I was raised in Ouzinkie, Alaska. My parents are Duke Delgado who was Maidu Indian from Susanville, California, and Sonja (Katelnikoff) Delgado who is Alutiiq and Russian from Ouzinkie, Alaska. After graduating from high school in Kodiak, I commercial halibut fished for three years and then moved away for about 23 years. I lived in California, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota where I worked in health care before moving to a farm where I had a small business growing seedlings including vegetables and flowers which I sold to other growers, and fresh and preserved flowers which I sold to local florists.

During my time on the farm, I traveled to Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Canada and learned directly from, and about, other indigenous tribes, their cultures and lives and traditional healing methods. I consider working directly with other indigenous cultures in North and South America to be my greatest educational life experience.

My educational background includes attending Feather River College in California, St. Cloud State University, in Minnesota, and attending Rural Human Services at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Volunteer work has always been an important part of my life and I volunteered for the St. Cloud Hospital Hospice for 10 years while living in Minnesota. Other volunteer experiences include the Salvation Army at Ground Zero after 911 in New York City for two weeks in 2002, and six weeks as the Group Coordinator in Sri Lanka where we assisted in rebuilding the village of Moratuwa, after the 2004 Indonesian tsunami. Our group provided builders, nurses and teachers through the “Help Sri Lanka” nonprofit. I also assisted in organizing and planning for the July 2012 International Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers Gathering with the Northern Cheyenne tribe of Lame Deer, Montana.

In 2013, I moved back to Ouzinkie and worked for the Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA) for 2.5 years as a behavioral health aide. I was hired by the Ouzinkie Native Corporation as the Shareholder Development Manager in January 2016 and I am responsible for the scholarship program, internship program, cultural programs, and community programs and classes.

Vickie’s past board service includes:

• Board Member of ONC (2007-2009);  
  Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) Behavior Health Aide Academic Review Committee;
• Chair and Vice Chair of the ANTHC Behavior Health Aide Manual Contributor;
• KANA Health Committee: Koniag Shareholder Committee.
  Past KANA board member, an alternate KANA Health committee member;
• Board Member of the Alutiiq Heritage Foundation for the Alutiiq Museum; current board member of Kodiak Area Leadership Institute; and a member of the Ouzinkie City Council and Ouzinkie Farm Committee.
• She was a part of the planning teams for both the Kodiak Regional Rural and Alaska Native Student
• Success group and the Food Security ANA Grant. Past University of Alaska Rural Human Services co-teacher. She’s active with Alutiiq Week in Ouzinkie including teaching about the local edible and healing Alutiiq plants.