“In olden times, there were in this country a great many shamans who were like supernatural beings among the people, and who, through their magic, worked wonders amongst them.” Franz Boas
Dr. Mary Anne Navitsky, the first Alaskan Native woman dentist, died Nov. 28, 2015, in Seattle, at age 68. She was both Haida and Tlingit.
Mary Anne Walton Navitsky was born April 17, 1947, and raised in a modest house on DeGroff Street. Her mother “Petie” was a single parent, raising Mary Anne and her sister Janice. While still attending Sitka High School, Mary Anne worked as a dishwasher at Sitka Community Hospital, babysat, and learned to thaw pipes under the house.
Mary Anne married Jack Navitsky in 1967. Her first trip out of Alaska took her, her husband and their son John 3,000 miles away to Long Island, N.Y., where Jack was assigned to a Coast Guard lifeboat station. She couldn’t get over the big city lights as the plane approached Seattle.
Her two years on Long Island were to have a profound effect on her life. Moving to New York from downtown Sitka, where she walked everywhere, she laughed when her husband told her they might need a car in their new place of residence. On Long Island, she enjoyed being a mom, watching her son grow, marveling at his discovery of sand on the beach. She took driving lessons and received her N.Y. license.
The Navitskys next moved to Connecticut, where she went to nursing school, graduating as a licensed practical nurse. She loved learning and working with children in a hospital setting.
In 1971, the family returned to Sitka to spend time with Mary Anne’s ailing mother. She worked at Sitka Community Hospital for a few years, but decided to pursue a career in dentistry. She took classes at Sheldon Jackson College, then went to the University of Washington, where she graduated in 1981 with a BS in microbiology. She received her D.D.S. degree from the University of Iowa in 1985. She also attended the Harvard Health Career Summer Program.
Mary Anne was an exchange student with the Royal College of Dentists in Aarhus, Denmark. While there, she traveled through Southern Greenland as part of a Danish dental team. When she arrived, she had to travel to her first village by skiff, covered by a fur robe, amongst the icebergs, as the usual conveyance, “a helicopter,” was down for repairs.
“The post of honor in a Haida canoe is at the steering paddle aft. Usually, this position is occupied by a woman.”
Dr. Navitsky returned to Sitka and worked six years as a dentist with the Public Health Service. She spent six months in Angoon in 1986 in a special project to reduce the ravages of baby bottle tooth decay amongst the village children. She received the U.S. Public Health Service Achievement Medal for her efforts. She was given several other awards, among them the Eight Stars of Gold Award from the Governor for her frequent projects in community education, and was recognized as a Minority Leader by Kellogg Foundation.
Rosalee Walker of Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory wrote in her letter of invitation to Dr. Navitsky: “You have been identified as a minority woman who has demonstrated leadership and achievement in your chosen field. Additionally, it is the opinion of our planning group that you are representative of the role model that young minority females need.”
After six years with the U.S. Public Health Service, Dr. Navitsky resigned her commission as lieutenant commander to open her own private dental practice. She and her husband Jack were fortunate to purchase a house in the Central Business District on Monastery Street, a three-minute walk from the harbor, and commenced the arduous task of planning and rebuilding, all while living in the 1939 structure. They named it “Mountain Ash House” after the large old trees in the yard.
The Mary Anne Navitsky D.D.S. family dentistry was nominated for an accessibility award a few years later. After 22 years, she closed her practice in March 2013. She then volunteered at the Mission of Mercy in Anchorage.
Dr. Navitsky was a member of the American Dental Association, the Alaska Board of Dental Examiners and Western Region Examination Board, and was licensed to practice dentistry in Alaska and Washington State. When she resigned from the Alaska Board, she sent the following letter to Governor Bill Walker:
“Please accept my resignation from the Alaska State Board of Dental Examiners effective February 20, 2015.
“For the past six years it has been my pleasure to serve the people of Alaska and to work with fellow board members overseeing and maintaining the licensing standards for the dental profession in our state.
“It has been my honor to serve as the First Alaskan Native Woman Dentist on the Alaska Dental Board of Examiners. Becoming a dentist has been a journey of discovery for me and my family. Throughout the many years necessary to be away from my home I never lost sight of my goal of returning to Alaska with the acquired knowledge and skill as a dentist. My appointment to the Board of Dental Examiners, after working in Southeast Alaska for 26 years and successfully establishing a private practice in my hometown of Sitka, was a defining moment for me. It was recognition that hard work, perseverance, the support of family, friends, funding agencies and colleagues had helped me to realize my dream of returning to Alaska as a health care provider.”
Mary Anne’s interests and hobbies included painting, sculpture, fiber arts, gardening, and traveling. She took numerous classes, including ones at Loveland Academy of Art and Gage Academy of Art. She traveled extensively in the U.S., Europe, China, and Galapagos Islands. She was fascinated with the arts of her Native culture. She harvested spruce roots and participated in the Raven’s Tail Project in the State Museum in Juneau with her sister Janice. She thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Janice and her grandchildren. “Never a dull moment, always creative projects.”
Mary Anne is survived by her husband Jack of Sitka; son John Navitsky and wife Sandra McMillen of Bothell, Wash.; sister Dr. Joyce Shales and husband Clinton of Bremerton, Wash.; sister Janice Criswell and husband Stephen Henrikson of Juneau; and three half-brothers James, Rudy and William Walton; brother-in-law Bob Navitsky of Madison, N.H.; and cousins, nephews and nieces.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Clara “Petie” Bell, and father James Walton.
In lieu of donations or flowers, Mary Anne would have wanted you to read to a child, bake cookies with them, show them the wonders of nature.
Dr. Navitsky will be buried at Sitka National Cemetery.
