The wake of the unseen object : among the native cultures of bush Alaska.

Kizzia, Tom. [Anna Phillip, Rick Caufield, Jim Magdanz, Jerry Liboff, Elsie Mather, Gene Peltola, Nancy Lord, Eric Smith, Mary Kancewick, Michael Penn, Joe Senungetuk, Chip Brown, Steve Williams, Nancy Gordon, Alice Martell, Bill Strachan, Sally Kabisch; maps, Claudia Carlson]

ISBN 10: 0805014713 / ISBN 13: 9780805014716

Published by New York : Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1991, 1991

About this Item

1st edition, 1st printing ; ISBN:0805014713 ; LCCN:91-41150 ; blue cloth, no dustjacket ; Contents: Forest primeval (English Bay) -- Spirit world (Cape Prince of Wales ) -- People of Kauwerak (Teller) -- Return of the native (Golovin) -- Indian Country (Tetlin) -- Animal powers (Bristol Bay) -- Red Devil (Sleetmute) -- Icons (Lower Kalskag) -- River people (Tuluksak) -- Yupiit Nation (Akiachak) -- The wake of the unseen object (Black River) ; ex-lib, stamps, label, date due, pocket ; "The travels in this book were originally undertaken for a series of stories that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News under the title, "Northcountry Journal". ;

Seller Inventory # 005892

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The wake of the unseen object : among the native cultures of bush Alaska.
• Publisher: New York : Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1991
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805014713
• ISBN 13: 9780805014716
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Book Type: Book

About this title

Synopsis

In this personal narrative, Tom Kizzia tells of a journey through the outback of Alaska in search of North America's last aboriginal landscapes. In the wilderness of the outer coast, Kizzia finds an indigenous people whose traditions are as pressed by the twentieth century as is the primeval land they inhabit and learns how the complexities of modern times have given rise to a Native sovereignty movement, as tribal elders and a troubled younger generation struggle to reconcile their centuries-old traditions with a new age of Native capitalism and rock and roll. Through vivid portraits of characters and places along the way, the author describes his discovery of a magical mix of worlds--a team of Indian boys journeying downriver to a softball game--a spontaneous midnight whale hunt in the Bering Sea--and begins to see Alaska from a new perspective. Just as Eskimo hunters watch the water for the wake of their unseen quarry, Kizzia keeps his eye on the visibly changing life in the bush while managing to grasp the invisible spiritual strength of a people who embrace the heart of nature--and to portray inThe Wake of the Unseen Object the efforts of those who are working to make that way of life endure.