Looking Both Ways: Heritage & Identity of the Alutiiq People. [Paperback]

Aron Crowell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001 | ISBN-10: 1889963313 | ISBN-13: 978-1889963310 | Edition: 1

Looking Both Ways is an extraordinary introduction to the indigenous people and vital culture of Alaska's south central coast. Combining archaeology, history, and oral tradition, it traces the Alutiiq path through ancestral generations to contemporary life, including today's compelling issues of cultural identity and autonomy. The Alutiiq art, objects, and images featured are signposts along the way. Diversity is one of the signal points of the text: no one voice could tell the whole story, and no single approach defines what it truly means to be Alutiiq. The many contributors range over Alutiiq relations with neighbouring Alaska Native peoples and with non-Native colonisers, with the sea and land, with place and time, with animals and spirits. Alutiiq writers, elders, and storytellers convey a many-sided sense of cultural values and beliefs, even as they recall the struggle to survive more than two centuries of Russian and Euro American domination. From anthropologists and historians come insights into the great originality of Alutiiq culture as well as its debt to formative influences from around the North Pacific. Seen from these many perspectives, Alutiiq identity emerges as a rich mosaic of people, location, and experience. This volume was created by the shared efforts of Alutiiq communities, scholars, and museums, led by the Smithsonian Institution and the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository in Kodiak, Alaska. This is a story in itself, reflecting national trends toward greater Native American participation in cultural research and self-representation in the museum world. The book accompanies an exhibit opening at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, in June 2001 and travelling to Kodiak, Homer, Anchorage, Juneau, and Seattle.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This richly illustrated exhibition catalog is the result of a conscious partnership between anthropologists and the Alutiiq Indians of the southern Alaskan coast and the islands stretching from the Alaskan Peninsula to Prince William Sound. Its purpose is not only to document their cultural heritage but to revitalize a sense of identity that has been fractured by incursions from Russia, Scandinavia, and the United States. The Alutiiq participated in setting research priorities that could help them understand their previous accomplishments and reconstruct forgotten customs. As one craftsman puts it, "I like to feel the flow of ancient characteristics pass through me and express to the world who we were and are." This attractive coffee-table book focuses on material culture, making it most useful for those interested in Indian art. But because it covers archaeology, history, and oral tradition as well, it should both inform scholarly discussion and raise pressing issues. Recommended for museum libraries, high school and junior college libraries, and some senior college and public libraries. Jay H. Bernstein, Fordham Univ. Lib., Bronx, NY Biography
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

This well presented information isn't a "study" of people-it is the story of a people. It is a warm book with wonderful photos of people who know and live who they are.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: University of Alaska Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889963313
• ISBN-13: 978-1889963310
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #316,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Could they be any more inspecific?, November 9, 2007

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DDD (Anchorage, Alaska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Looking Both Ways: Heritage & Identity of the Alutiiq People. (Paperback)

In some respects, like photos of traditional items, I really liked this book. But, it is a book written by this group of people about the group. That leads to biases. Read it, but then read some books about them that aren't written by them. Then you'll have a good feel for the group. Since it's a collaboration of writers, there are too many sensibilities that had to be taken into consideration, so it is watered down by trying to please everyone. Sometimes it's so watered down, it doesn't say anything for whole pages. For instance, the beginning pages about their origin has so many origins in it you'd think they were either the mother of all Alaskan Native people or that they married into so many groups that they are made up of everyone. (They do have many customs that are similar to many groups, but I'd like to know why they don't believe they are related to the Yup'ik and Inupiat, when they speak their language and have similar genetics? What's up with that?) However, it's still a good start, and the personal subsistance stories are great. What amazing lives they lived! Just remember its written by them about them. DDD