Congresswoman Mary Peltola has a last name history that can be confusing: She started life as a Sattler, then became a Kapsner, a Nelson, and finally Mary Peltola. It’s made it difficult for researchers to determine which name she used as a legislator when she voted for a state income tax.
Now, as of this week, Peltola is morphing her name again. Her official page at the U.S. Congress has gone back to her first name, Sattler, combining it with her most recent married name, Peltola, which has Finnish origin. Gene Peltola, Mary’s husband, claims Yupik and Tlingit heritage, rather than Finnish heritage, as the name suggests.
See the newly revamped Sattler-Peltola congressional website.
Sattler is a name that comes from Middle High German, and means “saddle.” The surname is also found in other European countries.
Mary Peltola’s father, Ward Sattler, was a white man from Nebraska who went to Colorado State University, graduating in 1963. He taught in rural Alaska, married a woman who was part-Native and they had 11 children. The Sattler name is politically advantageous to Mary Peltola because Sattler was a Republican who ran for the Alaska Legislature in 2004, 2006, and 2008. And because there are so many of them.
Mary Peltola never mentions her Caucasian heritage. She identifies as Yup’ik, from her mother’s side. Gene Peltola leans on his own Native, rather than Finnish connections, to advance his career as well. Most recently, he was with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Congresswoman Peltola is, by shapeshifting her name, angling for both the Democrat advantage and the Republican advantage of her non-Native father.
On her campaign, she hasn’t quite caught up with the changes. It’s still MaryPeltola.com.
