Published on October 15th, 2009

Native artist's poster wins national contest

By MELISSA DRIGGERS

After months of waiting, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Alaska Native-American Indian art contest winning poster will be available for distribution starting on Oct. 19. The contest is held every year in rotating regions around the country in celebration of American Indian and Alaska Native heritage.

Andrew Abyo, who is Alutiiq and Aleut, created this year's winning artwork, titled "We Are All Connected." The pen-and-ink piece depicts mountains, a caribou, geese, whales, otters, a human hand and the land within a circle that represents Earth. The judges believed that out of the 14 participants, Abyo's piece best depicted Alaska's Native heritage, which was what inspired Abyo to create the piece in the first place.

"It's really important to teach our young children about our culture and be proud of who we are," Abyo said.

Abyo was born in Anchorage in 1970 and moved to Pilot Point when he was a baby. His family moved back to Anchorage when he was about 11 years old, but they would go back to Pilot Point when school wasn't in session in order to do their commercial fishing and live a subsistence life.

Abyo did not, however, grow up knowing about his own culture. It wasn't until 2005 when Abyo decided that he wanted to learn more about his culture. He took a class with his uncle at the Alaska Native Heritage Center and realized that he was a natural when it came to carving even though he had never done it before. Since then, he has apprenticed with Alutiiq bentwood carver Peter Lind and Alutiiq mask carver Perry Eaton, learned a lot about his own culture, and is sharing his love for culture with his family and the community.

"I went to Pilot Point, and I taught mask-making down there," Abyo said. "That was really rewarding for me to go to my own hometown and teach the young kids there."

Abyo wanted his four children to be able to grow up learning about their culture. The whole family participates in the dance group Imamsuat, even their 3-year-old son Andrew, who is a drummer, and their

1-year-old daughter Aleksandra, who stands on stage wearing regalia. Abyo's 13-year-old daughter Breanna is trying to participate in a rural-urban exchange to Yakutat to learn more about her Tlingit ancestry from her mother's side of the family, who is Tlingit and Alutiiq.

"[Abyo] is a wonderful artist to work with who very much wants to keep traditions of Alaska Natives alive through his artwork," said Molly Voeller, organizer and facilitator of the contest. "I have a great deal of respect for him for how he works with the community and the students. He has a good way of explaining history, artwork, culture and symbolism."

When giving a presentation to children, Abyo tells them to imagine that they are living in the 1800s and that they are standing on the beach. He loves to watch the kids' imaginations go wild. Then he continues by telling the children that a strange hunter they've never met before is paddling toward them and that he is wearing a visor. Then he goes on to describe all the different information you can find out just from looking at another man's visor, including what animals they hunt, how long they've been hunting, where they are from, etc. Abyo is a man who loves to educate other people about his heritage.

"There's only one thing that separates us from our ancestors," Abyo said, "and that's time."

The poster will be posted in all USDA field service stations and will be handed out at fairs, exhibits and events. To request a copy of the poster, e-mail landcare@usda.gov.

Melissa Driggers is a journalism student at UAA.

Melissa Driggers can be reached at asmrd15@uaa.alaska.edu, or by phone at

Most Popular Stories

Native artist's poster wins national contest