Interview with Pamyua.

Pamyua is a musical ensemble from Alaska and Greenland that reinterprets modern traditions of the Inuit and Yup'ik people through storytelling, music and dance. Performing Yup'ik danced stories and harmonizing ancient and original music, their sound redefines the boundaries of Inuit expression. In this interview, conducted by Andrew McLean at the Hemispheric Institute 5th Encuentro (Belo Horizonte, 2005), Pamyua's four founding members (Stephen Blanchett, Phillip Blanchett, Ossie Kairaiuak and Karina Moeller) talk about their backgrounds, the origins of the band, and the ways their music blends traditional Yup'ik songs with African-American musical influences such as gospel, R & B, jazz and funk to create a unique new Native style. They speak of their experience as urban natives and their relationship to their roots, a relationship that for them has entailed a delicate process of cultural negotiation between different traditions and generations. Among other things, they discuss how they are viewed by the Yup'ik elders, what problems are facing their communities and how they are called upon as new culture bearers to revitalize Yup'ik identity among the youth. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics