Ninety years ago, Knud Rasmussen's popular account of his scientific expeditions through Greenland and North America introduced readers to the culture and history of arctic Natives. In the intervening century, a robust field of ethnographic research...

This bilingual collection shares new translations of old stories recorded over the last four decades though interviews with Yup'ik elders from throughout southwest Alaska. Some are true qulirat (traditional tales), while others are recent. Some are w...

Shem Pete (1896-1989), a colorful and brilliant raconteur from Susitna Station, Alaska, left a rich legacy of knowledge about the Upper Cook Inlet Dena'ina world. Shem was one of the most versatile storytellers and historians in twentieth century Ala...

For millennia, "the North" has held a powerful sway in Western culture. Long seen through contradictions – empty of life yet full of promise, populated by indigenous communities yet ripe for conquest, pristine yet marked by a long human history – it...

Alaska has long been a nurturing home for artists, with its stunning natural beauty, rich cultural life, and unique communities. In recent years, artists in Alaska have had an additional source of support: the awarding of annual grants to craftsmen,...

In October of 2010, six men who were serving on the board of the Calista Elders Council (CEC) gathered in Anchorage with CEC staff to spend three days speaking about the subsistence way of life. The men shared stories of their early years growing up...

All over the world, salmon populations are in trouble, as overfishing and habitat loss have combined to put the once-great Atlantic and Pacific Northwest runs at serious risk. Alaska, however, stands out as a rare success story: its salmon population...

This book draws on little-known oral histories from the Yup'ik people of southwest Alaska to detail a period of bow-and-arrow warfare that took place in the region between 1300 and 1800. The result of more than thirty years of research, discussion, a...

Near the turn of the twentieth century, the territorial government of Alaska put its support behind a project led by Christian missionaries to convert Alaska Native peoples – and, along the way, bring them into "civilized" American citizenship. Estab...

With three roads and a population of just over 500 people, Shishmaref, Alaska seems like an unlikely center of the climate change debate. But the island, home to Inupiaq Eskimos who still live off subsistence harvesting, is falling into the sea, and...