Mat-Su Arctic Winter Games hosts Indigenous Fashion Show and Pamyua concert

PALMER — The Mat-Su 2024 Arctic Winter Games not only featured a wide range of athletic competitions with participants from circumpolar communities around the world, but also several culturally focused community events such as the Indigenous Fashion Show and Pamyua Concert held at the Glenn Massay Theater Thursday, March 14.

“It was remarkable," Mat-Su Arctic Winter Games Host Society Board President Amy Spargo said.

Numerous models from across the state took to the runway dressed in a variety of outfits.

“There were lots of different styles from traditional to modern- all with an Indigenous flair,” Spargo said.

Spargo said the Indigenous Fashion Show and Pamyua Concert was a fun and engaging way to highlight Native culture. She said the event ended up completely selling out.

“The community was very receptive to it," Spargo said.

Spargo said this event was one of several endeavors scheduled around the 2024 Arctic Winter Games that were designed to exemplify some of the core principles of the biennial event: cultural exchange, friendship, and community pride.

“We wanted to add pieces to bring the whole community together in the spirit of the games," Spargo said.

Alaskan model Madison Wilhelm said that she really enjoyed being a part of the Indigenous Fashion Show.

“It went great,” Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm said that her Inupiaq heritage is very important to her, and she was happy that an event that showcases the various Alaskan Native cultures was part of the 2024 Arctic Winter Games experience. She said there's so much value behind the traditional values she grew up around in Barrow.

“I like to be very involved in my native life," Wilhelm said. “The dancing, the singing, the drums- it definitely has a lot of meaning. It really hits me.”

Pamyua put on a concert immediately after the Indigenous Fashion Show. Pamyua is known for showcasing their culture through music and dance performances that celebrates and shares Indigenous knowledge and history through traditional melodies reinterpreted with contemporary vocalization and instrumentation. Their high energy performances blend traditional Yup’ik and Inuit drum/dance melodies and with contemporary R&B and soul music, which is often referred to as “tribal funk” or “Inuit Soul.”

Pamyua co-founder Phillip Blanchett said they had a great time at the event.

“It was wonderful. We had a real dynamic show," Blanchett said. “It was really a great opportunity for us to showcase what we do for that international community.”

In addition to performing with his band mates Qacung (Stephen Blanchett), and Ossie Kairaiuak, Blanchett was also the emcee for Indigenous Fashion Show prior to the concert.

“We were able to make them complement each other," Blanchett said. “It came together really well.”

Blanchett was thrilled that both youth and adult fashion designers were able to participate in this event. He was also thrilled by the enthusiastic audience.

“It was a real diverse mix of designers that showcased authentic art and Indigenous art,” Blanchett said. “It was all well received. It was all beautiful and it was all taken seriously. It had zero pretentiousness and it was all authentic.”

Blanchett marveled at all the hard work the volunteers put into the Indigenous Fashion Show and Pamyua Concert and all the other activities centered around the 2024 Arctic Winter Games. He praised Mat-Su Arctic Winter Games Arts and Culture Program Coordinator Telsche Overby for going above and beyond to make this event and others such a huge success.

“Telsche was integral to the entire spine of everything that was happening. That was impressive considering all the other things she was doing," Blanchett said.

Blanchett’s daughter Tun'aqi Moeller Blanchett was asked by one of the fashion designers BrittNee Brower to model one of her pieces during the Fashion Show. She also danced during Pamyua’s performance.

“It was special and just seemed natural,” Blanchett said.

This concert was also an opportunity for Blanchett, Qacung, and Ossie to reunite with Copenhagen based collaborator Karina Moeller.

Other special guests such as Yup’ik fashion artist Golga Oscar, Team Alaska athlete Peter Griggs, fashion show model Samuel Sivulaq, and Blanchett’s mother Marie Meade got on stage to dance with the band.

“It created this incredible moment and incredible image… It shows the power and health of the culture,” Blanchett said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com