Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley, a leading Alaska Native scholar, died on Sunday. He was 76.

Kawagley was Yup'ik, though he preferred the term Yupiaq. He was the first Yupiaq to graduate high school in Bethel and he went on to receive four degrees -- a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, an education specialist degree and a doctorate.

Kawagley specialized in Alaska Native knowledge and other indigenous systems of knowledge. His book, "A Yupiaq Worldview: A pathway to ecology and spirit," explained science from a Native perspective.

During his lifetime, Kawagley won numerous awards. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Alaska Federation of Natives, the National Indian Education Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Educational Research Assocation Outstanding Scholarship Award, the Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities, the Alaska Secondary School Principal’s Association Distinguished Service Award and the Association of Village Council President’s Award.

"I think he inspired people worldwide. Today a lot of indigenous groups are trying to emulate what he did," Sean Topkok, who worked with and was a student of Kawagley, told The Anchorage Daily News.

Get the Story:
Yup'ik scholar Oscar Kawagley dies at 76 (The Anchorage Daily News 4/27)
Oscar Kawagley, Native UAF professor, had profound impact (The Fairbanks Daily News Miner 4/27)