Yup'ik Elder Oral History of the Traditional Site, Pugcenar, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Southwest Alaska (Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) Section 14(h)(1): Historical Places and Cemetery Sites).

In the 1970s and 1980s, Alaska Native elders were interviewed to locate sites of enduring significance to their communities, as selected by each Alaska Native Regional Corporation under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). In the villages of Akiachak, Akiak and Tuluksak in southwestern Alaska, Yup’ik elders identified more than 500 place names within an area of approximately 5,000 square miles between the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. One site, Pugcenar, was chosen for a Jukebox project to demonstrate the cultural richness documented in oral history materials archived by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)-ANCSA Program. The program's archives of oral history recordings, photos, maps, and site investigations are located in Anchorage at the BIA office. In the Pugecnar Project Jukebox, you can look at photos and maps of Pugcenar, and listen to Yup'ik elders talk about the meaning of the place's name, the resources available in the area, the history of the site's use, and their personal experiences there.

All maps, photos, and transcripts in this project, unless otherwise noted, are from BIA-ANCSA materials. The hand-drawn map is by Joshua Phillip, 1988; and the photo of Pugcenar on Elaayiq River is by Matt O'Leary, 1988, BIA ANCSA.

This project was funded by the National Science Foundation, and was completed in 2006 by Louann Rank and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Program, with assistance from Ken Pratt, Matt O’Leary, and Robert Drozda, BIA ANCSA. The Pugcenar Project Jukebox was originally created using the Testimony Software format, and in 2021 was upgraded to Drupal. The information in this project reflects the context of the original creation date. Some information may now be out of date.