Iñupiaq men in qayaqs, Noatak, Alaska, circa 1929. Edward S. Curtis Collection, Library of Congress Digital Collections.
Crossing the Chilkoot Pass, circa 1898. Courtesy Candy Waugaman and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.
The Gold Rush boomtown of Nome on the Seward Peninsula, 1900. Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library.
Alaskana is an annotated listing of recent publications on the North featured in Alaska History, the journal of the Alaska Historical Society.
Compiled by Bruce Merrell, Alaska Bibliographer at the Z. J. Loussac Library in Anchorage.
Wanni W. Anderson and Ruthie Tatqavin Sampson, Folktales of the Riverine and Coastal Inupiat (Kotzebue: Northwest Arctic Borough, 2003), 354 pp., paperback, request from Northwest Arctic Borough School District, P.O. Box 51, Kotzebue, AK 99752. Bilingual texts of forty-three stories collected between 1967 and 1987.
Douglas Beckstead, The World Turned Upside Down: A History of Mining on Coal Creek and Woodchopper Creek, Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska (Fairbanks: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2003), 280 pp., paperback, request from National Park Service, 201 First Street, Fairbanks, AK 99701. A reprint of the author’s 2000 report with the same title, detailing dredge operations on tributaries of the Yukon River.
Lydia T. Black, Russians in Alaska, 1732-1867 (Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2004), 328 pp., hardback, $65.00 plus postage, ISBN 1-889963-04-6 or paperback, $29.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-889963-05-4, P.O. Box 756240, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6240. “A comprehensive overview of the Russian presence in Alaska.”
Anatole Bogeyaktuk and Charlie Steve, Taprarmiuni Kassiyulriit-Stebbins Dance Festival, edited by Ann Fienup-Riordan (Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center and University of Alaska Press, 2004), 116 pp., paperback, $24.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-55500-083-5, P.O. Box 756240, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6240. Yup’ik elders describe the complex rituals of winter festivals that feature drumming, dancing, gift-giving and feasting.
Patrick J. Daley and Beverly A. James, Cultural Politics and the Mass Media: Alaska Native Voices, History of Communication Series (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2004), 235 pp., hardback, $35.00 plus postage, ISBN 0-252-02938-0, 1325 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6903. Indigenous media outlets, including newspapers, radio stations, and television stations are studied as sites for Native resistance to the agendas of non-Natives.
Elton Engstrom and Allan Engstrom, Alexander Baranov and a Pacific Empire (Juneau: Elton and Allan Engstrom, 2004), 227 pp., hardback, $39.95 plus postage, ISBN 0964570130, P.O. Box 723, Juneau, AK 99802. Biography of the Chief Manager of the Russian American Company who served from 1790 to 1818.
William O. Field, With a Camera in My Hands: William O. Field, Pioneer Glaciologist: A Life History as told to C. Suzanne Brown (Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2004), 184 pp., hardback, $59.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-89963-46-1 or paperback, $29.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-89963-47-X, P.O. Box 756240, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6240. An “oral biography” of a scientist active in Alaskan glacier research since the 1920s, illustrated with hundreds of his photographs and maps.
Aileen and Samme Gallaher, Sisters: Coming of Age & Living Dangerously in the Wild Copper River Valley (Kenmore, WA: Epicenter Press, 2004), 189 pp., paperback, $14.95 plus $4.95 postage, ISBN 0-9745014-2-5, P.O. Box 82368, Kenmore, WA 98028. Memories of wilderness life in the 1920s and 1930s.
Otis Hays, Jr., Alaska’s Hidden Wars: Secret Campaigns on the North Pacific Rim (Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2004), 182 pp., hardback, $39.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-889963-63-1 or paperback, $19.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-889963-64-X, P.O. Box 756240, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6240. A study of the intersection of Soviet, Japanese, and American interests in the Aleutian and Kurile islands during World War II.
Laurel Kendall and Igor Krupnik, editors, Constructing Cultures Then and Now (Washington, D.C.: Studies Center, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 2003), 364 pp., paperback, $26.95 plus postage, ISBN 0-9673429-4-5, 10th and Constitution N.W., Washington, D.C. 20013-7012. Anthology of papers presented to commemorate an 1897-1902 anthropological expedition to Alaska and the Russian Far East.
Joe LaRocca, Alaska Agonistes: The Age of Petroleum, How Big Oil Bought Alaska (North East, PA: Rare Books, Ink, 2003), 440 pp., hardback, $29.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-57087-634-7, 5 West Main Street, North East, PA 16428. Political history of the modern oil industry in Alaska, told by a longtime journalist.
William James Mills, Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2003), 2 volumes totaling 795 pp., hardcover, $185.00 plus postage, ISBN 1-57607-422-6, P.O. Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911. “The first comprehensive reference on humankind’s quest to conquer the poles.” This was the winner of the 2004 Alaskana Award from the Alaska Library Association.
