Born in Greenland to an American father and a Greenlandic Inuk mother, Juliane Padilla (née Johnsen),[2] he was raised from age 4 in Sisimiut.[1][3] Padilla's grandfather, Peter Johnsen,[2] taught him much of what he knows. A skilled kayaker in his own right, Johnsen taught Padilla how to kayak, how to build the boats and how to hunt using a harpoon and rifle.[3] Included in his training were open-ocean skills and traditional kayak building skills.[1] Kayaks built by Padilla are housed at the Greenland Sisimiut Museum, the Inuit Gallery of Vancouver the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC and the Kativik Cultural Center in Nome.[3]
In 2010 Padilla moved to Alaska where he is working to revive traditional kayaking culture. He and wife Elizabeth Saagulik Hensley, an Iñupiaq attorney, have two children.[4]
Padilla is the only person in history to win four Greenland National Kayaking Championships, winning his first title at 16.[5]
