PERCY CHARLES BALLOT SR.

"I was one of the last ones living in a sod house here in town. Three guys came into my sod house, I was married and had a couple kids, they said, I had to go to a meeting. I thought I had done something wrong and they were going to blue ticket me. They said 'you're hired, you're going to work for us now.' I had to listen to them, because they were elders, and that’s our tradition, we listen to elders. I asked them what I had to do. I had no experience working in an office, but I read a lot. They said 'roll those three drums up there and fill them up.' I learned how to operate the generator. It was an $80,000 budget for about 50-60 houses. I worked there for eight years and through those eight years I started learning about federal funding. They had a whole bunch of mail for years just sitting there, with nobody reading it. So I started reading it and said, these guys have an opportunity to find money. Then I had the opportunity to start working with a very nice lady named Mariel Roth. She started helping with the applications and it just started getting easier and easier. Now we are doing well. We have EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) funding, road monies, we own our store now and fuel. After those eight years, I wanted to be President. I became President of the IRA (Indian Reorganization Act, often used to refer to tribal governments that were organized under the federal act) in 1984. I just got off a couple years ago. Now I am the Vice President. I also serve on the Council. I am the Vice Chairman on Maniilaq [Association] and serve on the board of ANTHC (Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium), ICC (Inuit Circumpolar Council), RurAL CAP (Rural Alaska Community Action Program), Regional Subsistence Board and School Board. I like doing what I do. But, the best thing I like doing is hunting and making opportunities for kids. The IRA is a really strong supporter of our kids. — Percy Charles Ballot Sr. is Inupiaq and lives in Buckland, Alaska.