RITA Pitka BLUMENSTEIN
Pitka

• Teacher
• Native Leader
• Artist
Inducted: 2009
Deceased: 2021
Tununak
RITA Pitka BLUMENSTEIN
Pitka
Biography
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.”