Herstory

Turning Pages Consulting, LLC is an Indigenous Woman owned company operating in
Dena’ina Elnena homelands in Anchorage, Alaska.

My middle name “Makpiaq” was given to me by my dad after his mother, Clara Hensley LaBelle. In Iñupiaq, “Makpiaq” means “to turn pages.” As the story goes, Makpiaq was a voracious reader. She completed a formal Western education after the 7th grade from the Kotzebue Day School. Makpiaq had a powerful command of the English language despite it being her second language. She read anything she could get her hands on - and read everything from beginning to end. It could take her days to read the Sunday edition of the Seattle PI, she recited verses from the Bible from memory, and she wrote eloquent handwritten letters to family and friends. Born in 1919, she was also part of a reindeer herding family. Makpiaq was an excellent skin sewer and made beautiful parkas, gloves, and mukluks.

I have more than 20 years of communications and community relation’s experience. I have a master’s degree in Rural Development from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Alaska Pacific University. I am Sugpiaq and Iñupiaq and am a Tribal member of the Native Village of Port Graham. I have a unique perspective blending both Indigenous and Western worldviews in my approach. My mom is from Port Graham (Sugpiaq) and my dad’s family is from Qikiqtaġruk (Kotzebue/Iñupiaq).