Yup ik elder Rita Blumenstein was born on a fishing boat and raised in the Yup ik village of Tununak on Nelson Island, Alaska. A traditional healer and spiritual leader, Rita was a tribal doctor for the South Central Foundation, and is currently a member of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, “a global alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth. . . and for the next seven generations to come.”