Subtitle: Yup'ik Lives in Alaska Today
Author: Ann Fienup-Riordan with William Tyson, Paul John, Marie Meade, and John Active
Subject: Anthropology/Arctic Studies
Cloth ISBN 0-8135-2804-6
Paperback ISBN 0-8135-2805-4
Pages: 320 pp., 34 b&w illus., 1 map
Description: An anthropological examination of how the modern Yupiit in Alaska build "bridges of understanding" between their traditional world and the contemporary West

The Yupiit in southwestern Alaska are members of the larger family of Inuit cultures. Consisting of 20,000 individuals in 70 villages, they continue to engage in traditional hunting activities, carefully following the seasonal shifts in the environment they know so well. During the second half of the twentieth century, following the construction of the trans-Atlantic oil pipeline, the Yup'ik people have witnessed and participated in explosive cultural changes.

Anthropologist Ann Fienup-Riordan explores how these subarctic hunters engage their past in a "hunt" for history to make connections within their own communities, and between them and the larger world. She turns to the Yupiit themselves, letting their own voices illuminate their use of past traditions, creating both a meaningful present and future. To highlight the ongoing process of cultural negotiation, Fienup-Riordan provides vivid examples: How the Yupiit use metaphor to teach both themselves and others about their most deeply held values; how they maintain their cultural identity, even while moving away from native villages; and how they worked with art museums in the "Lower 48" that were displaying Yup'ik ceremonial masks.

The author challenges the traditional concept of the "objective" anthropologist, investigating how her own role as a fully participating member within a Yup'ik village has shaped both her research and the community at large.

Ann Fienup-Riordan has published many books on Yup'ik culture, including Eskimo Essays: Yup'ik Lives and How We See Them (Rutgers University Press), The Living Tradition of Yup'ik Masks and Boundaries and Passages. She has lived with and written about the Yupiit for 25 years.