Edward Itta remembered for balancing two worlds

Former North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta. (Photo courtesy of the Itta family)Former North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta died Sunday in Utqiaġvik, formerly known as Barrow. Family members said the cause was cancer. He was 71.
Itta was a powerful voice for North Slope communities. He was perhaps best known for first opposing, and then negotiating with Shell when the oil company wanted to drill in the Arctic Ocean. Above all, he insisted Inupiaq communities have a say in development