KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Tributes continue to come in from the community remembering Iver Malutin, who died Wednesday at the age of 82.
The Kodiak elder and community leader had been hospitalized in Anchorage following heart valve replacement surgery.
Alutiiq Museum Director Alisha Drabek said she always considered Malutin a mentor, and feels fortunate to have had him in her life.
“That was a wonderful thing to have someone who spoke so eloquently and was not afraid to speak his mind and was an advocate for the community who you could run things by, you could talk to, and that was one of the special things about Iver is that he knew what was going on across the community and he was a great person to get advice from.”
Kodiak Island Borough Assemblyman Frank Peterson, Jr., said he was particularly impressed by Malutin’s dedication to the elders in the community.
“All the things that he did he did with elders in mind.”
Peterson, who also works at the Alutiiq Museum, said Malutin was a go-to guy for handling traditional subsistence foods.
“If somebody came in with traditional foods or extra salmon, or extra deer or extra bear or anything like that, everybody went to Iver and he’d be the one who’d distribute it or at least point us in the right direction for those elders who were in need or wanting.”
Long-time Kodiak resident Joe Floyd said he knew Malutin for many years and became close friends through sports and recreation.
“You know this town is, we have a lot of people come and a lot of people go and Iver was here and he stayed and he was so interested and had such a sharp mind say what went on 50 years ago. He was one of those people that everybody I think admired and with his sharp memory and ideas of what the future might hold.”
Tom Panamaroff is the president of Koniag, Inc., and said he and his coworkers were extremely saddened to hear of Malutin’s passing.
“He was a very colorful and vibrant elder and really strong advocate for Native rights and self governance and we’ll miss him greatly. I in particular enjoyed Iver’s energy and his passion. When he found an issue that he really wanted to advocate for he just had an abundance of energy that I admired and was never afraid to let us know what was on his mind and provide input in a very positive manner.”
Malutin has a long repatoire of community involvement, that includes councilmember for the Sun’aq Tribe, participation on the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council, State of Alaska subsistence advisory boardmember and service on the City of Kodiak port and harbor advisory board, including 21 years as board chair.
Malutin was born in Kodiak on June 30, 1931. He would have been 83 on Monday.
There will be a funeral service for him in Kodiak on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Russian Orthodox Church with a burial immediately after. Following that there will be a repast at the Afognak building on Near Island.
