The Man Who Became a Caribou Format: Paperback

Dinjii Vadzaih Dhidlit: The Man Who Became a Caribou is a new bilingual volume based on a series of oral interviews with Gwich'in elders living in rural northeast Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Richly illustrated, the book covers a wide range of topics based on traditional harvesting and use of caribou from ancient to contemporary times. It also reveals traditional beliefs and taboos about caribou and includes a detailed naming system for caribou anatomy.

Craig Mishler has been doing ethnographic field work in Alaska since 1972. He received his doctorate in folklore and anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1981. Craig made a career as an historian with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and later as a subsistence resource specialist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence where he did extensive field work in Kodiak. Later, he was a research professor at the Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He is also the author, co-author, or editor of ten books, including Dinjii Vadzaih Dhidlit: The Man Who Became a Caribou, published with Kenneth Frank in 2020 by the IPI Press.

Kenneth Frank is an elder, indigenous scholar, and fluent speaker of the Gwich'in language. He was raised in Venetie, Alaska, lived for many years in Arctic Village, and now resides in Fairbanks. Kenneth is in frequent demand for drum making and singing workshops and is the leader of the Di'haii Gwich'in dancers.