[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 160 (Thursday, October 2, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10480-S10481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING REV. DR. WALTER SOBOLEFF

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, when Americans think about what 
they most admire about my home State of Alaska, the breathtaking 
scenery first comes to mind. What I most admire about my home State of 
Alaska are the people, and in particular our Native Elders.
  Our Elders are the bearers of our uniquely Alaskan culture. They have 
accepted the responsibility of ensuring that succeeding generations 
know where they came from. They preserve and transmit the traditions 
that make Alaska different from anyplace else.
  Looking at the face of an Alaska Native Elder is like looking at the 
concentric rings in the trunk of a tree. Every line on that face 
represents a precious slice of Alaska history.
  It would be a vast understatement to characterize the Elders as 
witnesses to Alaska history. They are the living embodiment of Alaska's 
history. They were the first generation of Alaskans to experience and 
adapt to the challenge of living in two worlds. They have come to 
embrace the traditional world of subsistence and the modern world of 
the Internet in the same breath. Some like the individual I speak about 
today have devoted their lives to preserving Alaska Native languages as 
spoken and written languages for all eternity.
  Today I pay tribute to a most respected Tlingit Elder, the Reverend 
Doctor Walter Soboleff, who will celebrate his 100th birthday on 
November 14, 2008. Walter Soboleff was born on a small island called 
Killisnoo near Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska. His father was the 
son of a Russian Orthodox priest serving in Southeast Alaska. His 
mother, a Tlingit Indian. Four languages were spoken in his home: 
Russian, German, English, and Tlingit.
  Walter Soboleff was educated at a US Government Indian school on his 
island and subsequently at the Sheldon Jackson School in Sitka. Several 
years after graduating from Sheldon Jackson with a high school diploma 
he enrolled at Dubuque University in Iowa, receiving a bachelor's 
degree in education in 1937 and a divinity degree in 1940.
  Ordained as a Presbyterian minister he returned to Southeast Alaska 
to take the pulpit at the Memorial Presbyterian Church in Juneau. The 
church, which was built to minister to the Tlingit people, opened its 
doors to all. Its congregation included Caucasians and African 
Americans, and Filipinos as well as Haidas and Tsimshians.
  We take diverse congregations like this for granted in 21st Century 
Alaska. It must be remembered, though, that Jim Crow racial segregation 
laws and practices were quite prevalent in pre-World War II Southeast 
Alaska.
  Reverend Soboleff emerged a key player in the maintaining and 
enhancing the Tlingit culture, serving seven terms as President of the 
Alaska Native Brotherhood and broadcasting church services in Tlingit 
on the radio. From 1962-1970 he took his ministry to the water 
traveling on mission vessels to Native villages, logging camps and 
Coast Guard facilities in the archipelago of islands that make up 
Southeast Alaska.
  In 1952, Reverend Soboleff accepted a commission in the Alaska Army 
National Guard, serving as Chaplain for 20 years, retiring with rank of 
Lieutenant Colonel on February 1, 1973.
  In 1970, Walter Soboleff founded the Alaska Native Studies Department 
at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He

[[Page S10481]]

taught Tlingit history, language and literature, retiring again in 
1974.
  You may have discovered that it is difficult to use the words 
retirement and Walter Soboleff in the same sentence. Every time Walter 
Soboleff retires he embarks on a new and ever more vital project.
  Awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity by Dubuque University in 1952 
and an honorary Doctor of Humanities by the University of Alaska 
Fairbanks in 1968 he continues to serve as Pastor Emeritus of the 
Northern Lights United Church in Juneau and as a member of the Board of 
Trustees of the Sealaska Heritage Foundation. And lest I forget, he was 
the first Alaska Native to serve on the Alaska State Board of 
Education, where he served as chairman.
  I think I can speak for the entire Senate in wishing the Reverend 
Doctor Walter Soboleff a happy 100th birthday. We extend our best 
wishes to Dr. Soboleff for continued good health and good 
works.

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