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“This wonderful book gives the reader a glimpse into the cultural soul of the Alaska Native people, revealing how culture is very much alive and traditions are thriving.” — Margaret Nelson, Tlingit, Eagle moiety, President and CEO Alaska Native Heritage Center
As Alaska’s Native peoples confront contemporary challenges, they increasingly find strength in the traditional values and practices that have sustained their cultures for millennia. In stirring words, What the Elders Have Taught Us pays tribute to the first Alaskans and the ancient values they consider paramount.
Ten essayists, one from each of Alaska’s diverse Native cultures, were asked to write about a specific value that is common to all, lessons that have been part of their oral teachings for countless generations. The resulting essays are infused with personal reflection as well as profound truths.
Featuring Roy Corral’s outstanding photography, What the Elders Have Taught Us offers rare insight into the lives of Alaska’s First People—at work and play, in celebration and sorrow—living out the legacy handed down by the elders.
“As Alaska's natives confront the realities of modern living which are changing not only their culture but their familiar environment, they're drawing strength in renewed attention to their heritage—and Alaska Native Ways: What the Elders Have Taught Us is an important tribute to this strength. General-interest libraries as well as Native American specialty collections receive an oversized, coffee-table-type display of gorgeous full-page color photos by Roy Corral, with accompanying text by Natives and an introduction by Will Mayo. The text is ten essays, one from each of Alaska's Native cultures, which explores and teaches one special value common to their teachings over the generations: as such they provide not only a tribute to, but a celebration and re-affirmation of Alaskan Native ways in a lovely, highly recommended display piece.”
—Diane C. Donovan, California Bookwatch
“Ten essayists, one from each of Alaska’s diverse Native cultures, were asked to write about a specific value that is common to all, lessons that have been part of their oral teachings for countless generations. The resulting essays are infused with personal reflection as well as profound truths.”
—Anchorage Daily News
“The writers take the reader into the villages with them through their words. You see the trials and tribulations of trying to make a living in the commercial fishing industry, you learn about how Native Alaskans have learned to live off the land through teachings from their elders, and about how the past helps shape the future, among other things.”
—The Frontiersman