A Real Look at The Native People Of Alaska 2nd Edition
I picked up The Native People Of Alaska 2nd Edition a while back because I was doing research for a community project and needed something that didn't read like it was written by committee. The first edition came out years ago, and this updated version has enough new material to make the upgrade worth it, but it also has some real limitations you should know about before you buy it. The book covers Alaska's Indigenous groups — Yup'ik, Inupiat, Tlingit, Haida, Athabascan, Aleut, and others — with a focus on cultural practices, history, and the impact of colonization, resource extraction, and modern policy. It's part anthropology, part historical survey. The writing is generally accessible, which means it's usable outside of academia but not dumbed down to the point where a specialist would roll their eyes. One thing the second edition does better than the first is include more primary source material. You'll find actual oral histories and firsthand accounts woven into chapters rather than just being summarized from secondary sources. That makes a noticeable difference in how the content lands. When you're reading about a winter trapping tradition or a post-WWII village relocation, having the original voices there changes the weight of it.
That said, there are gaps. The coverage of the Pribilof Islands Aleut population is thin compared to other groups. The revised edition added a chapter on contemporary legal battles around subsistence rights, which is useful, but it doesn't give you the case history you'd need if you're actually working in that space. I hit that wall when I was advising a village council on a subsistence filing and had to supplement with actual court documents and ANCSA-related materials. The book will get you oriented, but it won't carry you through the paperwork. The maps in this edition are clearer than the originals, which matters because Alaska geography is confusing enough on its own. The regional breakdowns for each cultural group are generally accurate, though a few border areas between Athabascan and Iñupiat territories are simplified. If you're using this for fieldwork planning, double-check those boundaries against newer ethnographic surveys. I made that mistake once and nearly showed up at the wrong conference session. Another quirk: the bibliography is solid but weighted toward English-language sources. If you're looking for Yup'ik or Inupiat language publications, you'll need to go elsewhere. There's a brief mention of some bilingual materials in the appendix, but it's not comprehensive. For my project I had to track down separate readings through the Alaska Native Language Center at UAF, which took a couple of extra weeks I didn't have.
The photography section is decent. Most of the images are historical, and a few are repeated from the first edition. The new color spreads help, but they don't add much beyond what the original black-and-white photos already showed. If you're specifically interested in visual anthropology of these communities, you'd be better served by the archives at the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives or the Alaskan Native Museum collection. As for getting a copy, it's available through most university presses and major online retailers. Check the price because used copies of the first edition sometimes show up for less, and depending on what you need, the differences between editions may not justify the upgrade. If your main interest is current subsistence law or recent policy changes, the second edition is the one to get. If you're focused on cultural history and traditional practices, the first edition covers most of the same ground at a lower cost. I'd recommend pairing this with at least one primary source document from the group you're studying. The book is a strong overview, but it's an overview. Going straight to the source material — tribal records, oral history transcripts, community publications — will fill in the details that a general survey inevitably leaves out.
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