Pura Fé’s name means “pure faith” in Spanish. Her name in the Tuscarora language is Yęhskwètih, or “She builds bridges,” in English.
Both names seem to fit. Not only does she have faith in the power of music, but has built bridges to all her different musical heritages, both Indigenous and Euporean, from Tuscarora to Taino, to Puerto Rican, African American and Corsican.
And like many of the performers at the Rock Aak’w Indigenous Music Festival, which gets underway on Friday, she is both an artist and activist.
On this Friday’s Juneau Afternoon, she talks about bringing contemporary Native music to the forefront of the mainstream music industry.
Also in this program:
- Juneau Community School adds some in-person classes to its fall schedule.
- Liyuan “Sunny” Zhang, the Juneau Artists Gallery’s featured artist for November.
- Tonight’s UAS Egan lecture looks at Alaska’s health insurance challenges
Listen to the whole show:
Part 1. Indigenous music fusion: Interview with Pura Fé, Rock Aak’w Indigenous Music Festival headliner.
Part 2. Juneau Community School: Interview with Suzanne Ainsworth, school coordinator. Sarah Lewis, UAF Cooperative Extension Serivce and Morgan Johnson, Juneau Plant Studio.
Part 3. Alaska health insurance: Jason Gootee, Vice President of Strategic Market Development at Moda Partners.
Part 4. Juneau Artists Gallery: Liyuan “Sunny” Zhang and Mary McEwen, members of the gallery cooperative.
Rhonda McBride hosts Friday’s program. You catch Juneau Afternoon, Tuesday through Friday, at 3:00 p.m. on KTOO Juneau 104.3, online at ktoo.org, and repeated at a new time, 7:00 p.m. on KTOO.
