Panigkaq Agatha John-Shields named 2021 Indigenous Scholar

May 17, 2021

Panigkaq Agatha John-Shields, left, was named the 2021 Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley Indigenous Scholar. Presenting her award are UAF Associate Professor Sean Asiqłuq Topkok and Amy Topkok, reporting and outreach coordinator for the UAF Biomedical Learning and Student Training program. Photo courtesy of Sean Asiqłuq Topkok.

The 2021 Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley Indigenous Scholar Award recipient is Panigkaq Agatha John-Shields. John-Shields is a Yup'ik faculty member at the University of Alaska Anchorage for the School of Education. She was born and raised in Toksook Bay, Alaska, and currently lives in Anchorage.

She was nominated by one of her students, who wrote, "Professor John-Shields continues her cultural contributions at a state and national level through her work. She developed the Indigenous Values Gathering Series for the student body at UAA."

The UAF Alaska Native Knowledge Network established the AOK Indigenous Scholar Award in recognition of Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley's contribution to articulating the significance of Indigenous knowledge systems, ways of knowing and worldviews in the contemporary world. The award is presented annually to recognize an Indigenous scholar who has made a significant contribution to understanding of Indigenous knowledge systems and Native ways of knowing in Alaska.

For more information, email Sean Asiqłuq Topkok at cstopkok@alaska.edu.