Children of the Midnight Sun: Young Native Voices of Alaska

This book shares the perspectives of various young people of different native tribes in Alaska and the Aleut Islands. Kids can learn a lot and this book is a great resource in any classroom and children's library.

Children of the Midnight Sun: Young Native Voices of Alaska features eight Alaska Native children living at the interface of modernity and traditional cultures. For some, their group is undergoing a revival of cultural traditions whereas others have enjoyed less interruption/outside interference. This book is a great overview for children and adults alike.

To my mind, the absolute most helpful thing in this volume for an outsider (i.e., non-Native and non-Alaskan) is the map at the beginning of the book. While elegant in its simplicity, this map conveys a load of information, including traditional culture areas and cultural names, modern place names and boundaries, mountains, rivers, and other landscape and physiographic features. Each of the eight children featured--four boys and four girls--represents one of the several groups (and some a blending of Native and non-Native) featured on the maps. The featured kids are identified as Inupiat, Athabascan, Aleut, Haida, Yup'ik, Tshimshian, Tlingit, and Aleut-Caucasian. Moreover, each featured child's home village is called out on this map so reader can readily begin to correlate place, culture, and the associated landscape features past and present--and the activities associated with them--that are called out in the essay.

While written for a presumably non-Native--and quite likely non-Alaskan--audience, the featured children are immediately relatable to any reader. The book covers a lot of ground, introduces snippets of anthropology (e.g., the avunculate, clans, and moieties), touches on politics (e.g., the role of the Alaska Federation of Natives), and successfully links past and present in such a way as to readily overcome the "Indians = past" and "non-Natives = now" stereotypes that are all to prevalent in popular culture. (Admittedly, likely less an issue in Alaska, but probably still quite prevalent among the average non-Alaskan kid, teacher, or parent from the lower 48 who finds this book in their hands.)

Given the age of the book (published in 1998), there are some placenames--most notably Mount McKinley (today known as Denali)--that have changed and which bear updating in a revised or revamped edition. Likewise, the book sidles up to complex and important topics such as the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, economic and cultural isolation, political power, extractive industries, and the environment. Without telling readers what to think about those topics, the book readily generates the opportunity for parent and teacher alike to either breeze on by or seize that "teachable moment" and take a deeper dive into any of these weightier topics depending upon the age and interest level of the kids reading and discussing the book.

I bought the book to give as a holiday gift for a child. Naturally, I wanted to read the book before giving the gift--so as to assess what sort of questions might arise or to be able to make conversation on the topics it raises. The book was super helpful in orienting me, but given that I'm an adult who is fascinated by the place, its people, and history, I must acknowledge that it's quite possible I'm more interested in this subject matter than my intended recipient. In addition, as an adult reader, I couldn't help but wonder how the children featured here were selected, what sort of editing of their words or actions occurred, and particularly where they are today, and how their dreams for themselves, their villages, and families have panned out. Given that we are nearly two decades out from the book's original publication in 1998, it would also be interesting to have some sort of informal assessment done regarding how the culture camps and assorted language revitalization programs mentioned here have fared. That is to say, while the book could benefit from an update, I'd hate to lose these eight young peoples' stories and simply replace them with a new crop of faces. Just something I'd like to offer for the author's consideration.