Shareholder of the Year Awards Presented
The 2011 Shareholder of the Year Awards were presented at the Doyon, Limited annual meeting of shareholders. This year’s recipients included:
Chief Paul Williams, Sr., Elder of the Year
Elder of the Year Paul Williams and Family 031811: Chief Paul Williams, Sr. is surrounded by family members after receiving the 2011 Doyon Elder of the Year Award at the annual meeting.
Chief Paul Williams, Sr. was recognized as a 2011 Elder of the Year for his service, dedication and devotion to the perpetuation of his Native heritage and commitment to his people.
Mr. Williams was born to Mary and John Sam in Salmon Village. He and his late wife, Lois Williams, originally of Arctic Village, raised five children, and have seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Mr. Williams served for more than 10 years as the Chief of the Venetie Reservations and devoted 22 years as the Second Chief in Beaver, where he presently serves as the Traditional Chief. Mr. Williams is also a U.S. Army Veteran, a retired wild land firefighter, and has served on numerous committees and boards benefitting Native people. He also helped to establish Camp Nahshii (Gwich’in Athabascan for “healing”), a cultural youth camp for youth and adults.
Mr. Williams is fluent in Gwich’in, and is a skilled and respected hunter, trapper and fisherman, an Elder historian, storyteller and “a well-spring of traditional knowledge.”
Nick Alexia, Sr., Elder of the Year
Elder of the Year NIck Alexia Sr and family 031811: Nick Alexia, Sr. stands with his family after he was honored at the annual meeting as a 2011 Doyon Elder of the Year.
Nick Alexia, Sr. was recognized as a 2011 Elder of the Year for his service, dedication and devotion to the perpetuation of his Native heritage and commitment to his people.
Mr. Alexia was born in the Nikolai region to Miska and Anna Alexia. He and his wife of 47 years, Ann G. (Gregory) Alexia, raised four children, and have seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Mr. Alexia is the First Chief of the Edzeno’ Village Council in Nikolai, has served the Russian Orthodox Church in Nikolai as a reader for three years, and is a member of the Tanana Chiefs Conference executive board. He is a fluent speaker of the Upper Kuskokwim Athabascan language, and takes great pride in teaching the traditional ways of hunting, trapping and gathering.
Known as a “jack of all trades,” Mr. Alexia works tirelessly to improve his community, which he serves without compensation. Among his efforts, he has helped keep the village accessible by plowing snow from the runway, and was instrumental in starting the summer youth program in Nikolai.
Maurice McGinty, Citizen of the Year
CItizen of the Year Maurice Morris McGinty with family 031811: Doyon’s 2011 Citizen of the Year Maurice McGinty with his family at the Doyon annual meeting.
Maurice McGinty was recognized as the 2011 Citizen of the Year for his demonstrated leadership, strong commitment, competence and sensitivity in the cultural survival of Alaska Natives.
McGinty was born in Kaiyuh and was raised there by his grandparents, Francis and Esther McGinty, until his family relocated to Nulato. He and his wife, Josephine Demoski, have seven children and many grandchildren.
McGinty has “has dedicated his life to the betterment of Alaska Natives through education, involvement in his community and living a subsistence lifestyle.” He holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in administration with a certificate in guidance counseling. He retired in 1997, following a career that included serving as principal at the Nulato, Kaltag and Huslia schools; guidance counselor in Kaltag, Nulato, Koyukuk and Ruby; and junior high and high school teacher in Nulato.
McGinty continues to be extremely active in the Native community, currently serving on the Yukon-Koyukuk School District Regional School Board and as the Elder representative for the Interior region for the First Alaskans Institute, and being involved in the Nulato Tribal and City Councils.
Don S. Thibedeau, Daaga’ Community Service Award
Daaga Community Service Award Recepient Don Thibedeau and family 031811: Don Thibedeau was recognized with Doyon’s 2011 Community Service Award; he is pictured with his family at the annual meeting held on March 18.
Don S. Thibedeau was honored with the 2011 Daaga’ Community Service Award for his strong commitment, competence and sensitivity in the area of helping others to make communities healthier and safer places to live.
Thibedeau was born in Fairbanks to the late Ruth Mayo Thibedeau from Rampart and longtime Fairbanksan, the late Richard “Shorty” Thibedeau.
For six years, Thibedeau taught kindergarten – 12th grades at Fairbanks Christian Academy, and has been a social worker for more than 20 years at the Denali Center. Through his work, he has cared for countless Elders, communicating with them in various languages, bringing them home to visit their families, and cooking traditional foods.
Thibedeau is a member of the Greater Fairbanks Community Hospital Foundation board of trustees and has served for 20 years as a volunteer on the Hospice of the Tanana Valley board of directors. He is also very involved in his church, where has served as a trustee for 28 years. For his efforts, Thibedeau has been honored with numerous awards, including the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) Presidential Award for Health in 1998.
Sonta Hamilton Roach, Chief Andrew Isaac Future Leader Award
Chief Andrew Isaac Future Leader Award Recepient Sonta Hamilton-Roach with husband 031811: Sonta Hamilton Roach, Doyon’s 2011 Chief Andrew Isaac Future Leader Award recipient, with her husband, Chevie.
Sonta Hamilton Roach was honored with the Chief Andrew Isaac Future Leader Award for her strong commitment, competence and sensitivity in the area of helping others to make communities healthier and safer places to live.
Roach was born in Anchorage to Rudolph and Joyanne Hamilton, and she was raised in Shageluk, where she learned the cultural and personal values that continue to propel her toward helping young people. She is married to Chevie Roach of Tok.
Roach has been active in her community since an early age, attending the ANSWER Camp (Alaska Native Student Wisdom Enrichment Retreat); being selected as Miss Alaska in a Miss Teenage USA pageant; being elected as a AFN Youth and Elders president; serving as the first-ever youth representative to the Tanana Chiefs Conference executive board; and being involved in her schools, Innoko River School and Mt. Edgecumbe High School.
Roach graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a degree in rural development in 2007. For the past three years, Roach has been the director of the Future Educators of Alaska, where she has mentored and provided opportunities for countless youth.
