40 Facts About Laura Bergt

Laura Mae Bergt was an Inupiaq athlete, model, politician, and activist for the Inupiat and other Indigenous Alaskans.

Laura Bergt worked as a promoter for the new state of Alaska attending trade shows and making marketing appearances as a spokeswoman and guest on radio and television programs.

In 1968, Bergt testified before the United States House of Representatives on the importance of settling Native claims to provide adequate funding for development of programs to address tribal issues and protect Indigenous hunting and fishing rights.

Laura Bergt was commissioner of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board from 1976 to 1978 and was a member of President Gerald Ford's United States Bicentennial Council.

At the state level, Laura Bergt was instrumental in pressing for the creation of schools to teach children with disabilities and preserve Native Arts.

Laura Bergt served on various housing and rural development initiatives and chaired the World Eskimo Indian Olympics Committee in 1966 and 1967.

Laura Bergt was elected in 1973 to a term on the Borough Assembly of the Fairbanks City Council.

Laura Bergt Mae Beltz, whose Inupiat name was "Mumiak", was born on October 1,1940, in Candle, Alaska, to Inupiat-German parents, Fredrica "Rica" and Bert Beltz.

Laura Bergt's maternal grandmother, Mamie was a First Nations Canadian, who married Louis Reich, a German whaler.

Laura Bergt's paternal grandmother, Susie was a Native Alaskan, who married a Pennsylvania Dutch miner, John Skyles "Jack" Beltz.

Laura Bergt's father was a bush pilot and a brother of Alaska Territorial Senator William Beltz.

Laura Bergt was born in Tacoma, Washington, but raised and schooled in Anchorage before becoming a pilot.

That year, Neil became a partner in Interior Airways, where Laura Bergt worked part time as a stewardess.

In 1964, Laura Bergt was elected as the national committeewoman from Alaska for the Young Republicans on which she served until 1966.

Laura Bergt served as an officer on the newly founded Cook Inlet Native Association.

Laura Bergt worked as a secretary for the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce and, in 1967, was appointed by the chamber to serve as the chair of the coordinating committee for the World Eskimo Indian Olympics.

Laura Bergt was a competitor in the games, having won the blanket toss nine times by 1969.

Laura Bergt was reappointed as chair in 1967 and simultaneously appointed by Governor Walter Hickel to serve on the Native Claims Task Force and the special task force on Indigenous housing issues.

From 1968, Laura Bergt worked with the tourism board, the Alaska Business Council, and the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, among other organizations, to promote the state, traveling to Costa Mesa, Century City, and Los Angeles, California, for the annual Alaska Travel and Trade Fair.

Laura Bergt worked as the office manager for the Alaska Federation of Natives and secretary to Emil Notti, president of the federation.

Laura Bergt worked for the Tundra Times and served as a director on the newspaper.

In 1968, Laura Bergt served as a member of the State Tourism Advisory Board, was on the Alaska state Committee on Children and Youth, Health, and Welfare, and was appointed to the Alaska State Housing Authority Board.

Laura Bergt testified in 1969 before the subcommittee calling for the creation of tribal corporations which would allow Native people to control and manage their own development and resources.

Laura Bergt was invited to attend the inauguration of President Richard Nixon, who named her to join the National Council on Indian Opportunity in August 1970 for a two-year term.

Laura Bergt used her personal relationship with Agnew to continue pressing for focus on funding for educational training initiatives of Indigenous people during the post-settlement period.

Laura Bergt worked on initiatives to promote care for children with disabilities, including provision of housing and rehabilitation services.

Laura Bergt advocated for establishing three regional schools to provide specialized education for children who had learning disabilities or were blind or deaf.

Laura Bergt was called to a hearing on the matter and Governor William Egan appointed her to serve on the Hard-of-Hearing Task Force.

Laura Bergt selected her as a member of the Rural Affairs Commission.

In March 1973, Laura Bergt was nominated by Egan to fill the vacated seat of Don Young in the Alaska Senate.

Laura Bergt was elected to serve in October 1973 on the Fairbanks City Council's Borough Assembly representing the North Star Borough.

Laura Bergt did not seek re-election when her three-year term on the Borough Assembly expired.

Laura Bergt was selected in 1973, as part of the Board of Regents for the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In 1975, Laura Bergt was appointed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Caspar Weinberger to serve on the 15-member National Health Advisory Committee.

Laura Bergt was selected in May 1976 for a two-year term as the commissioner of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the Department of the Interior.

Laura Bergt appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson three times, and on one memorable 1973 episode she presented Carson with an oosik, the reproductive organ of a male walrus, causing stunned silence from Carson and much amusement for the audience.

Laura Bergt took New York Senator James L Buckley on a whaling expedition to Point Hope and made numerous appearances with activist Mary Jane Fate.

Laura Bergt Crockett died on March 14,1984, in Honolulu from kidney failure.

Laura Bergt is widely remembered for facilitating the discussions which resulted in the drafting and settlement of the Alaskan land claims.

Laura Bergt credited the appointment of Bergt to the National Council on Indian Opportunity as the catalyst for overcoming differences between Native leaders and convincing the Nixon administration to support their claims in 1971.