The Alaska Native Reader

Abstract

For me, reading this volume is like coming home. As an Alutiiq/Sugpiaq (Alaska Native) researcher who recently relocated to Brisbane, Australia, it is a joy and an honor to review, The Alaska Native reader: History, culture, politics, edited by Maria Shaa Tlaa Williams. This volume stands as a celebration of Alaska Native scholarship in its historical, linguistic, political, artistic, spiritual, scientific, and even culinary forms (see p. 360 for Daisy Demientieff's Best-Ever Moose Stew Recipe)! It is a treasure because it seeks to impact readers in a felt way – appealing to all of the places where knowledge lives including the mind, heart, belly, and soul. Each chapter prompted a different response ranging from pure joy to deep sadness, from rage to pride, from a sense of solidarity with other Alaska Natives to appreciation for my own particular culture, and from curiosity about what others are working toward to awe at what already has been achieved.