Native Cultures in Alaska: Looking Forward, Looking Back

by Alaska Geographic Association, Tricia Brown (Editor)

Overview

In the minds of most Americans, Native culture in Alaska amounts to Eskimos and igloos....The latest publication of the Alaska Geographic Society offers an accessible and attractive antidote to such misconceptions. Native Cultures in Alaska blends beautiful photographs with informative text to create a striking portrait of the state's diverse and dynamic indigenous population.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780882409023
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	11/15/2012
Series:	Alaska Geographic
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	31 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

Alaska Geographic is a nonprofit publisher, educator, and supporter of Alaska's parks, forests, and refuges. A portion of every purchase at Alaska Geographic bookstores directly supports educational and interpretive programs at Alaska's public lands.
Tricia Brown is a full-time writer and editor. She received her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Since 1978, she has traveled nearly every inch of Alaska's road system and flown into its remotest places while writing and editing for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska magazine. She has written books for adults and children on Alaska life, travel and history.

Read an Excerpt

Alaska Natives share a common history of events that have shaped their modern existence and have become a political force with certain rights and privileges. They are the only indigenous people in the United States who were not relocated to reservations by the federal government. The single exception is the Tsimshian people, who emigrated to Annette Island from western Canada in 1887 and four years later requested reservation status for their adopted island from President Grover Cleveland. Other Alaska Natives still live, hunt, and fish on the same lands as did their ancestors. Many still speak their ancestral languages, perform ancestral dances, share ancestral stories, and practice age-old values handed down through generations.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Uniquely Alaskan – 7, Map – 10, Looking Forward, Looking Back – 23, Unangˆx (Aleut) – 41, Riding Ungiikan Home, by Barbara Švarný Carlson – 48, Sugpiaq (Alutiiq) – 55, Who Are We, Anyway? By Gordon Pullar – 64, Yup'ik – 73, Yup'ik Dance Mask