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Marie "Arnaq" Meade

Marie Meade

Marie Arnaq (Nick) Meade is Yup'ik and was born in 1947 to Narullgiar and Upayuilnguq in Nunapiciaq, Alaska. She is a fluent speaker of her Native Yup'ik language, attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and in 1970 was chosen to teach the first bilingual program in the village of Nunapiciaq. After a year of teaching, she moved on to work at the Yup'ik Language Workshop, where she was involved in creating curriculum for Yup'ik language instruction. Marie has taught Yup'ik at the Kuskowkim Community College in Bethel and is currently an instructor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She is also part of the Nunamta Yup'ik Dance Group. Marie has been documenting the cultural knowledge of Yup'ik elders, including the values, language and beliefs of the Yup'ik people for over thirty years. In the 1980s, she transcribed oral history interviews conducted in Yup'ik into written English for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, ANCSA 14(h)(1) Program, and since 1990 has collaborated with anthropologist Anne Fienup-Riordan on numerous cultural exhibits and translation projects. In 2002, Marie received the Alaska Governor's Award for Distinguished Humanities Educator, and in 2015 she was inducted into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame her achievements in Yup'ik language and culture education.

Marie "Arnaq" Meade appears in the following new Jukebox projects: