What started for the musicians of Pamyua as a way to keep their Yup’ik and Inuit cultures alive within their communities in Anchorage and Juneau, Alaska, grew into a critically acclaimed band that shares their traditions with the world.

In Yup’ik culture, the phrase “breaking trail,” in regard to advancing through snow, is typically used to describe exactly what Pamyua has achieved: making the way easier for those who follow. The passion Qacung Stephen Blanchett, Kilirnguq Phillip Blanchett, and Aassanaaq “Ossie” Phillip Kairaiuak feel for what their music brings to the world has not only grown but resulted in a multigenerational and international legacy full of family and love, expanding into broader appreciation and respect from within and beyond their Native community.

In 2004, the band traveled to Washington, D.C., to represent the North at the opening festivities of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Twenty years later, as I looked through archival footage from that historic event, I was inspired to re-interview Pamyua at this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival, celebrating the museum’s anniversary. I viewed hours of their “Inuit Soul” musical performances which combine traditional use of the cauyaq (Yup’ik drum) with Western instruments (guitar, piano, etc.). I am excited and honored to be able to spotlight such a wonderful group of musicians who continue to break trail for the next generation of Indigenous artists.

Marlaena Henry is a video intern at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and a recent graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts with a major in cinema and a minor in political science. She is pursuing a career as an independent filmmaker with a focus on sharing stories of hope.