The many villages in the delta of Bethel, or Mamterilleq in Yup’ik, are connected by rivers. For the Blanchett brothers — Phillip and Stephen — sacred music is a unique confluence of two family streams. Their father, David, is a Black man from Philadelphia who, after serving in Vietnam, found himself stationed at Ft. Wainwright in central Alaska and started taking classes at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
R&B and Inuit music weren’t an inherently obvious pairing, Qacung says, but “the Yup’ik language, the way that it’s structured and formed, is very melodic. And we have very long words as well, so a Yup’ik word could be like a couple sentences or more in the English language. It has this sing-songy kind of feel, so it fits well with R&B.
Pamyua were later joined by Karina Moeller, an Inuit musician from Greenland, and the Danish musician Kristoffer Jul Reenberg, who is “just a funkmaster jazz piano player,” says Phillip. “That really influenced our growth, musically.” They quickly became the most famous Inuit band in Alaska, and they toured around the world — including the far reaches of Siberia — singing and dancing their potent, joy-filled blend of “Inuit soul.
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