Authentic Alaska: Voices of Its Native Writers

Bys: Andrews, Susan and Creed, John

Book Overview

In this lively and sometimes poignant collection of essays and autobiographies, nearly fifty Alaska Native writers tell of their unique way of life and bear witness to the sweeping cultural changes occurring in their lifetimes. They explore a range of experiences and issues, including skinning a polar bear; traditional domestic and subsistence practices; marriage customs; alcoholism; the challenges and opportunities of modern education; balancing traditional and contemporary demands; discrimination; adapting to urban life; the treatment of Native peoples in school textbooks; and the social realities of speaking standard and "village" English. With its fresh perspectives and unfailingly authentic voices, this collection is essential for an understanding of Alaska Native peoples today. Susan B. Andrews and John Creed are award-winning journalists and associate professors in the humanities at the Chukchi campus of the University of Alaska in Kotzebue.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803259336
• ISBN13: 9780803259331
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Me

I knew about this book because I am one of the people that have written their autobiography. I didn't know this back then, but it was God that let me go to school for English. In High School I didn't do very good in English (probably mostly D's). But when I went to Chukchi College in Kotzebue, Alaska I got A's and B's. God is good and He loves everybody.

important collection

Authentic Alaska is a collection of narratives about late twentieth century life in northwestern Alaska. Rather than a single voice, the book employs a multitude of authentic voices to offer commentary on a wide variety of topics ranging from autobiography to every day life in rural Alaska to school experiences to the incorporation of western cultures into traditional Native culture. This collection began as a student writing project during the 1987-1988 school years at the University of Alaska. The anthology comes from nontraditional, generally older students who are Inupiaq, Yup'ikm or Siberian Yup'ik Eskimos or Athabascan Indians who grew up in the larger hub communities of Kotzebue or Nome, or from smaller villages such as Emmonak in Southwest Alaska or Northway on the Canadian border. Susan B. Andrews is an associate professor of humanities at the College of Rural Alaska, a division of the University of Alaska. John Creed, her husband, is also an associate professor of humanities at the same college. Together they have won several regional and national media awards including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Outstanding Coverage of the Problems of the Disadvantaged. The editors explain the majority of these writings fit into what is known as "`cultural journalism,' where the ordinary way of life receives the attention, not the unusual or extraordinary events covered in straight news pieces, and where this reflection of the ordinary fabric of life also can instruct and offer profound insight. (xxvi)" Most of the authors are first or second year college students with no extensive writing training. The editors believe this is the anthology's strength, which creates an authentic voice that truly reflects "real people-that is, mature adults with extensive experience in the real world. (xxvii)." The purpose of the book is to showcase the survival of culture and tradition, despite the turmoil of the past century. Many of the selections focus on how Natives were able to retain strong ties to their traditional cultures while adapting to western changes that came with statehood. For example, the discovery of oil in 1968 had a massive economic impact on Alaska, which only accelerated the rate of cultural and technological change. One writer discusses the policy of legal segregation that existed until the 1940s, and the denial of citizenship for Natives until 1924. Boarding schools, western religions, and technological advances all had an effect on traditional culture. Many of the selections discuss not how the culture was weakened, but rather how Natives were able to strengthen their identity and continue their traditional way of life in the face of great obstacles. For instance, in 1961, Natives started their own newspaper, the Tundra Times, which helped spawn Native unity as well as political activism that helped pressure the U.S. Congress to pass the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. This land claims act gra

Finally a text written by Natives living in remote Alaska!

So mucb has been written ABOUT Alaska Natives, and finally I was refreshed to see a book of incredibly insightful pieces written BY Alaska Natives. Offers a strong sense of ties to family and the land and waterways from which Alaska's aboriginal peoples have subsisted for centuries. This is truly an "authentic" account of contemporary Native people trying to live in the modern world while retaining a sense of their cultural identity. Full of stunning historical and contemporary photographs as well! This is the kind of book that should be climbing to the top of the New Times Bestseller list! An extremely readable text full of unassuming voices expressing the joys and challenges of life in some of the most remote reaches of Alaska. These writers live in small communities in Alaska, most of which are not connected by road to the outside world. Fascinating!