Emmonak's Cumbia Connection: Local Studios Teaching the Trend
How a remote Alaskan village is embracing and reinventing a Latin American rhythm
The newly opened Cumbia Norteña Studio blends traditional Yup'ik elements with modern music technology
In the remote Yukon Delta village of Emmonak, Alaska, where winter temperatures can plunge to 30 below zero, a surprising musical revolution is heating up. Against all geographical logic, the pulsating rhythms of cumbia—a musical tradition born in Colombia's Caribbean coast—are finding new life in this community of fewer than 800 people.
What began as a curious fascination with the distinctive "un-cha-cha" rhythm has blossomed into a full-blown cultural movement, with three local studios now offering cumbia lessons and production workshops to residents of all ages.
The unlikely connection began when local musician Aaron Lake returned from college in Fairbanks with a collection of Latin music recordings. "I stumbled upon cumbia in a world music class," Lake explains. "There was something about the rhythm that reminded me of our Yup'ik dancing. I started experimenting with blending our traditional stories with cumbia beats."
Lake's experiments evolved into informal workshops, which quickly grew in popularity. Today, Emmonak boasts three dedicated studios teaching cumbia music production and performance:
Cumbia Norteña Studio
Founded by Lake himself, this is the pioneer studio that started it all. They specialize in fusing traditional Yup'ik storytelling with cumbia rhythms, creating what locals call "Yup'ik cumbia." The studio offers weekly group classes and has produced three albums of original music that have gained surprising traction on streaming platforms.
Delta Sound Labs
This high-tech studio focuses on electronic cumbia production, teaching teens how to produce music using digital audio workstations. Their "Cumbia Electronica" program has become so popular that they now host an annual festival that attracts visitors from surrounding villages.
Traditional Roots Music Center
Taking an intergenerational approach, this studio pairs elders with youth to create music that blends cumbia with traditional Yup'ik drumming and singing. The result is a unique sound that honors both heritage and innovation.
The cumbia craze has brought unexpected benefits to this remote community. School attendance has improved among students involved in the music programs, and the studios have created part-time jobs for young instructors. The phenomenon has also sparked cultural exchanges, with Emmonak musicians video-conferencing with cumbia artists from Colombia and Mexico to learn about the genre's roots.
"At first, people thought it was strange—this tropical music in the Arctic," says Maria Anaya, who moved to Emmonak from California and now teaches at Delta Sound Labs. "But music transcends geography. Cumbia's story of cultural mixing resonates here. Our students are creating something entirely new that represents who they are—Yup'ik people living in a globalized world."
The Emmonak cumbia scene continues to evolve, with plans underway for a summer music festival that would bring cumbia artists from the Lower 48 and Latin America to the Yukon Delta. Meanwhile, the local studios are expanding their offerings to include video production, allowing students to create music videos that showcase both their music and their homeland's stark beauty.
In a world where cultural traditions often fade under the pressure of globalization, Emmonak offers a counter-narrative: a community that has embraced a foreign musical form not as replacement for tradition, but as a means of reinvigorating it. The cumbia beat echoing across the tundra represents more than just a musical trend—it's the sound of a community writing the next chapter of its story, one rhythm at a time.
