Donald Rose Wright (November 24, 1929 – July 5, 2014) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

politician from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

Early life and education

Donald Rose Wright was born in

Nenana, Alaska Nenana ( taa, Toghotili; is a home rule city in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area of the Unorganized Borough in the Interior of the U.S. state of Alaska. Nenana developed as a Lower Tanana community at the confluence where the tributary Nenana Rive ...

, one of seven sons of Episcopal missionaries Arthur and Myrtle Wright. His mother was

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

. His father was half half Gwich'in and half white, with familial origins in

Old Crow, Yukon Old Crow is a community in the Canadian territory of Yukon. Located in a periglacial environment, the community is situated on the Porcupine River in the far northern part of the territory. Old Crow is the only Yukon community that cannot be rea ...

, and was one of numerous Alaska Natives recruited for and mentored in the ministry by Episcopal bishop

Peter Trimble Rowe Peter Trimble Rowe (November 20, 1856 – June 1, 1942) was a Canadian prelate who served for decades as the first bishop of the American Episcopal Diocese of Alaska. Early life and education Peter Rowe was born in Meadowvale, Mississauga, Meadow ...

. As a missionary family, they lived all over

Interior Alaska Interior Alaska is the central region of Alaska's territory, roughly bounded by the Alaska Range to the south and the Brooks Range to the north. It is largely wilderness. Mountains include Denali in the Alaska Range, the Wrangell Mountains, and ...

, but mostly in Nenana,

Minto Minto may refer to: Places Antarctica *Mount Minto (Antarctica) Australia *Minto, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Minto railway station * Minto County, Western Australia * Parish of Minto, New South Wales Canada * Minto City, British Col ...

and

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

. He graduated from Fairbanks High School in 1947.

Career

Wright was a former president of the

Alaska Federation of Natives The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) is the largest statewide Native organization in Alaska. Its membership includes 178 villages (both federally recognized tribes and village corporations), thirteen regional native corporations, and twelve re ...

, serving from 1970 to 1972 during the height of activity over passage of the

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing i ...

. Most of his notoriety in Alaskan politics has come as a

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

for statewide office in

over several decades. Wright has run for statewide office in Alaska fifteen times between 1968 and 2010, eleven of those times for

governor of Alaska A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

. Of his gubernatorial campaigns, he was most notable as the gubernatorial nominee of the

Alaskan Independence Party The Alaskan Independence Party (AKIP) is an Alaskan nationalist political party that advocates an in-state referendum which would include the option of Alaska becoming an independent country. The party also advocates positions similar to those ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. The 1978 campaign was the only time in the party's early history in which party founder

Joe Vogler Joseph E. Vogler (April 24, 1913 – ) was the founder of the Alaskan Independence Party. He was also chair or gubernatorial nominee during most of the party's existence. He was also known, originally in his adopted hometown of Fairbanks, Alaska ...

was not the gubernatorial nominee (Vogler ran for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

instead in this election). In addition to serving as president of AFN, he also served as president of the Bartlett Democratic Club and of the Cook Inlet Native Association. Besides multiple runs for office under the AIP banner, he has also run for office numerous times as both a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. Wright also ran for the Republican nomination for

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

in 1988. Wright ran his 2010 campaign without a

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint Ticket (election), ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate ...

Notable family

His younger brother

Jules Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar). It is the given name of: People with the name *Jules Aarons (1921–2008), American space physicist and photographer *Jules Abadie (1876–195 ...

served one term in the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people per ...

as a Republican from 1967 to 1969. Another brother, Gareth, also ran for office, but was better known as the patriarch of a family of sprint dog mushers and as a frequent rival to George Attla in numerous races over the years. This rivalry was featured in the 1979 movie '' Spirit of the Wind''. Don Wright is the great-uncle of

Ramy Brooks Ramy "Ray" Brooks (born December 24, 1968"1996 Iditarod Mushers: B", para. 11. in Fairbanks, Alaska) is an Alaska Native kennel owner and operator, motivational speaker, and dog musher who specializes in long-distance races. He is a two-time ru ...

, a dog musher who has been active in long-distance dog racing since the 1990s.

Death

Wright died on July 5, 2014 in

Kenai, Alaska Kenai (, ) ( Dena'ina: ; russian: Кенай, ''Kenay'') is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is one hundred and fifty-eight miles by road southwest from Anchorage. The population was 7,424 as of the 2020 cen ...

.'Don Wright, Alaska Native leader and force behind land claims act dies,' Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, July 10, 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Don 1929 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans Alaska Democrats Alaska Native activists Alaska Republicans Alaskan Athabaskan people Alaskan Independence Party politicians American people of Canadian descent Candidates in the 1988 United States presidential election Dog mushers from Alaska Gwich'in people Native American politicians Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Fairbanks, Alaska People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People from Nenana, Alaska People from Wasilla, Alaska