美国国家公共电台 NPR--Rep. Peltola says her Alaskan heritage is interwoven into everything she does

Rep. Peltola says her Alaskan heritage is interwoven into everything she does

Transcript¹

Democrat² Mary Peltola was sworn in this week, making her the first Alaskan Native in Congress. Before taking office, she went back to rural southwest Alaska, where she was welcomed by the community.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

A new member of Congress started work this week. Mary Peltola recently beat Sarah Palin in a special election. Peltola is Yup'ik and the first Alaska Native in Congress. Before her swearing in, Peltola went home to Bethel, a town of about 6,000 people in rural southwest Alaska. KYUK's Nina Kravinsky was there for Peltola's homecoming.

ST SOPHIA ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN³ CHURCH CHOIR⁴: (Singing) Give us this day our daily bread.

NINA KRAVINSKY, BYLINE⁵: Peltola's supporters gathered for a feast at the Bethel library. Dishes potluck-style filled a long table. In front of it, the Bethel Russian Orthodox choir sang. Priest Michael Trethowan blessed the food. Then he turned to Peltola and blessed her.

MICHAEL TREFON: Assist Mary, we pray thee, and direct her to divine wisdom and power.

KRAVINSKY: Peltola wiped away tears as the choir switched into a Yup'ik rendition of "God Grant Me Many Years."

ST SOPHIA ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH CHOIR: (Singing in non-English language).

KRAVINSKY: Peltola flew 400 miles west of Anchorage, the closest big city, to be here in Bethel. The only way to get here is by boat or plane. Most people in Bethel are Yup'ik. And most Peltola supporters at the library event know the congresswoman well, like Melanie Fredericks and her daughter, MaeLynn, who are family friends.

MELANIE FREDERICKS: I know and believe wholeheartedly that she's going to work hard and do her best to represent our state.

KRAVINSKY: Bethany Kaiser is also looking forward to Peltola representing the whole state. The paralegal is from Bethel. And she's one of several people I talked to who cried when she heard the election results.

BETHANY KAISER: I think she really can relate to not just Bethel, like, rural Alaska in general, like, all over the state. I think she can really relate to coming from a small town and knowing the challenges that we all face out here.

KRAVINSKY: One of those challenges is food security, which Peltola made a big part of her campaign and why 77-year-old subsistence fisherman John W. Andrew (ph) had the reaction he did when he heard Peltola was elected.

JOHN W ANDREW: It gave me indescribable joy.

KRAVINSKY: Andrew is from Kwethluk, a village of about 700 upriver from Bethel. Peltola's mother is from Kwethluk, too. And the congresswoman spent part of her life there. Ninety-three percent of voters in Kwethluk voted for Peltola.

ANDREW: Some years ago, some elder told me, our region is the last of the sleeping giants. So I think what that elder meant was our people in this region have a lot of potential.

KRAVINSKY: Andrew has worked with the congresswoman on subsistence fishing committees, committees that are trying to fix a huge problem here. Recently, fewer and fewer salmon⁶ have been swimming upstream in the summer in a place where people have relied on the fish for food for thousands of years. Andrew is happy to have someone in Congress who knows just how much of a problem that is. Anything that isn't caught, hunted or picked by hand needs to come in by plane or barge⁷, driving up prices on the grocery store shelf. To try to restore the salmon population, Peltola has proposed stricter bycatch limits on commercial fishing operations.

ANDREW: Coming from a small community, she has a lot of cultural values she practices, like to share with all your relatives what was given to you from the wilderness⁸.

KRAVINSKY: Peltola says she's proud to be Yup'ik. But it's only part of her identity. She says she plans to represent all Alaskans as the state's sole House member.

MARY PELTOLA: My perspective, my worldview, is from this region. So I think it will be interwoven into every single thing that I do.

KRAVINSKY: Peltola will serve the last four months of the late Congressman⁹ Don Young's term. She's running against Sarah Palin again in November to serve the next full two-year term.

For NPR News, I'm Nina Kravinsky in Bethel, Alaska.

(SOUNDBITE OF CLAMS CASINO'S "TREETOP")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

7 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

8 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

9 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。