“To enjoy our heritage, up there on the stage, and share with everyone, with our ancestors around us, it was amazing,' said Elizabeth Tugatuk, with the Chefornak-based Yup’ik dance group Acilquq.
-The Alaska Native Heritage Dancers perform for the first Quyana Night in three years at the 2022 AFN conference, at the Dena’ina Center, in Anchorage, Alaska on October 20, 2022.
What made this year extra special: It was the first time the dancers have performed since 2019, after back-to-back cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Anticipation was high. People stood in line for hours Thursday morning to get tickets, which sold out quickly. The Alaska Native Heritage Dancers took the stage at Anchorage’s Dena’ina Center first.
“All the dances that we do are all from Point Hope,” Oviok said. “We might have a couple that are from the Little Diomede area that have been traded and agreed upon by elders long ago before me. It’s kind of a thing, out of respect they do that.”Oviok said the dances represent many different stories, including family dances passed down, dances for ending the New Year and celebrating the full moon.
“To be up there,” Tugatuk said, “to enjoy our heritage, up there on the stage, and share with everyone, with our ancestors around us, it was amazing.”Excitement remained high among all the groups, including the Qikiqtagruk Northern Lights Dancers from Kotzebue. Martin Lee Woods is one of the leaders of the group, having performed at Quyana off and on most years since the first AFN in 1979. He said coming to AFN and seeing friends from across the state adds to the joy of his dance performance.