Heartbeat host is Citizen of the Year

'Heartbeat' host Jeanie Greene wins AFN's top honor“When I look out there, I see 5,000 stories," Jeanie Greene told the Alaska Federation of Natives crowd moments after winning one of the AFN's top honors.

The federation named the "Heartbeat Alaska" host Citizen of the Year today for a career that’s spanned 20 years of filming life in rural Alaska.

“When I began it was really tough. There was no stories about Natives except the drunks with black eyes in the paper,” she said backstage, holding a headdress she was gifted along with the award.

An Inupiat who grew up in Sitka, Greene said she was raised on stories of reindeer herding and ice-breaking. “I wanted to share the Alaska that I knew."Comment:  For more honors for Alaska Natives, see Alutiiq Mask Carver Is USA Fellow and Inupiaq Poet Wins Whiting Award.

Below:  "Jeanie Greene with Eyak Corp. President Nancy Barnes.Jeanie Greene with Eyak Corp. President Nancy Barnes."