Mary Peltola's very happy birthday

First Alaska Native elected to U.S. Congress.

Newest U.S. Congress member, Alaska Native Mary Peltola. (courtesy Mary Peltola campaign)

WASHINGTON — Mary Peltola, a Yup’ik citizen from western rural Alaska, was yesterday elected as the newest member of the U.S. Congress. It was her forty-ninth birthday.

“Thank you to all Alaskans who have put their faith in me as the first woman in Alaska’s history t…