Project Jukebox

Digital Branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Program

Project Jukebox Survey

Help us redesign the Project Jukebox website by taking a very short survey!

John Napoka, Jr.

John Napoka, Jr.

John Napoka, Jr. was Yup'ik and was born in 1940 to Mary and John Napoka, Sr. at Nuugpak near Tuluksak, Alaska. John grew up living a traditional subsistence lifestyle based upon hunting, trapping, and fishing which provided him great knowledge of the land and trails, traditional place names, and navigation and survival skills. He first traveled with dogteams and eventually used a snowmachine to check his trapline and travel in the area. In 1965, John married Marie (Jackson) and they raised a family in Tuluksak. Throughout his life, John held various jobs to earn money to support himself and his family, like working on the fur seal harvest on St. Paul Island, as a heavy equipment operator on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, as a salmon cannery foreman in Naknek, as a firefighting crew boss during the summer season, and as maintenance man at the Tuluksak school. He also served in the Alaska National Guard and went to Fort Ord, Cailfornia for training. In addition to using a dogteam for his own travels, John raised sled dogs for racing and participated in many races around the villages. John passed away in 2011.

Biographical information provided by Freda Alexie of the Yupiit School District.
Date of Birth:
Jul 18, 1940
Date of Death:
Jul 26, 2011
John Napoka, Jr. appears in the following new Jukebox projects:
Tuluksak Area Trails
Interview Title Abstract Archive #: Oral History Project Date of Interview
John Napoka, Jr.

John Napoka, Jr., along with Richard Phillip, was interviewed on September 23, 2004 by Bill Schneider, Louann Rank, and Freda Alexie in Tuluksak, Alaska. Marla Statscewich was also present during the interview. In this interview, John talks about trapping, traveling on trails in the area, and using a dogteam versus a snowmachine. He also talks about fishing and hunting, the importance of being safe when traveling, and marks trails on a map. Richard Phillip shares some of his own trail use and experiences traveling around the area, including one time when he got lost, and marks trails on the map with John.

 2004-07-10 Tuluksak Sep 23, 2004