Arts & Culture

The world’s largest collection of Yup’ik artifacts has finally returned home to Quinhagak on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta coast. After shipping delays in Europe, the Nunalleq artifacts have returned in time for the community’s museum opening next week.

John Active was a revered Yup’ik storyteller, translator, and KYUK-radio host. At his 40-day feast on Friday, the people who loved him took a moment to remember him as a friend. At least 100 community members filed into Bethel’s ONC building on Friday to eat akutaq, commemorate John’s life, and say goodbye.

There’s a new surprise at the Yukon Kuskokwim Fitness Center and no, it’s not a new treadmill. It’s a mural spreading across 80 feet of wall, high up near the entrance of the gym. And the scene is a familiar one for anyone who lives in Bethel: people on the tundra picking berries under a bright blue sky. The artist, Apayo Moore, lives off the grid in Aleknagik and spoke to KYUK about what inspires her. 

The late Alaska Native journalist, storyteller, and cross-cultural communicator John Active said a number of times to his KYUK co-workers that he was going to "Yup'ify the world."

On Thursday, June 7, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta gathered to honor and lay to rest Alaska’s own beloved legendary broadcaster and storyteller, John Active.

Monday, June 4, 2018 6:40 p.m. This story has been updated with more details about John's life since it was first published.

It’s a sad day at KYUK. Our friend, Yup’ik storyteller, culture bearer, translator, and longtime KYUK radio and TV host John "Aqumgaciq” Active died this Monday morning at age 69. John is irreplaceable. His broadcasting career at KYUK began in the early 1970s, and he is celebrated as a pioneer in Native media for his work spreading and preserving the Yup’ik language and culture.