John Boy Weyiouanna

John Weyiouanna (Allockeok) was born to Clifford and Shirley Weyiouanna on July 5, 1973, in Nome, Alaska. He was raised in Shishmaref, Alaska. Shishmaref is home to a tightly knit Inupiat community of about 600 people. Located one hundred miles north of Nome on Sarichef Island in the Chukchi Sea, it is ground zero for climate change in the Arctic. In recent years, the village has experienced fierce storms and warmer temperatures resulting in coastal erosion that has shrunk the size of the barrier island the town is built upon and made construction of a seawall necessary. The community continues to struggle with the prospect of relocation.

John and his relatives remain in Shishmaref. John values his subsistence lifestyle and hunts year round with his father, a serious and skilled traditional hunter and reindeer herder. In the spring, they hunt seals, ducks, and walrus; in the fall, young-bearded seals as well digging for clams; and in the winter, caribou and moose. Hunting and his connection to land and/or sea animals provide inspiration for his work. John uses the natural size and texture of the local materials to create his carvings.

John attended school in Shishmaref and started carving during his senior year at the Melvin Olanna Friendship Center. The Center supports Shishmaref’s strong arts and crafts tradition of carving ivory, antler, whalebone and baleen. The village emphasis on creativity started up a burst of innovation during the mid-seventies when whalebone carving was introduced. By the time John began carving, Shishmaref was on the way to leading in the production of whalebone carving influencing Inupiat carvers in surrounding Bering Sea villages.

John carves fossilized whalebone (both vertebrae and rib bones) almost exclusively, specializing in dancers and hunters – culturally relevant pieces that are enriched with the stories of the Inupiaq from long ago. His figures are notable for their expressive faces and lively, animated eyes.