Reviews

Shadows on the Koyukuk: An Alaskan Native's Life Along the River by Sidney Huntington, Jim Reardon

alwaysarchery's review

adventurous informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

yarnylibrarian's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed this memoir by Sidney Huntington, born in rural Alaska in 1915 to a Koyukon mother and white Klondike gold rusher father. In it, he shares one amazing story after another about living off the land in a very harsh climate. He lived his life with one foot firmly planted in the past, steeped in traditional native ways and tribal stories, and another in what we would recognize as today's Alaska, with most people operating within a global, cash economy.

At the end of the book, Huntington reflects

...for rural Alaskans, education isn't just book-learning. It is also knowing how to build a boat, a fish wheel, a log cabin, or how to set a trap or a snare. It is knowing how to build a fire, how to dress for the cold, how to find your way in the woods. Bush education is my Aunt Josie's skill in removing beaver from a lodge. It is knowing how to be frugal with supplies, and how to care for equipment. It is knowing how to dress a moose or a salmon, how to repair a snow machine or an outboard motor, how to shoot a gun." (210)

The book is a sometimes flabbergasting account of "bush education" and I enjoyed every moment of it. How inspirational to know that there are people who know when a breakup flood is likely and how to avoid it, how to build a boat by hand after cutting your own lumber from the forest, how to live well out of doors at -60F and above (and to stay indoors when it's colder still!), and how to harvest a moose.

On a side note, I found Huntington's ideas about America's Thanksgiving origin story of great interest:

I believe the American Thanksgiving evolved directly from the potlatch, or a similar East Coast Indian ceremony. According to the standard version of how Thanksgiving began, the Pilgrims feasted to give thanks for the bounty of their new land. But I have a theory.

Many Pilgrims died during their first winter in the New World. During the following spring, summer, and fall, I presume, the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn and harvest wild game to prepare themselves for winter. My guess is that the Indians became concerned because the Pilgrims had not honored those who had died the previous winter, and without a ceremonial feast, the dead had not been shown proper respect. I think the Indians convinced the Pilgrims to make a potlatch, as we say. The Pilgrims probably considered this superstitious nonsense, so instead of calling it a potlatch, they covered their tracks by calling it Thanksgiving. (74)

If you are traveling in Alaska, I can think of no better book to carry with you than this one.

the_valiant's review

5.0

I don't often read non-fiction but I am sure glad I decided to try out more this year. My girlfriend handed it to me when I asked for a non-fiction rec and I suspect now it is because this often reads like a Jack London adventure story. Sidney is beyond likeable and manages to tell stories that seem impossible in a way that leaves no doubt in the readers mind that it happened. He meanders often, includes a lot of highly specific details that are not very relevant. It is exactly like listening to my grandfather tell stories about "the old days."

As a last note, before I read this I thought people who chose to live in Alaska were crazy. After I read this I am even more sure of that fact.

xuwriter's review

4.0

Excellent read

A tale of a long life well-lived in early 20th century Alaska. Triumphs, tragedies, and a way of life all but gone today. Entertaining and informative.