BSNC shareholder Lela Kiana Oman passed away peacefully surrounded by loving family members on Monday, July 9. Lela was BSNC’s oldest shareholder at 102 and a half years of age.
Lela was born in 1915 in Noorvik, Alaska. She moved to Nome as a young girl and resided there for the remainder of her life. She devoted her life to preserving traditional Inupiaq stories and passing on Inupiaq traditions. She has published a number of books of Native stories, including: Eskimo Legends (1966, Nome Press) and the Epic of Qayaq: The Longest Story Ever Told By My People (1995, Carleton University Press).