ALASKAN STORIES (excerpts from Storytell posts plus original research) (Scroll down or click on your choice below) BOOKS TOYS AND GAMES JEWELRY and GIFTS ONLINE LINKS SOS - SEARCHING OUT STORIES

BOOKS
(To retell the stories below, be sure to obtain permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.)

FEATURED BOOK Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse with Barbara Lavellee (illus). (1992 - Baby-Preschool board book) Description This exceptional board-book tells a beautiful and timeless story about a daughter's attempt to find the limit of her mother's love. Barbara Lavallee's exquisite illustrations of Alaska, with their exaggeratedly foreshortened perspective and rich tones of violet, blue-gray, and gray-green, tell of an easy declaration ("I love you more than the raven loves his treasure, more than the dog loves his tail, more than the whale loves his spout") that is pushed, and pushed, and ("What if I put salmon in your parka ... and ermine in your mukluks?") pushed. There's a quiet joyfulness in both the antics of the Inuit mother and daughter and in the animals--including a polar bear and a musk ox--that the daughter imagines she might become. A charming story for mothers and daughters of all ages. (Baby to preschool) -- Richard Farr

• Alaska by James Michener.
From Library Journal
Another told-from-the-beginning-of-time Michener saga, this one featuring Alaska. The book begins a billion years ago. Its first characters are the mastadon and the woolly mammoth, followed by such other settlers as the Eskimos, Athapaskans, and Russians. Vignettes of characters as varied as the Danish navigator Vitus Bering, who explored Alaska for Russia's Peter the Great, and Kendra Scott, the young Colorado teacher who taught the Eskimo children during the recent Prudhoe Bay oil boom, illustrate the colorful history of this vast and exploited land. Early on the book is vintage Michener, but the momentum encounters an Arctic chill midway. Final sections are trite, uneven, and overloaded with stereotypes. Too cumbersome to be called fiction, but Michener fans will demand it anyway. Joan Hinkemeyer, Englewood P.L., Col.

• Alaskan Igloo Tales by Kenneth Gilbert.
A reader
I have read this book many times and found it to be an outstanding collection of short stories about Native Alaskans' traditions, folklore and religion. The book contains many short stories that are centuries old. The author has done an excellent job of gathering these stories into a volume that incorporates beautiful drawings by Alaskan native George Aden Ahgupuk. I would recommend that anyone interested in Native Alaskan folklore obtain this book. The book continues to provide me with many hours of satisfaction. An excellent book 'written' by authors who will never be heard from again.

• Alaska's Three Pigs by Arlene Laverde.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3-This nicely designed book holds promise in its concept, but falls a bit flat in its execution. The premise is fun: the three little pigs go Alaskan with a starring role for a grizzly bear in place of the wolf. Unfortunately, Laverde's story is wordy and not smoothly written. Despite the use of energetic fonts to highlight key words, the text lacks the snap found in Dwyer's cartoon artwork. Set off by decorative borders, the colorful illustrations provide a few humorous visual details, e.g., the homesteading pigs are provisioned with an endless supply of canned yams, instead of Spam. However, the traditional brick house is replaced with a crystal-clear ice igloo, reinforcing an unfortunate stereotype of Alaska. Sharp-eyed readers will wonder why the huffing and puffing grizzly freezes into a Denali-sized (rectangular) ice cube after falling into a (presumably round) barrel of melted snow water. There may be a demand for this title in Alaskan libraries or in collections seeking variants on the popular tale, but this retelling does not live up to the example set by Jon Scieszka's wonderfully original The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Viking, 1989).
Sue Sherif, Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library, AK
Book Description
The newest addition to the Paws IV line of Alaska children's books features the classic story of those irresistible little pigs--retold Alaskan-style, as the pigs camp, fish, ski, and build homes on the Last Frontier!
"Once upon a time in the wilds of Alaska, there were three little pigs." And so begins the adventure of three outdoor-loving pigs who head to Alaska to homestead and "grow big cabbages." After playing under the Midnight Sun, it's time to get busy and build safe homes for the winter. The first and second little pigs are creative, but it's the third hardworking little pig who uses solid glacier ice: a good thing when a hungry grizzly bear is awakened! This delightful take on the original is full of Alaska details and is sure to charm readers of all ages.

