Whale Snow: Iñupiat, Climate Change, and Multispecies Resilience in Arctic Alaska. By Chie Sakakibara. 2020. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 304 pp.

Abstract

Due to Chie Sakakibara’s development of personal relationships with the people of Utqiaġvik, Alaska, until recently known by its colonial name, Barrow, she was included in many community events, enabling a deeper and more accurate understanding of the customs and traditions surrounding the whale. Referred to as a notion of “cetaceousness,” the whaling cycle is characterized as multidimensional, with human–whale relations fundamental to the process, which itself is an ever-changing, living tradition. This is a centrally important point that is emphasized throughout the work: Tradition is not stagnation, it is not a relic of the past, but it is custom as inherited tradition from past generations, interpreted in relation to current conditions.