John Quniaq Baker (born 1962 or 1963 in

Kotzebue, Alaska Kotzebue ( ) or Qikiqtaġruk ( , ) is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing t ...

) is self-employed

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 ...

dog musher Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most commo ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...

of Inupiat descent who consistently places in the top 10 during the long distance

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod, is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of between 12 ...

. Baker won the 2011 Iditarod with a finish time of 8 Days 19 Hours 46 Minutes 39 Seconds. Baker started mushing at age 14. He raced in his first Iditarod in 1996, placing 22nd. By his third race he placed in the top 10, and he sustained that position for six of the next seven years (from the 1998 to the 2005 Iditarods), only dropping to 22nd once again in 2000 due to dog trouble.Potempa. His second best finish was in 2002, when he crossed the finish line in 3rd place in 9 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes, and 30 seconds. In 1998, he won both the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award and the Regal Alaskan's First Musher to the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

Award. He has competed in every race from the 1996 to the 2013 Iditarod. In the 2009 Iditarod, he finished in 3rd place. He has 24 dogs. Baker worked as a pilot and manager of his family's

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...

business. He also visits local schools as a motivational lecturer. Like Ramy Brooks, Baker is one of the few

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...

dog sled racers who compete in the modern Iditarod. Baker lives near his extended family on the coast of the

Chukchi Sea Chukchi Sea ( rus, Чуко́тское мо́ре, r=Chukotskoye more, p=tɕʊˈkotskəjə ˈmorʲɪ), sometimes referred to as the Chuuk Sea, Chukotsk Sea or the Sea of Chukotsk, is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west b ...

in Kotzebue, Alaska, and has a fish camp/winter cabin 30 mi (50 km) away, across Kobuk Lake. His son Alex has competed in the

Junior Iditarod The Junior Iditarod Sled Dog Race, or Jr. Iditarod, is a 148- to 158-mile ( 222 km) sled dog race for mushers between the ages of 14 through 17, which is patterned after the 1,150-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race that is said to be . The race is ...

. He also has a daughter, Tahayla. As of March 2017, Baker is engaged to fellow musher Katherine Keith; the couple run four businesses and two nonprofit organizations in the Kotzebue region. They plan to marry after both run in the 2018 Iditarod.

Personal life

Baker is of Inupiat and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

heritage. His grandmother, Clara Rotman (née Levy), was born in

Kiana, Alaska Kiana ( ik, Katyaak or ) is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 361, down from 388 in 2000. History Pre Contact Kiana, meaning where three rivers meet, was founded several centuries ...

in 1914. She was born to a Native Alaskan mother and a Jewish father and was raised Jewish and cherished her Jewish heritage. In 2011, Baker became the first Jew and the first Inuit to win the Iditarod.

Notes

References

Alaska Dispatch article on Baker's historic win in 2011
Retrieved March 15, 2011 * Anonymous (2006).

. Cabela's Iditarod 2006 Race Coverage. Retrieved March 6, 2006. * Anonymous (October 29, 2001).

. Dogsled.com. Retrieved March 6, 2006. * Potempa, Ann (February 22, 2001). "John Baker returns to Iditarod for another try". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved March 6, 2006.

External links

Current statistics in the 2006 Iditarod from the official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, John 1960s births 20th-century American Jews Aviators from Alaska Dog mushers from Alaska Iditarod champions Inupiat people Living people Native American sportspeople People from Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska Year of birth uncertain 21st-century American Jews