Four Alaska Natives Will Race In This Year's Iditarod

Iditarod Race Begins March 5th With 49 Mushers Signed Up 

Four Of Them Are Native Americans 

The great Athabaskan musher, George Attla, competing in the Copper River Classic, shown on the banks of the Gulkana River.  The Classic preceded the Copper Basin 300. (Archive photo by Copper River Country Journal) 

George Attla Was Fourth In First Iditarod In 1973 

Four Alaska Native dog drivers will be competing in the 2022 Iditarod this month. The most famous Alaska musher, George Attla, was Native and from Huslia. 

Attla was a sprint musher, Attla won the Fur Rendezvous Sled Dog Race ten times. People from all over the world would come to Anchorage to watch him. 

Sled dog racing was a popular event in Alaska villages, long before the Iditarod was invented. 

The four Native drivers in the 2022 Iditarod are: 

• Richie Diehl, Dena'ina Athabaskan
• Ryan Redington, Inupiaq
• Pete Kaiser, Yup'ik
• Apayauq Reitan, Inupiaq