by Nicholai Joekay
Levi Ap’alluk Hoover of Kasigluk, the 2024 Cama-i Festival Living Treasure Award recipient. Photo courtesy of SWAAG
This year, the Cama-i Festival will be honoring Levi Ap’alluk Hoover of Kasigluk as a Living Treasure, congratulations to the Ap’alluk and the Hoover Family.
Professional life
Ap’alluk Levi Hoover of Kasigluk is being recognized as a Living Treasure at the Cama-i Dance Festival this year. This article will explore the ways that Ap’alluk has contributed to the legacy of dance in our region.
Ap’alluk served as an educator in Yup’ik language and culture for decades, beginning in the days when the Bureau of Indian Affairs managed education for tribes in our state. Almost 40 years ago, he helped Kasigluk begin the Bilingual Arts Week and invited the Bethel Traditional Dancers to come to Akula to teach yuraq. This was the beginning of the Akula Dance Festival, which later became the LKSD Dance Festival.
Foundational work
Ap’alluk helped coordinate Akula Elitnaurvik’s Bilingual Arts Week, a time in which students engaged in cultural activities including yuraq, arts and crafts, and subsistence education.
For decades, he taught the importance of bilingual education. He made sure all of his students participated in LKSD’s annual Speech Contest in both the Yugtun and English.
Legacy work
Generations of Ap’alluk’s students performed in Cama-i Dance Festivals in previous decades. His work with elders in the community to preserve the local songs is one of his gifts to future generations. The stage will be filled this year with the descendants of his students, the product of his work to keep our culture alive.
