1980

Eulogy for Eben Hopson

By Edward Hoffman, Sr., Chief

Association of Village Council Presidents

I would like to express my personal feeling to the Inuit Nation which includes the Inupiat, Yupiks, Ingaliks, the Tlingit, Haida and the members of the Alaska Native Claims Settle Act, which you have served so well during the times when the State of Alaska and the United States government were and are still trying to resolve. You (Honorable Eben Hopson), to my people, were a personal friend in regards to our way of life: a fair and consistent leader in times of indecision during the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement negotiations; a strong leader of the local government as expressed during the fulfillment of the incorporation of the North Slope Borough; and an advocate of the circumpolar nations’ indigenous people, who through your efforts have established the Inuit Circumpolar Conference across five sparsely populated, yet widely spread nations, which will be the basis of your hopes and dreams.

You have lit the torch for us and the generations to come. We shall from herewith-on carry the torch for you.