• Ancient Land: Sacred Whale : The Inuit Hunt and Its Rituals by Tom Lowenstein.
From Publishers Weekly
British poet and ethnographer Lowenstein has done research among the Tikigaq people of Point Hope, Alaska, for nearly 20 years. For three seasons he served as a crewman in a skinboat during the whale hunt; here he introduces the village, the oldest continuous settlement on the continent, and its topography. From the storyteller Asatchaq, Lowenstein heard about the whale myth and the elaborate rituals of the hunt, which he retells in poems in these pages. According to the myth, the Tikigaq peninsula was once a whale-like creature; after it was killed by a harpooner, it lived on as both body and spirit and remains a source of sustenance and the focus of worship. The rituals for the hunt still constitute an extended drama that begins in autumn and culminates with the springtime hunt. In a lengthy narrative poem, Lowenstein reconstructs the hunt as it occurred prior to contact with Europeans. This vivid portrait of an ancient culture is a remarkable blend of poetry and anthropology. Illustrations.
From Library Journal
This is a wonderful little book about the annual whale hunt of the Tikigaq people of northern Alaska's Point Hope, the oldest continuously settled Native American site on the continent. The first part includes an elegant description of ritual and mythology associated with the whale hunt. The second part describes the whale cult and the hunt in terms of the annual cycle, hunting patterns, and thought systems. Following is narrative poetry of the hunt, an effective attempt to reproduce the Tikigaq storytelling medium. The book is based both on personal fieldwork conducted by the author during the 1970s and the notes of Froelich Rainey, an archaeologist who worked in the area during the 1940s. Recommended for academic and public libraries. - John M. Weeks, Univ. of Minnesota Lib., Minneapolis

• Berry Magic by Betty Huffmon.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3–This charming pourquoi tale tells of an Eskimo girl and her magic. Listening to the older women complain as they pick the hard, dry crowberries, Anana thinks up a plan to give them pleasure. She sews four dolls, each with a different color pelatuuk, or head scarf. After carrying them to the hills, she sings a special song and dances, transforming each doll into a berry girl who speckles the fields with cranberries, blueberries, raspberries, and salmonberries. Done in a palette of deep, earthy hues, ethereal blues, and bright highlights, Sloat's pictures are vibrant and engaging, befitting the land of the northern lights. The rich language enlightens readers to different elements of the Eskimo culture such as reindeer-skin bags, muskrat parkas, and the "ice cream" called akutaq. Delightful, playful, and beautifully written.–Be Astengo, Alachua County Library, Gainesville, FL
Book Description
Long ago, the only berries on the tundra were hard, tasteless, little crowberries. As Anana watches the ladies complain bitterly while picking berries for the Fall Festival, she decides to use her magic to help. "Atsa-ii-yaa (Berry), Atsa-ii-yaa (Berry), Átsaukina!" (Be a berry!), Anana sings, turning four dolls into little girls that run and tumble over the tundra creating patches of fat, juicy berries: blueberries, cranberries, salmonberries, and raspberries. The next morning Anana and the ladies fill basket after basket with berries for the fall festival. Thanks to Anana, there are plenty of tasty berries for the agutak (Eskimo ice cream) forevermore.

• Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun by Velma Wallis.
From Publishers Weekly
Velma Wallis tells a version of a Native American legend in Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun. Her protagonists, the youth Daagoo and the maiden Jutthunvaar (known as Bird Girl), try to be free-spirited individualists in the bitter northern land near the Yukon, but they meet a harsh fate. Attempting to achieve the simple style so eloquent in folk tales, Wallis instead produces a dry, strangely affectless story.
Book Description
With the publication of Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival, Velma Wallis firmly established herself as one of the most important voices in Native American writing. A national bestseller, her empowering fable won the Western State Book Award in 1993 and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award in 1994. Translated into 16 languages, it went on to international success, quickly reaching bestseller status in Germany. To date, more than 350,000 copies have been sold worldwide.

Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun follows in this bestselling tradition. Rooted in the ancient legends of Alaska's Athabaskan Indians, it tells the stories of two adventurers who decide to leave the safety of their respective tribes. Bird Girl is a headstrong young woman who learned early on the skills of a hunter. When told that she must end her forays and take up the traditional role of wife and mother, she defies her family's expectations and confidently takes off to brave life on her own. Daagoo is a dreamer, curious about the world beyond. Longing to know what happens to the sun in winter, he sets out on a quest to find the legendary "Land of the Sun." Their stories interweave and intersect as they each face the many dangers and challenges of life alone in the wilderness. In the end, both learn that the search for individualism often comes at a high price, but that it is a price well worth paying, for through this quest comes the beginning of true wisdom.

