Johnny Ned Nusunginya (March 13, 1927 – August 18, 1981) (Last name pronounced like ''Nusaŋiña'' in Iñupiaq) was an American politician from the state of

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., ...

. He served 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 ...

from 1959 to 1963 as a Democrat. An Iñupiaq, he was born in

Utqiagvik, Alaska Utqiagvik ( ik, Utqiaġvik; , , formerly known as Barrow ()) is the borough seat and largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it is one of the northernmost cities and towns in the ...

in 1927 and worked as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

. He also owned a delivery service business in Utqiagvik, where he also served as mayor as well as director of civil defense. At the time of his election to the House in 1958, he was married and had six children. In his election platform, he stated that "non-discrimination" was an integral part of his reasoning to stand as a candidate, and that as a lifetime resident of Northern Alaska, he was "in the position to understand the problems of the natives in Alaska", stressing the need for progress for those groups. On February 3, 1961, four people including Nusunginya's wife, Vera (née Bolt), along with his six-year-old son and brother-in-law were killed in a fire at the family home in Utqiagvik. Another infant, a child of Nusinginya's, was rescued by a bystander who rushed in take the child from the burning home; he was the sole survivor of the house fire, which had occurred in temperatures that measured . Apparently caused due to an explosion of an oil stove, the fire transpired while his other six children were at school; thus they were unharmed. In May 1961, Nusunginya was arrested and charged by the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

for hunting

eider duck Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilt ...

s out of season, which prompted protest from about 138 other Iñupiat, who presented 600 pounds of ducks to game wardens in the area in an act of civil disobedience, an unprecedented stand in solidarity by the Iñupiat people up until that time. The charges were later dropped. Nusunginya died on August 18, 1981 in Anchorage, from heart failure.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nusunginya, John 1927 births 1981 deaths American carpenters Inupiat people Democratic Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Native American state legislators in Alaska People from Utqiagvik, Alaska 20th-century American politicians