Rita Pitka Blumenstein

Rita Pitka Blumenstein (Yup'ik, July 11, 1933 – August 6, 2021) was the first certified traditional doctor in Alaska. She worked for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Blumenstein was a member of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers—a group of spiritual elders, medicine women and wisdom keepers—since its founding in 2004.

Early life Blumenstein was born in a fishing boat Her father died a month before she was born, and she felt angry not having her father around when she was a girl. and the Smithsonian purchased one of the baskets she made in this period. In the 1970s Blumenstein taught basketry at Matanuska–Susitna College in Alaska, working with techniques she learned as a child, In 1987 she served as a translator for an exhibit on baskets that was presented at the Anchorage Historical and Fine Arts Museum.

Blumenstein's healing abilities were recognized by the elder grandmothers of her tribe from an early age. Blumenstein began healing at the age of 4. Years later, when the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers convened for the first time, Blumenstein passed out these precious objects to the rest of the members with tears in her eyes. Rita carried on learning from her elders to become the first certified traditional doctor in Alaska and worked for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

Blumenstein taught in more than 150 countries on cultural issues, basket weaving, song, and dance, "earning money for Native American Colleges."

Personal life Blumenstein was married to her husband, who was Jewish, for 43 years. Five of Blumenstein's six children have also died.

Selected publications

Awards and honors In 1987 Blumenstein received an award from the governor of Alaska in recognition of her work with basketry and dance.

In 2006, both Blumenstein's Yup'ik people and her mayor declared the February 18th to be Rita Pitka Blumenstein day.