Review by Choice Review
Burch, one of the most interesting northern scholars, has produced a social history of I~nupiaq nations, richly supplemented by maps and photographs. He rejects the binary model that divided I~nupiaq into two groups of "inland" and "coastal" people in favor of the cellular model advocated by Dorothy Jean Ray in a number of her studies, which identifies several autonomous territorial/social/political units. Burch's research supports Ray's finding that the members of each nation knew precisely what its borders were, and the European idea of "unused land" was a colonial fiction because, in his estimation, "there was no usable land that was never used." Each nation is described as fully as possible--given the erratic historic record--using archival sources, material collected by I~nupiaq during elders' conferences, and interviews conducted between 1968 and the mid-1980s with I~nupiaq elders who were considered experts by their own communities. Written with clarity and simplicity, the book will be accessible to a variety of readers. It is exemplary of the emerging body of scholarship that is both respectful of and responsive to the needs and perspectives of I~nupiaq, who are not just subjects but participating scholars. Recommended for all levels. V. Alia; Western Washington University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
