Raising Ourselves: A Gwich'in Coming of Age Story from the Yukon River (Alaska Book Adventures (Epicenter Press)) - Hardcover

Wallis, Velma

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0970849303 ISBN 13: 9780970849304

Publisher: Epicenter Press, 2002

Synopsis

Velma Wallis shares the love, loss, and struggle that mark her coming of age in a two-room cabin at Fort Yukon, Alaska, where she is born in 1960, the sixth of thirteen children. Family life is defined by the business of survival: Haul water from the Yukon. Kill a moose. Chop firewood. Feed the sled dogs staked around the cabin. Run the trap line. Catch salmon. It is a time of innocence and laughter, too, as the children escape into a world of play under the midnight sun.

The once-migratory family has settled at the confluence of two rivers, surrendering much of their language, culture, and religion to white teachers, traders, and missionaries. A knot of silent pain remains from flu epidemics that claimed many loved ones. There is much drinking when the monthly government checks arrive. That is when the pain comes out of hiding.

When Velma Wallis is twelve, her father dies. She and her siblings fend for themselves as their mother descends into depression and alcoholism. Velma follows her own path, a journey of persistence, recovery, reconciliation, and ultimately of finding her own strength.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Born in 1960, the sixth of thirteen children, Velma Wallis comes of age in a two-room log cabin in remote Fort Yukon, Alaska. Life is defined by the business of living off the land. Chop wood. Haul water from the river. Hunt moose. Catch salmon. Trap fur. Take care of the dogs. For a thousand years, the Gwich'in clan had followed migratory animals across the north. But two generations before, the people had settled where the Porcupine River flows into the Yukon. Now, the Wallis family has a post office box and an account at the general store, and Velma listens to Wolf Man Jack on armed forces radio. The author discovers that her people have surrendered their language, traditional values, and religion to white teachers, traders, and missionaries. Flu epidemics have claimed many loved ones. Village elders seem like strangers from another land, and in a way they are. There is much drinking when the monthly government checks come, and that is when the pain comes out of hiding. RAISING OURSELVES is a gritty, sobering, yet irresistible story filled with laughter even as generations of Gwich'in grief seeps from past to present. But hope pushes back hopelessness, and a new strength and wisdom emerge.

Review

"If you want to know the truth about being Indian, read this book"

About this edition

• Publisher: Epicenter Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0970849303
• ISBN 13: 9780970849304
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216
• Illustrator: Grant James L