“We grieve, we struggle, but you lift your spirit,” said Martin Lee Woods of the Qikiqtagruk Northern Lights Dancers from Kotzebue. “Go home smiling, ready to go back to work and tackle the world. This is what it’s all about.”
The Alaska Native Heritage Dancers perform for the first Quyana Night in three years at the 2022 AFN conference, at the Dena’ina Center, in Anchorage, Alaska on October 20, 2022.
“‘94 was the first time I think I got to go on the plane with the dance group,” Oviok said. “And then we did a couple other ones during my high school, so that’s three. Then after that, I became the dance group leader in 2001.”He said he’s performed at Quyana about a dozen times. He estimated that there’s more than 120 dances his village has passed down over generations.
While some dancers have performed at Quyana for many years, others, like Elizabeth Tugatuk, were performing at AFN for their first time. Tugatuk is from Toksook Bay and has been a part of the Chefornak-based Yup’ik dance group Acilquq for about five years.Tugatuk and her fellow dancers were sweating after their performance, lining up at a water cooler and immediately changing out of their heavy performance regalia. While she was nervous ahead of the performance, Tugatuk said it was all worth it.
The Tikigaq Dancers take the stage at the Dena’ina Center for the first Quyana Night in three years on October 20, 2022.
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Alaska Native dancers dazzle at first Quyana performance at AFN in 3 years“We grieve, we struggle, but you lift your spirit,” said Martin Lee Woods of the Qikiqtagruk Northern Lights Dancers from Kotzebue. “Go home smiling, ready to go back to work and tackle the world. This is what it’s all about.”
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