John Angaiak (December 7 1941–) is a Yup'ik author, painter, and singer-songwriter born in

Nightmute, Alaska Nightmute ( esu, Negtemiut or ) is a city and village in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 208 at the 2000 census and 280 as of the 2010 census. History literally means ‘the people of the pressed-down place ...

. After returning home from the Vietnam War, Angaiak enrolled in the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for cla ...

. He became part of the Eskimo Language Workshop, where he worked to preserve his

native language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

. While there, he worked with Irene Reed to produce some work in Yup'ik. In addition, he produced his only album, ''I'm Lost in the City''. Half of this album was sung in Yup'ik; it was a success in his native Alaska, but was otherwise obscure until it was reissued by Light in the Attic Records sub-label Future Days in 2016. Some tracks appeared on '' Native North America, Vol. 1''.

References

1941 births Living people University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni Guitarists from Alaska Singers from Alaska Songwriters from Alaska {{US-singer-songwriter-stub