronics in Los Angeles. After he returned to Alaska and married his sweetheart, Thelma Mayo of Rampart, he was employed for a time at an RCA satellite station. He then put his support behind Wally Hickel. When Hickel became governor, Morris was named assistant director of rural development. When Hickel was named Interior Secretary under President Nixon, Morris went to Washington, D.C., and eventually became the nation's youngest-ever commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Morris was instrumental in the development of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. Said Sen. Ted Stevens: "His vision and counsel were important factors in making ANCSA much more than we had ever dreamed."
|
After ANCSA
was passed, Morris stated prophetically that never in America's history
had a group of Native
Americans faced a more critical period than what Alaska
 Carl
H. Marrs,
President & CEO As time passes, I will be thinking more and more about Morrie's lifelong accomplishments. There was his role in state government and at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. There was the very important part he played in the passage of ANCSA. As ANCSA was implemented, Morris was there step by step as Alaska Native corporations struggled to find their way in those early years. He also played a critical role in the development of the Alaska Federation of Natives, starting virtually from day one and continuing right up to the creation of AFN's new First Alaskans Foundation. Here was a man who was as comfortable on the Yukon River as he was in the highest offices in Washington, D.C. Here was a leader who made each person with whom he dealt feel special. He truly listened to what you were saying. And those are the kinds of things I'll be thinking about as time passes.
Right now, though, I am comforted in remembering my friend Morris' smile that wide grin that took over his whole face, dragging you along with it, no matter what mood you were in.
And for all
of us, we should think about how we can make sure that the light he
gave us shines on and how his vision and ideas for the betterment of
our Native community and our state can be fulfilled. He would be pleased
with this. His memory deserves no less.
|
