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This classic is an original work of literature by one of America's foremost conservationists and is an account of the people of the north, both Native and white, who give Alaska its special human flavor. First published over fifty years ago, the book is still a favorite among old-time Alaskans and, over the years, has prompted numerous readers to pack up and move to Alaska. The richness of statistical coverage in this book, and Marshall's careful descriptions of the characters he met, provide readers with a window to the world of 1930 and a nearly complete record of the Koyukuk civilization as he saw it. Readers learn what the people of Wiseman thought about sex, religion, politics, and the myriad of ways they found to cope with and enjoy life in a wilderness community.… (more)
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" 'You know sometimes you buy a third hand Ford for about twenty-five dollars and they throw in a very much older car for extra parts. Well, this is about like that extra parts car.' "
"With every one a cook, it is a little
"In the following pages I shall present some of these talesin the exact English words which these Koyukuk Eskimos themselves used in telling me their stories.
'Nobody,' said Old Tobuk, 'knows how the world started. After the start Eskimo peoplehave it same way whites - man made first. The first man live all alone. One man cannot increase so they got to have pair. That's why nature made woman. But woman is not enough unless she can bear child. They tried all over where nature could find that child could come from. They try forehead - no good.They try breasts - no good. They try under arm - no good.They try between legs - O.K. Nature finally invented right placeand then man do rest.' "