Basketball in the Yukon – how sport is helping revitalise culture and community

Toksook Bay on Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is one of several Yup’ik Eskimo communities in a region so remote that many villages can be reached only by plane or snowmobile. During the 20th century, Christian missionaries pressured the Yup’ik to abandon much of their culture, but one foreign import – basketball – became an integral part of local life. Today, the Coastal Conference high-school basketball tournament brings western Alaska’s Yup’ik villages together for a spectacular annual celebration, giving the area a much-needed sense of community and hope. I Am Yup’ik follows Toksook Bay’s Nelson Island Islanders and their star player Byron as they strive to win the tournament and bring glory to their village.