John Angaiak

Born: Nightmute, Alaska                                       

Gender or Pronouns: Not available

Tribe(s): Yup’ik Eskimo

Instrument(s): Guitar, vocals

Role(s): Musician, songwriter, singer, painter, author, traditional language advocate

Years active: Not available 

Credited with: John Angaiak is significant for documenting Yup’ik language and culture through music, and in his work convincing the University of Alaska to recognize Eskimo languages for academic credit.

Honors & Awards: Not available

Associated with: University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Eskimo Language Workshop

Discography: I’m Lost in the City (album)(1971)

Genre(s): Folk, Traditional

Biography

“I’m Lost in the City (1971) is the sole vinyl LP offering from Yup’ik singer-songwriter, John Angaiak. Born in Nightmute, Alaska, in 1941, Angaiak began playing guitar at a young age, quickly learning the basics before serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Stationed in Vietnam and far away from home, Angaiak forged an astute outlook on his region, his country, and the world itself.

“Upon his return, Angaiak enrolled in the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, where he became active in the preservation of his native language as part of the school’s Eskimo Language Workshop. Inspired by the program’s work and a friendship with music student Stephen Halbern, Angaiak recorded I’m Lost in the City, a project that helped to document and promote the previously oral Yup’ik language into a written one through a series of songs.

“Each side of the album, which showcases John’s intimate vocal and guitar style, shares a part of Angaiak’s culture and history: Side One is sung in Yup’ik, while the material on Side Two is delivered in English. Both are equally emotional, deeply personal and extremely affecting. Over 13 songs, Angaiak speaks to his community and also to the world. “Ak’a Tamaani,” for one, became a regional hit in Alaska and reached as far as Greenland where Angaiak later performed in concert. Though I’m Lost in the City garnered a small mention in industry bible Billboard, regardless of the album’s cultural value, it sold poorly outside of Alaska and other northern communities, never finding a broader audience.

“In addition to his work as a painter and author, Angaiak is a proud family man and a source of great knowledge of his people and the changes they have faced over the years, shifting from a subsistence hunting, fishing, and sharing lifestyle to an increasingly urban influenced cash-based existence. “An important statement on indigenous life and the human condition, I’m Lost in the City showcases Angaiak’s first-hand perspective on this challenging transition, something that we can all learn a great deal from.…” (Source: Light in the Attic).

“Until eighth grade, Angaiak went to a Bureau of Indian Affairs school in the small community of Tununak and was forced to speak English…The family used Yup’ik at home.

“He enrolled at the University of Alaska, where he became employed by the Eskimo Language Workshop (ELW) as a Yup’ik advisor. “(ELW’s) goal was to convert previously oral traditions of the local native people into a new, tangible written language that could help to preserve elements of Yup’ik culture. Stories and Music were used as tools.

“Angaiak also successfully challenged the University to classify Eskimo languages as a ‘foreign’ non-English prerequisite…(which) provided an opportunity for Native students to learn more about their heritage while receiving academic credit.

“ELW also offered Angaiak the opportunity to record an LP of original material. One side was to be Yup’ik songs, the other side in English. The LP, titled I’m Lost in the City, was released in 1971.

“Ak’a Tamaani was a hit on KYUK radio and was mentioned in Billboard Magazine. I’ll Rock You to the Rhythm of the Ocean explains John’s observations about being raised around a traditional hunting and gathering subsistence lifestyle, while Hey Hey Brother examines connectedness and the shifting interfamily dynamic in Yup’ik culture.

“Angaiak’s efforts to help preserve the language of his people through his dedication and skill should never be forgotten. (Source: Light in the Attic)

Performances

Tribal Information

Yup’ik Peoples

“The Yupik (plural: Yupiit) are a group of indigenous or aboriginal peoples of western, southwestern, and southcentral Alaska and the Russian Far East. They are related to the Inuit and Iñupiat. Yup’ik peoples include the following:

• Alutiiq, or Sugpiaq, of the Alaska Peninsula and coastal and island areas of southcentral Alaska.
• Yup’ik or Central Alaskan Yup’ik of the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, the Kuskokwim River, and along the northern coast of Bristol Bay as far east as Nushagak Bay and the northern Alaska Peninsula at Naknek River and Egegik Bay in Alaska.
• Siberian Yupik, including Naukan, Chaplino, and — in a linguistic capacity — the Sirenik of the Russian Far East and St. Lawrence Island in western Alaska. (Source: Wikipedia)

Geography/map of Yupik territory

Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution (the Supremacy Clause)

“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”

References

• I’m Lost in the City songbook and lyrics
• ‘Native North America’: How We Ignored Incredible Folk and Country Made at Home – Rolling Stone Magazine
• Native North America, Vol. 1
• Light in the Attic
• University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska Native Language Center
• Wikipedia
• Spotify