A Thousand Trails Home: Living with Caribou

by Seth Kantner

Bestselling, award-winning author of Ordinary Wolves, a debut novel Publisher's Weekly called "a tour de force" Conservation-based story of changing Arctic from an on-the-ground perpective Features full-color photography throughout A stunningly lyrical firsthand account of a life spent hunting, studying, and living alongside caribou, A Thousand Trails Home encompasses the historical past and present day, revealing the fragile intertwined lives of people and animals surviving on an uncertain landscape of cultural and climatic change sweeping the Alaskan Arctic. Author Seth Kantner vividly illuminates this critical story about the interconnectedness of the I�upiat of Northwest Alaska, the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, and the larger Arctic region. This story has global relevance as it takes place in one of the largest remaining intact wilderness ecosystems on the planet, ground zero for climate change in the US. This compelling and complex tale revolves around the politics of caribou, race relations, urban vs. rural demands, subsistence vs. sport hunting, and cultural priorities vs. resource extraction--a story that requires a fearless writer with an honest voice and an open heart.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Nature, Science, Audiobook, Environment, Climate Change

392 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2021

Reviews

[Karés · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written. I’m very pleased to now know more about Caribou’s and the life of the wilderness. Thrilling perspective.

[Simon Verbeeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a masterpiece! 🙌🔝🦌

[Socraticgadfly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Posting a full review here for one specific reason.

Loses a star right off the bat for one reason not related to content.

And, that is that this book is printed in China. It's been a number of years, but in the distant past, I had one or two other environmental type books also printed in China. And, I want to say that one (can't remember if the total was one, or more) was another Mountaineers Press book.

You cannot tell me, first, on climate change, that a Chinese printing press is more energy efficient. And, certainly not so much more energy efficient as to offset the carbon dioxide of transoceanic shipping. And, beyond climate change to general environmentalism, you cannot tell me that Chinese (or Russian) logging is more environmentally friendly than American logging.

And, no, this is not common. I have nine library books checked out as I speak. Of the other eight, seven are printed in the US and one in Canada. I halfway wonder, beyond possible cheapness in general, if this is a labor issue; environmental orgs aren't always good on that.

Book itself is great. Would get 4.5 stars or better if not for this. Kanter talks about not just being an "outsider" but second generation, as his parents had move to Alaska shortly before statehood and decided to live off the land, as his dad simply couldn't abide a job. Details changes since then, not just climate change (speaking of printing) but snowmobiles leading to "harassment hunting," which essentially runs the fat off caribou in fall. Wild shots from snowmobiles fail to cause immediate kills, which causes wastage. Kantner, near the end of the book, talking about going to a community resource conservation meeting and proposing a max speed on snowmobiles and being called a racist by Alaska Natives.

So, great book. But, get a library copy. Don't buy it. Don't reward Mountaineers.

[Jeff Clausen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gift that challenged me and also enlightened me, written from the Alaskan tundra. The author grew up revering not only caribou but the hunting of caribou, learning how and where subsistence hunting worked best. He became a journalist and returned to his birthplace in order to avidly pursue the photography of all the fauna in northwest Alaska, meanwhile continuing to hunt for his meat. And that is the main focus of this book, which is a personal dislike for me and so required skipping pages of graphic descriptions. You may be better suited to tales of the hunt, but I did appreciate his great concern for his land amid modern changes of oil exploration, governmental hijinks and climate change.

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Keri · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely beautiful and intense read. I took ages to get through it because I would just read one sentence over and over again, trying to wrap my head around everything he was describing. Reading this book is a journey and it will truly change you.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s about northern Alaska, about its beauty, its harshness and its bounty. It’s about migratory caribou herds, about bears and beaver and seals. About native-born Alaskans, mostly indigenous but also white, like the author. About statehood, development, regulation, climate and cultural change, and the painful understanding that even in wilderness there’s no safe haven from human activity. It’s about the author’s own story, too, and it is fascinating.

Lavishly filled with the author’s gorgeous photographs.

