The Middle Tanana Valley in Alaska remains one of the most important regions of the continent for archaeological research. In The Gift of the Middle Tanana: Dene Pre-Colonial History in the Alaskan Interior, Gerad Smith explores the history, ethnography, and archaeological record of the Native people in this region during the late Holocene. Smith creates an interpretive framework informed by Alaskan Native traditions, focusing on traditional place names and the deep-play rituals of reciprocity. Smith sets forth the case that the local themes and oral traditions of the potlatch are better understood not as singular ceremonial events but as a mechanism of regional social cohesion that dictated everyday life. The Gift of the Middle Tanana illustrates how the role of reciprocal deep-play shaped a traditional society that has lasted over a thousand years.
The Upper Tanana Dene conveys the history and knowledge of Dene elders to current and future generations. Oral accounts reveal a unique and compelling perspective on a traditional way of life and offer fascinating commentary on a holistic way of life that is as relevant today as it was generations ago. These narratives, along with photographs and illustrations, show the history of the region alongside a detailed portrait of the people themselves. As young Dene migrate to towns and cities far from their homeland on the upper Tanana River of east central Alaska, they may never learn what it was like living from the land. In these interviews elders express concern that young Dene are becoming ignorant of the traditions that made their ancestors disciplined and strong enough to withstand the rigors of life on the land. The old life was taxing and made demands on the body and soul, and the struggle to achieve security placed a premium on knowledge, endurance, and constant effort. Modern conveniences have made life easier, but elders believe their knowledge is still vital to the survival of future generations. With text in both Dene and English, The Upper Tanana Dene is a link to Dene experiences, lives, and understanding of the world and is meant for those interested in Dene heritage, as well as students and scholars of cultural and ethnic studies and history.
Presents the history, regional variation, and present status of bead embroidery, a traditional art of the subarctic Kutchin. Illustrated with photographs, and pen and ink sketches.
This robust and engaging travel narrative re-creates a remarkable adventure in the summer of 1935, when Frederica de Laguna, then in her late 20s, led a party of three other scientists down the rivers of the middle and lower Yukon valley, making a geological and archaeological reconnaissance. De Laguna has based her story on her field notes, journals, and letters home. She augments this first-hand account with excerpts from the reports of earlier explorers and data published after her trip. The result is a fascinating and informative cross-cut of historical events along the Yukon River and its tributaries. Travels Among the Dena chronicles the expedition from its outfitting in Seattle and the trip by steamer and railway to Fairbanks and Nenana, through an 80-day journey on skiffs down the Tanana and Yukon rivers to Holy Cross near the coast, with side trips on the Koyukuk, Khotol, and Innoko rivers, before a one-day return flight to Fairbanks with pioneer bush pilot Noel Wien. Maps illustrate the route taken downriver, and the author’s photographs capture images of the time. The resulting volume is both a delightful addition to the literature of travel adventure in Alaska and an important contribution to the discipline of anthropology.
The rich tapestry of Alaska is threaded together by 365,000 miles of waterways, from cascading mountain streams to meandering valley rivers, from the meltwaters of glaciers to broad rivers that empty into the sea. This guide profiles a wide variety of rivers from all over Alaska, concentrating on trips for intermediate boaters, and including a few major expeditions for the experienced river-runner. A section on gear outlines what to take into the backcountry.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. This is the unforgettable story of how Christopher Johnson McCandless came to die. "It may be nonfiction, but Into the Wild is a mystery of the highest order." —Entertainment Weekly McCandess had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Not long after, he was dead. Into the Wild is the mesmerizing, heartbreaking tale of an enigmatic young man who goes missing in the wild and whose story captured the world’s attention. Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw the maps away. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild. Jon Krakauer constructs a clarifying prism through which he reassembles the disquieting facts of McCandless's short life. Admitting an interest that borders on obsession, he searches for the clues to the drives and desires that propelled McCandless. When McCandless's innocent mistakes turn out to be irreversible and fatal, he becomes the stuff of tabloid headlines and is dismissed for his naiveté, pretensions, and hubris. He is said to have had a death wish but wanting to die is a very different thing from being compelled to look over the edge. Krakauer brings McCandless's uncompromising pilgrimage out of the shadows, and the peril, adversity, and renunciation sought by this enigmatic young man are illuminated with a rare understanding—and not an ounce of sentimentality. Into the Wild is a tour de force. The power and luminosity of Jon Krakauer's stoytelling blaze through every page.
