LISTEN: Iditarod champion Pete Kaiser talks about role models, raising dogs

Reigning Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Pete Kaiser poses for photos with fellow Bethel resident Judah Nicolai, 6, and Kaiser’s son, Ari, at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in Fairbanks on Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. (Casey Grove/Alaska Public Media)

This year’s Alaska Federation of Natives convention keynote speaker is Pete Kaiser, of Bethel, the 2019 Iditarod champion and the first person with Yup’ik roots to win the 1,000-mile race.

Kaiser grew up around sled dogs, and he says his speech Thursday was about relating lessons learned from raising dogs himself and how the older dogs need to be good role models. He says speaking to hundreds of AFN attendees about trying to improve the lives of Alaska Native youth was a rewarding experience:

a portrait of a man outside

Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him atcgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Caseyhere

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