Paul Tiulana

Paul Tiulana (June 20, 1921 – June 17, 1994) was an Iñupiaq artist and dancer from Alaska. Originally from King Island, Tiulana was drafted in World War II and injured; his leg was broken and eventually amputated. He relocated to Nome during the 1950s and Anchorage in the 1960s, where he founded a dance group specializing in Iñupiat dancing. During the 1980s, he was made a Citizen of the Year by the Alaska Federation of Natives, given a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for his work in dance and art, and wrote a book about his life in Alaska.

Life

Early life and World War II Paul Tiulana was born on June 20, 1921 on King Island to an Iñupiat family. He was given the name "Tiulana" after his grandfather and the name "Paul" when he was baptized. Tiulana's father Ugitkuna, a Wolf Dancer, (The term "Wolf Dance" may refer to one of several ritual dance performed by several Alaskan communities.) The King Island Wolf Dance was performed to allow for the rebirth of the spirits of animals, especially eagles, hunted by the King Islanders. died in a hunting accident when Tiulana was nine and so he was mentored by his uncle, John Olanna, in Inupiat traditions, art, and heritage. Clara Tiulana in 1945. The next year, Tiulana traveled from Nome to Seattle to be fitted with a high-quality prosthetic leg as a replacement for one he had been given in 1944. Due to his lifestyle, the 1944 limb was too damaged to be of much use. While he was there, he was asked by a hotel press worker if a women's jacket really was mink; Tiulana identified the coat as rabbit, which caused her embarrassment and was reported on at the time by national newspapers. He also saw his first igloo in Florida, and he and Clara arranged for William A. Egan to donate a polar bear cub to Crandon Park Zoo. He was also made an honorary member of the Miami police department. The dance group, with Tiulana as their leader, was official founded in Anchorage in the sixties as the King Island Inupiat Singers and Dancers.

In 1987, CIRI published A Place for Winter: Paul Tiulana’s Story. The memoirs, written by Tiulana and Vivian Senungetuk, described life on King Island and Iñupiat culture and incorporated photographs taken in the late 1930s by Jesuit minister Bernard R. Hubbard. A 2002 review in the Anchorage Daily News described the book as an "evocative tribute" to the island and its people.

Later life and death In the later years of his life, Tiulana developed arthritis and needed his son's assistance in doing some finer handiwork. and he was diagnosed with liver cancer. on June 17, 1994, at the Alaska Native Medical Center. his funeral homily was given by Francis Thomas Hurley.

Clara Yamane died of cancer three years later, in 1997. The couple had seven children; five sons and two daughters.

Legacy alt=An orange, brown, and beige building in front of a small lake, surrounded by deciduous trees. Lake Tiulana in front of the Alaska Native Heritage CenterFour years after Tiulana's death, Vivian Senungetuk published another book based on his writings: Wise Words of Paul Tiulana: An Iñupiat Alaskan's Life. Additionally, the Center gives out an Paul Tiulana Elder Award, named for Tiulana, to Native Alaskan elders they feel have "sustained and advanced Alaska Native culture". In 2023, the award was given to Oliver Aveogan Leavitt.

Tiulana was also a choreographer;

Awards and honors 1983: Alaska Federation of Natives' Citizen of the Year 1984: National Heritage Fellowship

Publications