Never good to bet against a friend of the fish.

A while back I spent some time on Shishmaref in far northwest Alaska—and there is very little on this continent that is farther northwest than far northwest Alaska—where I learned some things about the Inupiat Ilitqusiat, a course of study in the local schools that was put in place by the Alaska natives there to maintain their traditional values. Because in the 1980s, the folks there, who have lived in that part of the world for nearly 10,000 years, were concerned that their children were drifting away into dangerous and unprofitable pursuits.

I was particularly taken with the value they placed on humor, which certainly is necessary for the people of Shishmaref because their island is being eaten by the Chukchi Sea, and they all know that the village will have to be moved some day.

It was of the power of what Alaska Natives have built and the challenges they face that I thought immediately on Wednesday, when the results of Alaska’s special congressional election rolled in.

A Democrat named Mary Peltola defeated Sarah Palin, whom some of you might remember from the Before Times. Peltola will fill out the term of the late Don Young, a Republican who held the seat for 50 goddamn years! So not only is Peltola the first Democrat to represent Alaska since the whaling ships stopped bringing white people and influenza to the Native communities along the Chukchi Sea, but she is the first indigenous Alaskan to be elected to Congress. Thus does she join Rep. Sharice Davids and former Rep. (now Interior Secretary) Deb Haaland in victories that were too long in coming.

(So far, the customary GOP post-election carping has centered on the fact that the election was conducted under a system of ranked choice voting. Sen. Tom Cotton, the bobble-throated slapdick from Arkansas, was particularly exercised by this, arguing on the electric Twitter machine that “60 percent of the voters voted for a Republican.” Senator Tom appeared unclear on the point that A Republican is not a real person.)

Peltola, who is Yup’ik, was elected to the state legislature at the age of 24, beating a longtime incumbent to get there. She is staunchly pro-choice and supports reasonable restrictions on guns. But her signature issue is fish. From KTOO:

Her campaign slogan was/is “Fish, Family, Freedom,” which is all kinds of great. I say “was/is” because she has to do this all over again in November, when she runs for a two-year term of her own. I, for one, agree with fish, family, and freedom.

Especially fish. I always vote in favor of fish.

Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has his three children.

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