Uyaquq

Noted for his linguistic abilities, he went from being an illiterate adult to inventing a series of writing systems for his native language and then producing translations of the Bible and other religious works in a period of five years.

[1] Uyaquq was born into a family of shamans in the lower Kuskokwim River valley of central Alaska in the mid-1860s.

As a missionary, Uyaquq is said to have converted whole villages of Yupik in the lower Kuskokwim River valley to Christianity.

Reverend John Hinz, a Moravian missionary in Alaska, and an accomplished linguist, was astonished upon hearing of Uyaquq's invention.

Uyaquq is said to have written constantly during the trip, writing as many stories from the Bible as he could in the new script without stopping to sleep.