Shadow of the Hunter

by Richard K. Nelson

Shadow of the Hunter is a collection of stories based upon Richard Nelson's experiences in an Eskimo village of the Tareogmiut, or "people of the sea." The stories follow a group of hunters and their families through the cycle of an arctic year. Each chapter takes the reader into a different realm of the Eskimo world--from the quiet moments of families in far-flung camps to the intensity and passion of the hunt; from the times of fear and danger to those of security, triumph, and celebration.

Genres: Nonfiction

296 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1983

About the author

Richard K. Nelson (born 1941) was a cultural anthropologist and writer whose work has focused primarily on the indigenous cultures of Alaska and, more generally, the relationships between people and nature. He was the host to a public radio series called Encounters aired nationally.

Richard K. Nelson, known to his many friends in community of environmental writers as “Nels,” died on November 4, 2019, having asked that he spend his final minutes, after being taken off of life support, listening to the recorded sound of ravens. For those familiar with Nels’s life and work, such a request was fully in keeping with his tremendous passion for the natural world, especially for animals, and most especially for ravens and other animals he knew well from many decades of living in Sitka, Alaska. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, on December 1, 1941, Nels earned his B.S. and M.S. in anthropology at the University of Wisconsin and his Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Nels first began to live among the Eskimo hunting communities in Alaska as a master’s student at Wisconsin in 1964, eventually producing the book Hunters of the Northern Ice (1969). He later published such works as Shadow of the Hunter: Stories of Eskimo Life (1980) and Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest (1983). from his memoriam by Scott Slovic.

Reviews

[Corrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable and interesting story of Alaska's Inupiat culture.

[Denise Olin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! Written as fiction but with real life events and/or what could've really happened!