(1954-2025) Honoring Our Elders
Storyknife, November/December 2025 edition
Mark Miisaq [MEE-sahk] John of Toksook Bay was a well-respected Elder and Cultural Advisor for Calista Education & Culture (CEC) for nearly 30 years. He passed away peacefully at his home in Anchorage on August 5, 2025. He was 70 years old.
Mark made an indelible impact on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Region and throughout the state of Alaska. He began working in 1997 as the Executive Director of the Calista Elders Council which evolved into part of CEC. He started working with CEC after he earned his Master of Social Work from the University of Alaska Anchorage.
In the book Do Not Live Without an Elder (2014), and in many other CEC book projects documenting our Region’s culture, Mark was seen as the organizational leader, Alice Cucuaq Rearden worked as the language expert, and Ann Fienup-Riordan was the author and editor.
Mark worked with “Yup’ik-speaking men and women on a mission to document and share Yup’ik traditions in ways that would enrich the lives of your people throughout the region,” Riordan wrote in the book introduction.
He was the type of person who created a safe and educational atmosphere for everyone.
Theresa Arevgaq John, Mark’s younger sister and professor, researcher and Yup’ik cultural advocate
“He met with Elders and organizers for the books, and later the Yuuyaraq curriculum, face-to-face for days,” says Theresa Arevgaq John, Mark’s younger sister and professor, researcher and Yup’ik cultural advocate.
“They would be in house for three days together. They’d eat together, they’d sing together, they’d cook together, and they’d laugh together. He was the type of person who created a safe and educational atmosphere for everyone.”
Mark was born December 31, 1954, in Nightmute to his late parents Paul Kangrilnguq John and Martina Anguyaluk (Abraham) John. He was the oldest of 10 siblings. He was married to Sharon Kairaaq (Moore) John, had three children, four grandchildren, and many beloved extended cousins, nieces, nephews and grandchildren.
Mark interviewed his father among many other Elders from the Calista Region. In Do Not Live Without an Elder (2014), Mark shared the importance of listening to our Elders and to what we’ve been told. Mark wrote, “since we were instructed that during any time of year, fall or winter, although the weather was good we should observe and pay attention to things along our trail.”
Mark mentioned a survival experience. He and his younger brother were snowmachining over a soft patch of ice in warmer weather. They both fell into the water, but it was only armpit-height, so they pulled the snowmachines out of the water. He remembered passing grass nearby. Once he started up his snowmachine, they went back to the grass, picked enough to fill the inside of their clothes and insoles of their shoes. They wrung out their clothes, put them back on, and headed straight home to stay safe.
“He would always say to look up to the Elders,” says Simeon Nurauq John, Mark’s brother, a tribal leader in Toksook Bay who worked with him for more than 50 years as a commercial fisherman. “He would stress to get your education, get training to be self-sufficient and learn to be independent.”
Simeon says Mark always checked on people and loved talking to people. He loved his work, and he was good at keeping people in contact, he says.
“I miss his everyday morning call,” Simeon says. “My brother was like a partner to me. We had a lot of things in common, especially the fisheries. He always encouraged self-care and to be a decent human being.”
Along with self-sufficiency, Mark encouraged family to be present for each other. He encouraged families to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves, and to provide the things that took a special skill.
“He was like the glue to our family and made sure we stayed connected,” says Agatha Panigkaq John-Shields, one of Mark’s younger sisters and educator for over 30 years. “Our adult children are able to provide for us because he taught them how to fish and to hunt. We take care of his family because he would show by example the need to make sure the Elders were fed, and to provide for family members who need fish or other foods.”
Mark was seen as a provider, and he fused that with his deep desire to educate others on Yuuyaraq, the Yup’ik way of being. His core cultural values came from the Qanruyutet, which meant ‘the instructions’ in Yugtun. He always told his family that they would be OK even when he physically departed, Theresa says.
“He gave us hope and faith that we are never separated indefinitely. He emphasized that the spirit world will keep us strong and connected,” Theresa says. “Even though our loved ones are no longer physically here, they are still around because of the spiritual realm.”
A Message from Calista Corporation
We join the John family with heavy hearts for the loss of Calista Elder and culture bearer Mark Miisaq John. Calista joins so many throughout Alaska in extending our heartfelt condolences to the John family.
At Calista Corporation, we cherish our countless memories of Mark. As Shareholders, we were blessed by his decades of service as a culture bearer for the Calista Region through Calista Education & Culture.
To honor his memory and to read some of his work, we’d like to suggest browsing some of the books available at Calista Education & Culture. Click the link below to see the books, many of which Mark played an integral role in interviewing the Elders who shared cultural knowledge.
