Larry "Tingook" Davis

Larry Tingook Davis was Iñupiaq and born in 1930 in Deering, Alaska. His father was a reindeer herder in the Deering area and Larry traveled with him as a boy. Larry eventually moved to Nome and in 1967 he snowmachined from Nome to Cape Espenberg and returned with 200 reindeer to form his own herd. Eventually, the herd would swell to 10,000 in the 1990s. Larry was actively involved with reindeer herding in Nome from 1967 until his death. His reindeer herd was one of the few herds that had not been devastated by infiltration of caribou. From 1975 to 1977, Larry served a single term as a Democratic member of the Alaska House of Representatives representing the Nome area. He also served on the Nome City Council, was president of the Bering Straits Native Association and Sitnasuak Native Corporation, and worked as a heavy equipment operator, gold miner, and construction worker. Larry Davis passed away in 2006.