Pamyua ( ); literally: "its tail" in Yup'ik from ''pamyuq'' "tail of animal or kayak; chorus of song; upper stern-piece of kayak") is a Yup'ik-

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

musical group from

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Overview

Brothers Stephen Qacung Blanchett and Phillip Blanchett, of Yup'ik and

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

descent, formed Pamyua in 1995 with the goal of combining and preserving their cultural and religious backgrounds through music. Pamyua's music is self-described as "tribal

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

", "

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

" and "

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

", drawing inspiration from Russian Orthodox chants, traditional

music, R&B and most notably South African male choral group,

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and ''mbube (genre), mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with American Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Grace ...

. An early influence was the African American gospel played in their father's church in Wasilla, Alaska. Most of their songs are based on traditional Yupik,

and

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

ic chants, but the group is well known for reinterpreting them in modern styles, such as the song "Cayauqa Nauwa", which has been performed

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

(''mengluni'', 1998) and with

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

influences (''Caught in the Act'', 2003), as well as traditionally (''Drums of the North'', 2005). Integral to their staged performances is instrumentation, such as the Cauyaq drum, and mask dancing which evokes and honors traditional Yup'ik dancing. Pamyua has toured across the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the world, performing at many world music festivals. In 2003, Pamyua won the Record of the Year Nammy for their album ''Caught in the Act''. They performed at the opening celebration of the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

in 2004. The National Museum of the American Indian also released a compilation recording featuring the music of Pamyua. Pamyua has provided background music for ''

Flying Wild Alaska ''Flying Wild Alaska'' is a documentary television series that aired on Discovery Channel in 2011 and 2012. The show features the Tweto family from Unalakleet, Alaska who run the Alaska airline Era Alaska. They operate the hub operations fr ...

''. They also performed the theme song for the 2019 PBS animated series ''

Molly of Denali ''Molly of Denali'' (stylized in all caps) is an animated children's television series produced by WGBH-TV, WGBH Kids and animated by Atomic Cartoons, created by Dorothea Gillim and Kathy Waugh for PBS Kids and CBC Kids.

''.

Discography

*''Mengluni'' (1998) *''Verses (Apallut)'' (2001) *''Caught in the Act'' (2003) *''Drums of the North'' (2005) *''Side A/Side B'' (2012) Phillip Blanchett

References

External links

Interview on The World Music Foundation Podcast
* * * * * {{Authority control Musical groups from Anchorage, Alaska American musical quartets Inuit musical groups Yupik music