Born in 1960, the sixth of thirteen children, Velma Wallis comes of age in a two-room log cabin in remote Fort Yukon, Alaska, a location accessible only by riverboat, airplane, snowmobile, or dog sled.
But hope pushes back hopelessness, and a new strength and wisdom emerge..
Written by the author of the international bestseller Two Old Women, this memoir yields a gritty, sobering, yet irresistible Story filled with laughter even as generations of Gwich\'in grief seeps from past to present.
There is much drinking when the monthly government checks come, and that is when the pain comes out of hiding.
Village elders seem like strangers from another land, and in a way they are.
Flu epidemics have claimed many loved ones.
The author discovers that her people have surrendered their language, traditional values, and religion to white teachers, traders, and missionaries.
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.
But two generations before, the people had settled where the Porcupine River flows into the Yukon.
For a thousand years, the Gwich\'in clan had followed migratory animals across the north.
Taking care of the dogs.
Trapping fur.
Catching salmon.
Hunting moose.
Hauling water from the river.
Chopping wood.
Life is defined by the business of living off the land.
Born in 1960, the sixth of thirteen children, Velma Wallis comes of age in a two-room log cabin in remote Fort Yukon, Alaska, a location accessible only by riverboat, airplane, snowmobile, or dog sled