• Coming into the Country by John McPhee.
Amazon.com
Residents of the Lower 48 sometimes imagine Alaska as a snow-covered land of igloos, oil pipelines, and polar bears. But Alaska is far more complex geographically, culturally, ecologically, and politically than most Americans know, and few writers are as capable of capturing this complexity as John McPhee. In Coming into the Country, McPhee describes his travels through much of the state with bush pilots, prospectors, and settlers, as well as politicians and businesspeople who have their eyes set on a very different future for the state.

• Eskimo Folklore: Myths and Traditions from Northern Alaska, the McKenzie Delta and Coronation Gulf by Diamond Jenness.
Book Description
These myths and traditions were collected along the Arctic coast between December, 1913, and June, 1916. They are divided into two parts: the first comprises the Alaskan stories, with which are included one story from the Siberian coast and four others from the Mackenzie river delta; the second comprises the tales collected among the Copper Eskimos, from the regions of Dolphin and Union strait and Coronation gulf. Even a surface examination will show that there is a great difference in the tales from the two regions. The Alaskan stories are more sophisticated, as a rule; they are longer and more detailed, and have a definite beginning and ending. The various incidents, too, are placed in their proper setting with just the descriptive touches required to give them an air of reality.

• If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name : News from Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende.
From Publishers Weekly
Lende chronicles the various lives and deaths of the people of Haines, Alaska, an almost inaccessible hamlet 90 miles north of Juneau. In writing her social and obituary columns for Haines's Chilkat Valley News—some of which are included here—she blends reportage and humor. Lende has lived in Haines all her adult life and is well-known in town. She deftly illuminates local color: the sewer plant manager who rides a motorcycle and sports a ZZ Top beard, the high school principal who moonlights as a Roy Orbison impersonator, and the one-legged female gold miner. Lende covers death in her community in all its forms—accidental, intentional and inevitable—and notes, "writing about the dead helps me celebrate the living." While comic, the book also has some sensitive, insightful anecdotes. For example, Lende, a contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, portrays the building of a coffin for a beloved mother by her youngest daughter; the sinking of a family boat with a tender farewell for a fearless fisherman; the mourning of a quirky, civic-minded "aging hippie"; and the goodbye to a Texas woman who hosted an annual Mississippi blues party. Lende's picture of an Alaskan small town is colorful and captivating. (June)
From Booklist
Wife, mother, and obituary writer Lende lives in Haines, Alaska (pop. 2,500), a town without a stoplight, hospital, or home mail delivery. Haines has been called "the real Northern Exposure^B" and the town is certainly full of colorful characters: the tattooed Presbyterian pastor, the Roy Orbison-impersonator school principal, and a self-described "domestic goddess," to name a few. As a reporter, Lende knows just about everyone in town, and each chapter profiles a birth, wedding, or death. The author has a real gift for eulogy; she knows that every life contains something to admire, honor, or illuminate. And the people are Haines: by the time the profiles are finished, the reader has a good idea of what it's like to live among the varied citizens (and the moose, sea lions, and bears) of Haines, in the shadow of a glacier. Lende's quiet voice resonates long after the book is finished. Rebecca Maksel.

• Last New Land: Stories of Alaska, Past and Present, The by Wayne Mergler.
From Publishers Weekly
Fans of TV's Northern Exposure are in for a reality check if they crack the hearty spine of The Last New Land: Stories of Alaska Past and Present. Here, Anchorage Daily News book columnist Wayne Mergler collects stories, journalism, memoirs, folklore and poetry from and about Alaska. Native voices mix with those of more recent arrivals, engaging readers in tales of harrowing wilderness survival, seafaring exploits and confrontations with creatures great and small. A distinctive and engaging frontier tone, perhaps uniquely American, pervades throughout.
From Library Journal
Mergler, an Alaskan since l968 and a writer and teacher by profession, has blended his love for literature and his attachment to Alaska in one literary extravaganza. This exceptional anthology provides an exciting and comprehensive overview of the state and the scope and diversity of its literature. It draws on over 75 writers of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, who explore a variety of themes?nature, survival, early people, legends, and modern times. For instance, Ethel Ross Oliver retells the Eskimo legend describing how the raven brought light, environmentalist Margaret E. Murie recounts her arrival in Alaska at age nine in 1911, and Art Davidson gives a moving account of the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez disaster. An enchanting sampler; for public libraries. - Jo-Anne Mary Benson, Osgoode, Ontario

• Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse with Barbara Lavellee (illus). (1992 - Baby-Preschool board book)
Description
This exceptional board-book tells a beautiful and timeless story about a daughter's attempt to find the limit of her mother's love. Barbara Lavallee's exquisite illustrations of Alaska, with their exaggeratedly foreshortened perspective and rich tones of violet, blue-gray, and gray-green, tell of an easy declaration ("I love you more than the raven loves his treasure, more than the dog loves his tail, more than the whale loves his spout") that is pushed, and pushed, and ("What if I put salmon in your parka ... and ermine in your mukluks?") pushed. There's a quiet joyfulness in both the antics of the Inuit mother and daughter and in the animals--including a polar bear and a musk ox--that the daughter imagines she might become. A charming story for mothers and daughters of all ages. (Baby to preschool) -- Richard Farr

• Raven and the Totem: Traditional Alaska Native Myths and Tales, The by John Smelcer.
Alaska Magazine
"These ethnographic narratives keenly capture the mystical world of Alaska Native legend and lore-- a world in which the supernatural is natural, and where Raven rules supreme."
Book Description
With over 60 myths and legends from 20 Alaska Native groups, this is the single most comprehensive collection of Alaska Native traditional stories/narratives in existence! beautifully illustrated (maps included). The book even contains an extensive bibliography of known references on the subject.

• Salmon Princess: An Alaska Cinderella Story (Paws IV Children's Books) by Mindy Dwyer.
Book Description
In this adaptation of the well-loved fairy tale, the father still has his head in the clouds and the stepmother is as mean as ever. But this story is set in the Last Frontier, and its details and imagery reflect Alaska's landscape and sensibility: the fairy godmother becomes an eagle spirit, the glass slipper a fisherwoman's boot. Evocative writing and colorful artwork distinguish this playful retelling of the classic. Here children learn about cultures and ways of life but happy endings are still the rule.

• Stories for Future Generations/Qulirat Qanemcit-Llu Kinguvarcimalriit: The Oratory of Yup'Ik Elder Paul John by Ann Fienup-Riordan.
Book Description
Before it was written, this book was spoken. For ten winter days in 1977, the orator Paul John—widely respected as a dean of Yup’ik elders, and recognized for his tireless advocacy of Yup’ik language and traditions—held an audience of Yup’ik students rapt at Nelson Island High School, in southwest Alaska. Hour after hour he spoke to the young people, sharing life experiences and Yup’ik narratives, never repeating a tale. Now, more than a quarter-century after Paul John’s extraordinary performance, Sophie Shield’s translations and Ann Fienup-Riordan’s editing have brought his words back to life, and to a new audience. This book records one elder’s attempt to create a moral universe for future generations through stories about the special knowledge of the Yup’ik people.

Tales both authentically Yup’ik and marked by Paul John’s own unique innovations are presented in a bilingual edition, with Yup’ik and English text presented in facing pages. As Paul John says, "In this whole world, whoever we are, if people speak using their own language, they will be presenting their identity and it will be their strength."

• Stories from Alaska by Dolch.

• Tales from the Four Winds of the North: Alaska Native Folktales by Dale DeArmond.

• Tanaina Tales from Alaska (Civilization of the American Indian Series) by Bill Vaudrin.

• Totem Tale : A Tall Story from Alaska by Deb Vanasse.
On a full-moon night in Alaska, a traditional native totem pole magically comes to life. The Grizzly, Beaver, Frog, and Raven all stretch and scratch and voice their relief at being free at last. But then the first dawn light appears on the horizon, and the totems have to reassemble themselves in the proper order before morning. Who should be on top of whom? Can wise Raven reason with these contentious creatures? Deb Vanasse’s enchanting text and Erik Brooks’s lively illustrations make this a memorable modern folktale.

• Totems and their tales: Totem poles of Ketchikan, Alaska by Lola Romine.

• Two Old Women by Velma Wallis.
From Publishers Weekly
This novel of two Native American women abandoned by their tribe in the Alaskan Yukon won the 1993 Western State Book award.

 

ONLINE LINKS

• Alaskan native people telling folk tales and growing-up stories, from a radio program. I haven't listened to all of these yet, but the ones told by John Active are *very nice* I've seen stories like these in books, but didn't really understand why they were good until hearing them "told right."
http://www.alaskool.org/resources/audiovisual/StoriesOfOurPeople.intro.htm

• I found this link to Tlingit myths from southern Alaska in my favorites. Am sending the clickable link plus the url. Click Here: Check out "Tlingit Myths and Texts Index"
http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/nw/tmt/index.htm
Judy S. 9/22/05
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(This web page updated 12/9/05; 6/23/06; 11/25/08)