Vivian Mork Yéilk’ honored as 2022 Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley Scholar

The 2022 Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley Scholar Award has been awarded to Vivian Mork Yéilk’. The Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley Scholar Award is presented annually to recognize and encourage Indigenous scholars who have made exemplary contributions to our understanding of Indigenous knowledge systems and Native ways of knowing in Alaska.

Yéilk’ is an alumna of the master's of arts in cross-cultural studies program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she specialized in Indigenous knowledge systems as a student of Kawagley.

As a teacher, Kawagley encouraged Yéilk’ to pursue her dreams as an independent multi-disciplinary scholar and artist. After Kawagley passed in 2011, she continued his legacy of scholarly work and uplifting Indigenous knowledge.

Yéilk’ co-founded Planet Alaska, a cross-cultural Facebook page dedicated to disseminating Indigenous news and topics, environmental issues, Indigenous language revitalization, and showcasing Alaskan writers and artists. Planet Alaska is dedicated to Kawagley.

In recognition of Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley's contribution to articulating the significance of Indigenous knowledge systems and ways of acknowledging the world views in the contemporary world, the UAF Alaska Native Knowledge Network established the Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley Scholar Award in his honor.

Kawagley was a Yupik scholar who served 25 years as faculty at UAF. Along with Ray Barnhardt, he helped create the Center for Cross-Cultural Studies at UAF.