Elaine Abraham

Elaine Elizabeth Abraham (June 19, 1929 – May 18, 2016) was a Tlingit elder and registered nurse who contributed to improving health care delivery in rural Alaska. Later active professionally in the field of education, she assisted with the creation of the Alaska Native Language Center, and, as a statewide administrator at the University of Alaska, in 1976, led the establishment of community colleges in underserved parts of the state.[1][2]

Biography

Early life

Abraham, whose Tlingit name was Chuu Shah, was born in Yakutat, Alaska, the daughter of Teikweidi, or (in English) Olaf Abraham, and his wife Susie Bremner.[1] She was raised in a traditional household, with Tlingit as her first language. Her father was one of the last traditional clan leaders of the village; her mother was a granddaughter of John James Bremner, a Scottish prospector and guide, who helped the U.S. Army explore the Copper River area in the 1880s.[1][3] Elaine Abraham learned English at the village school,[4] then, since there was no local high school, she attended a boarding school, the Sheldon Jackson High School/College, in Sitka, Alaska, also historically within Tlingit territory, on Baranof Island.[5]

Nursing

She studied at the Sage Memorial School of Nursing, in Granado, Arizona, graduating at the top of her class, in 1952, and went on to work for two years as a nurse on Navajo reservations in Arizona. She then returned to Alaska, and served in hospitals in Juneau, Sitka (at the Mount Edgecumbe School), and Bethel, at a time when diphtheria and tuberculosis were predominant health threats in those areas.[4]

She played a leading role in the opening of the Alaska Native Health Services Hospital in Anchorage in 1954.[6] In the early 1960s, she worked together with Dr. James Justice at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital, in Sitka, in organizing the Southeast Health Aide Program, to meet the healthcare needs of Alaskan Natives living in remote villages; that program became the model for the statewide Alaska Native Health Aide Program.[1]

Education administration

In the early 1970s, after retiring from nursing, Abraham pursued a bachelor's degree in human resources development, as well as a masters in "Teaching in Multi-Ethnic Education," both at Alaska Pacific University, in Anchorage.[6] Subsequently she served in administrative posts at Sheldon Jackson College, in Sitka, beginning as associate dean of students, then becoming director of special services, and, finally, vice president for institutional development. While at Sheldon Jackson she initiated the Tlingit and Haida Language Teachers Training Program, and contributed to the writing of the Alaska Legislation for Bilingual Education.[7]

In 1976 Abraham joined the University of Alaska system as vice president of the newly created Division of Rural Educational Affairs, based in Anchorage,[7] becoming the first woman and the first Native American to hold a senior statewide administrative position at the university.[1] During her brief tenure (the position was eliminated shortly later in an institutional reorganization), she expanded educational opportunities by supporting the establishment of new community college campuses in rural parts of the state.[4][1]

The following year she moved to Anchorage Community College (at the time a separate institution; as of 1987 part of the University of Alaska system), where she founded and helped develop the Native Student Services over a period of 17 years.[8] As an administrator she arranged the first in-depth survey of Native students, in 1983, gathering insights to improve services for them; and established the position of Native Student Coordinator, as a channel for continued student input. Under Abraham the NSS fostered collaboration and mutual support among Native students, and also developed closer ties with the Native community in Anchorage.[9]

Abraham later chaired the Board of Commissioners of the Alaska Native Science Commission, a non-profit organization founded in 1993 to support relationships between research scientists and Alaskan Native communities.[5][6]

Honors and Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dunham, Mike (May 18, 2016). "Elaine Abraham, ground-breaking Tlingit elder, dead at 87." Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  2. ↑ Jennings, Michael L., & Jennifer Robin Collier (2002). "One University, Two Universes: Alaska Natives and the University of Alaska-Anchorage." In: Duane Champagne & Joseph H. Strauss (Eds.). Native American Studies in Higher Education: Models for Collaboration between Universities and Indigenous Nations. ISBN 9780759101258. p. 203-228; here: 211.
  3. ↑ Demmert, Victoria. "Susie Abraham." Morgan Howard Productions. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Elaine Abraham." Category: 2011 Alumnae, Education, Health, Science. Alaska Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  5. 1 2 Abraham, Elaine. "Elaine Abraham: The Alaska Native Science Commission." 1899/2001: Harriman Expedition Retraced: A Century of Change. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  6. 1 2 3 "Elaine Ramos Abraham." Alaska Native Science Commission. www.nativescience.org. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Jennings, Michael (2004). Alaska Native Political Leadership and Higher Education: One University, Two Universes. Lanham, MD: Altamira Press. ISBN 9780759100695. p. 97.
  8. ↑ Jennings & Collier (2002), p. 213-214.
  9. ↑ Jennings & Collier (2002), p. 214, 216.
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