Moonlight At Midday : Alaska : Its Animals, Ghosts and People, Eskimos and White Settlers, Its Wildlife and Villages and Cities, As Few Outsiders Ever See It

Ismar David

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This is the real Alaska, the Alaska few outsiders know. It is the human scene, described in intimate and authentic detail. No one except a gift naturalist could have written this book, for Sally Carrighar has eyes that see, trained eyes that see what others pass by. Icebound Summer was the first book to come from her Alaskan experience, and now she brings her marvelous perceptiveness to a book that deals not only with the flora and fauna and majestic scenery of Alaska, but with its fascinating people and their way of life as well. Much of the book concerns Eskimo settlements well off the tourist track, and other things that casual travelers do not see, such as the winter life of modern pioneers in those two gold-rush cities, Nome and Fairbanks. Eskimos have enchanted most Arctic explorers with their dancing, ivory-carving, singing, and festivals; but they are really most engaging when known as friends—when one is allowed to glimpse their courtship and marriage customs, family life, racial beliefs; when one learns their fears and hopes as they try to straddle two cultures. Miss Carrighar came to the remote village of Unalakleet as a naturalist, sharing the Eskimos’ interest in wildlife. One said to “You are the first white person who ever stayed here that didn’t come to teach us, or to preach to us, or to sell us things.” As their companion in whaling and trapping, Miss Carrighar had a change to observe them as few even among people born in Alaska have. She is known now throughout the North as a champion of the Eskimos. ....