Craig Mishler and William E. Simeone, Han, People of the River: Han Hwech’in: An Ethnography and Ethnohistory (Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2004), 297 pp., hardback, $49.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-889963-40-2 or paperback, $24.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-889963-41-0, P. O. Box 756240, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6240. A study of upper Yukon River Athabaskans whose homeland straddles the U.S.-Canadian border.
Charles M. Mobley, Aniak Airport Master Plan-Cultural Resource Reconnaissance, Aniak, Alaska (Anchorage: Charles M. Mobley & Associates, 2004), 40 pp., paper, 200 W. 34th Avenue, #534, Anchorage, AK 99503. Historical study of a Kuskokwim River village that was founded about 1912.
Claus-M. Naske, Ernest Gruening: Alaska’s Greatest Governor (Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2004), 314 pp., hardback, $49.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-889963-34-8 or paperback, $24.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-889963-35-6, P. O. Box 756240, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6240. Biography of a territorial governor and U.S. senator.
Ronald J. Burr Neely, Jr., Early Transportation Routes: Fort Wainwright, Alaska, edited by Glenda R. Lesondak (Ft. Collins, CO: Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands, Colorado State University, 2003), 49 pp., spiral-bound, request from Conservation Branch, Directorate of Public Works, U.S. Army Garrison Alaska, Ft. Richardson, AK 99505-6500. History of transportation routes that crossed land currently occupied by Fort Wainwright near Fairbanks.
Susan Neylan, The Heavens are Changing: Nineteenth Century Protestant Missions and Tsimshian Christianity (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003), 401 pp., hardback, $75.00 plus $5.00 postage, ISBN 0-7735-23278 or paperback, $27.95 plus $5.00 postage, ISBN 0-7735-25734, 3430 McTavish Street, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1X9, Canada.
Wallace M. Olson, The Spanish Exploration of Alaska, 1774-1792 (Auke Bay, AK: Heritage Research, 2004), 48 pp., paper, $7.95 plus postage, ISBN 0-9659009-2-4, P.O. Box 21091, Auke Bay, AK 99821. A summary of the author’s much larger Through Spanish Eyes: Spanish Voyages to Alaska, 1774-1792, published in 2002.
Wallace M. Olson, With Vancouver in Alaska, 1793-1794: A Day by Day Description of the Voyages, Events, and the Places He Named (Auke Bay, AK: Heritage Research, 2004), 47 pp., paper, $6.95 plus postage, ISBN 0-9659009-3-2, P.O. Box 21091, Auke Bay, AK 99821. A daily guide and brief description of Vancouver’s survey, taken from his journal and that of naturalist Archibald Menzies.
Dan O’Neill, The Last Giant of Beringia: The Mystery of the Bering Land Bridge (Boulder: Westview Press, 2004), 251 pp., hardback, $26.00 plus postage, ISBN 0-8133-4197-3, 5500 Central Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301-2877. Life story of geologist David Hopkins, who confirmed the existence of a land bridge connecting Asia and North America and named it Beringia.
Simon Paneak, In a Hungry Country: Essays by Simon Paneak, edited by John Martin Campbell (Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2004), 125 pp., hardback, $59.95 plus $4.00 postage, ISBN 1-889963-59-3 or paperback, $27.95 plus $4.00 postage, ISBN 1-889963-60-7, P.O. Box 756240, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6240. A record of traditional knowledge, told by a Nunamiut hunter who died in 1975.
Kathy Price, The World War II Heritage of Ladd Field, Fairbanks, Alaska (Ft. Collins, CO: Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands, Colorado State University, 2004), 120 pp., spiral-bound, request from Conservation Branch, Directorate of Public Works, U.S. Army Garrison Alaska, Ft. Richardson, AK 99505-6500. History of the military installation now known as Fort Wainwright.
Patricia Roppel, “Where Can I Buy One of These?”: A History of Ketchikan, Alaska’s Business Community (Wrangell: Farwest Research, 1999), 60 pp., paperback, $17.50 plus postage, no ISBN, P.O. Box 1998, Wrangell, AK 99929.
Robert D. Shaw, An Historical Reconnaissance of Ouzinkie, Alaska (Anchorage: Robert Shaw Enterprises, 2003), 89 pp., spiral-bound, request from Alaska Tribal Health Consortium, 3925 Tudor Centre Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508. Study of a village and its structures, located near Kodiak Island.
Elizabeth A. Tower, Big Mike Heney: Irish Prince of the Iron Trails, Builder of the White Pass and Yukon and Copper River Northwestern Railways (Anchorage: Publication Consultants, 2003), 96 pp., paperback, $14.95 plus postage, ISBN 1-59433-101-7, P.O. Box 221974, Anchorage, AK 99522-1974. With new illustrations and expanded text, this is a revised edition of the author’s 1988 book with the same title.
Katherine Wade, Chickaloon Spirit: The Life and Times of Katherine Wickersham Wade (Chickaloon, AK: Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, 2004), 338 pp., paperback, $39.95 plus postage, order from Alaskana Books, 564 S. Denali Street, Palmer, AK 99645. Autobiography of an Athabaskan elder from the Matanuska River Valley, illustrated with photographs and maps.
