Died 1998 | ||
Annie Aghnaqa (Akeya) Alowa (née Akeya; also known as, Aghnaqa (Annie Akeya Alowa) and Annie Alowa; 25 June 1924 - 19 February 1999) was a Yupik elder and Alaskan environmental activist, healer, and leader in health and justice advocacy for indigenous peoples. She was inducted into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame in 2016.
Alowa was born in 1924, in Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island. Her parents were Horst and Olga Akeya and there were eight siblings, Agatha Mokiyuk (née Akeya), Barbara Kogassagoon (née Akeya), Helen Kiyukhook (née Akeya), Lila Akeya, Sarah Tate (née Akeya), Alexander Akeya, Calvin Akeya and David Akeya.
Alowa's first marriage, in 1944, to Jackson ended with his death the following year. She secondly married Nelson Alowa in 1945 and their children were Christina, Jeannette, Julius, Richard, Roland, Rose, Sheldon and Timothy. Summers were spent at Tamniq where the family hunted, trapped, and Alowa developed skills as a skin sewer and doll making artist. In 1955-56, she became a midwife, having been trained by Harriet Penayah, from Savoonga and at the Kotzebue hospital. In 1971, she began training as a health aide with the Norton Sound Health Corporation in Nome. From 1963-70, Alowa lived in Northeast Cape where she volunteered as a community health aide and worked at the Air Force Station. Seeing the health problems associated with the military hazardous materials waste -such as cancer and low birth weight- Alowa advocated for cleanup of the site for 20 years. As a result of her advocacy, $123 million was spent on cleanup thus far.
Alowa died of liver cancer 19 February 1999. In the spring of that year, filmmaker Jean Riordan created a documentary of Alowa's interviews, plus "footage of the island, its people, and the Northeast Cape dumping ground"; the title, "I Will Fight Until I Melt (whanga pillugaghlleqaqa kenlanga ughullemnun)", is an Alowa quote. She was inducted into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame in 2016.