Wise Words Of Paul Tiulanda - An Inupiat Alaskan's Life

Presents the life of an Alaskan hunter, storyteller, craftsman, and traditional leader who grew up on King Island, Alaska, in the 1920s

Grade 5-9?Through the voice of Paul Tiulana, who lived on King Island in the Bering Sea until 1956, readers get an inside view of what it was like growing up as an Inupiat in Alaska in the 1920s and '30s. In straightforward and refreshing prose, Tiulana tells of his upbringing and of his extended family's nurturing. The descriptions of learning to hunt, while to some might be graphic, are of interest due to the attitude of the hunters: respect for their prey. The black-and-white photographs of Father Hubbard, Arctic priest during the same period, provide a view of a time in this culture not often depicted. A biographical sketch of the photographer and an essay encouraging readers to write stories of their elders enrich this book. A longer version of it was published as A Place for Winter (CIRI Foundation, 1987). Although Jean Rogers's King Island Christmas (Mulberry, 1998) and Goodbye, My Island (Greenwillow, 1983; o.p.) present a view of life on this island, there is nothing quite like this title for the same age level.?Mollie Bynum, formerly at Chester Valley Elementary School, Anchorage, AK
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 5^-8. Paul Tiulana was born on a tiny island in the Bering Sea, between Alaska and Siberia, in 1921 to people who may have lived there for hundreds, or even thousands, of years. The island is called Ooq-vok, "a place for winter" in his language; white people call it King Island. Senungetuk offers a comfortable, seamless narrative about this extraordinarily remote place. Without a trace of self-consciousness and with enormous dignity, Tiulana talks of naming the months, of how the weather dictated activities, how hunting was learned, how the elders were cared for, how medicine men and women dealt with demons. He also explains the intriguing relationships of cross-cousins (who can tease you) and partner-cousins (who help and support you). All this is the more remarkable when we learn that Tiulana lost a leg to gangrene while serving in the Second World War. The text is taken from interviews with Tiulana in 1987 and has been updated since his death in 1994. Added are a note about the Jesuit whose contemporary photos illustrate the story, and a brief outline of how one might go about writing the stories of one's own elders. GraceAnne A. DeCandido