Shem Pete's Alaska 2016: The Territory of the Upper Cook Inlet Dena'Ina

by James Kari, James A. Fall

Shem Pete (1896-1989), the colorful and brilliant raconteur from Susitna Station, Alaska, left a rich legacy of knowledge about the Upper Cook Inlet Dena'ina world. Pete was one of the most versatile storytellers and historians in twentieth-century Alaska, and his lifetime travel map of approximately 13,500 square miles is one of the largest ever documented in this degree of detail anywhere in the world.This expanded edition of Shem Pete's Alaska presents 973 named places in 16 drainage-based chapters. The names form a reconstructed network from the vantage points of the life experiences of Shem Pete and other Dena'ina and Ahtna speakers. It is annotated with comments and stories by Shem Pete and more than 50 other contributors, plus historic references, vignettes, copious photographs, historic maps, and shaded-relief placename maps. The authors provide perspective on Dena'ina language and culture, as well as a summary of Dena'ina geographic knowledge and placename resea

Genres: Anthropology

400 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2003

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Kari ahs pretty much devoted his life to documenting the vanishing Dena'ina lifeways and language, and he got to Shem Pete just in time. Really interesting stuff - stories and songs, maps and history, all from Shem Pete's perspective.