Customer Reviews

Upside Down: Seasons among the Nunamiut

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I was very interested to read Margarets account of her time spent in Anaktuvuk Pass. I found that her book delivered an effective account of the history of the settling of the Nunamiut at this location; told not by some cold,scientific text but rather through accounts by the generation who were there. It is this ability to convey the human perspective of the Nunamiut community that I found most warming.

Margarets account of her learning; be it about mask making, camping or caribou hunting provided an insight to village life that is fast disappearing.

As an Australian bushwalker who has visited Anaktuvuk Pass on several occasions I appreciated the reading & picturing again those I had met over the years; be it either as a raised hand as we passed on the tundra, laughing with the children at the local school or having a sauna at the washateria.

... but written not so well. maybe it's my problem. most books i read are written by antropologists, historians or other scientist. they are probably good scientists, but not so good writers. some other books are extremely easy to read, but content does not really interest me. Upside down wasn't easy to chew thru, but what was inside this book was extremely interesting for me, except few pages where the author describes what goes on inside her own head.

thanks to this book i got the answer to my guestion - where are the anaktuvuk masks coming from. happened to buy one accidently from fairbanks go north jeep rental before my trip to prudhoe bay.