[Yvonne Leutwyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I felt heavy, weighed down by all we've lost, and I wished we could stop long enough to stand in silence, listen to the land, and realize that what we are killing is not caribou but ourselves."

Simply beautiful writing about a topic close to my heart. I didn't know break-up could be described so poetically, yet realistically (in "The third season of the year"), and unexpectedly finding out what happened to Alvin Williams in the epilogue stopped me cold. Thin ice - literal and metaphorical.

[Vicki Sargent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a gift from my daughter and I wanted to honor her gift by reading the book. She knows I love nature and memoirs. The personal stories were interesting but disjointed and I lost the thread of the story of Howie and how he ended up in Hawaii. I wish the book was written more sequentially. The nature writing was beautiful. I loved the descriptions of the Alaskan landscape.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing like this brings climate change into focus in a way that piles of graphs distant glimpses cannot. As in his other books, he brings you close to the land in a way I think is reserved for those who have lived on and in it for a lifetime. It contains many insights into the lives of the caribou, and the people who live around them.

[Silas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and thoroughly engaging read. I love Kantner's thoughtful, open-minded writing. With as complex as this book gets in history, politics, game management and theology, it's easy to be one-sided and biased, but Kantner never comes across that way. Rather, we're reminded that life is messy and complex, and also beautiful and valuable.

[Jacob Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book for so many reasons, for one, how unassumingly powerful it was. I picked it up at bargain bin and just enjoyed the photos and never expected to read it. Once I did out of curiosity, nearly 2 years after buying it, I was enamored!

I love the photos, but also Seth’s story and the way he tells it. His delicacy with Native American culture and practices and his love for them as his own are telling. His personal story is remarkable on its own, but paired with the educational side, it hits hard. The snippets of philosophy and science are tied together brilliantly. His weaving of the importance of hunting culture to the Inupiaq people spoke to me personally, as many of the people I associate with often turn their noses up to hunting but champion green policies and lifestyles, and here, Seth champions both dearly.

From a climate perspective, it’s damning and depressing, but it really tells a climate story you don’t easily hear. Hear me out, but some of the climate literature out there is cold, academic, pleading, and over the top. Seth instead paints a beautiful picture and in a few words tell the reader that picture is burning right in front of all of us. It’s climate change, on a deeply personal and cultural level. I think the “masculine” archetype he portrays but never calls attention to also speaks volumes to the value of that perspective, without condescending language.

The people Seth is surrounded by, heroic all around. I am not totally sure I’ve met many people like that, great people yes, but not on that scale, but apparently they come standard with the territory. That says a lot about being so close to who we are in that world.

Anyway, Seth, if you read this, thanks, any chance I can sleep on your floor and help make paniqtuq????

[Kyri Freeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going to DNF this one.

I'm on maybe Chapter 3 of the audiobook. Everything is about hunting, about being in a lifestyle where you have to kill animals to survive. It was like that in the Arctic historically and for some people still is, but for most people, increasing numbers of people, we do not need to impose violence to survive anymore, and it is not something I enjoy reading about. I didn't get to the point where the author explained why his family, who had come from the lower 48, chose to put themselves in that position.

A position that, as far as I can tell, had them raising their children with no music, no art, little reading, no available medical care, no pets (sled dogs are usually pretty aggressive and not something a child should approach), etc.

The first chapters involve an absolute obsession with every move made by the author's father, Howie. So... his mother? She doesn't get a name. She's "Mama". She's about as much in the background as the dog team.

Maybe all of this changes as the book goes on. I get from descriptions of the book that the author cares about conservation. As far as I've gotten in it, I'm not finding it something that I enjoy.

[Peg Lotvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author grew up as a native in far northern Alaska though both parents were white, originally from Ohio. He grew up as a hunter/gatherer always trying to put meat or fish on the table. We get concise directions for hunting, shooting and preparing caribou for the table. Some of it sounds not so great for a Lower Forty-niner. The author takes us through the years as subsistence hunting is overshadowed by antler hunters flying in by helicopter, by the federal and state governments putting limits on how many caribou may be taken by native hunters. He makes it crystal clear what these new laws did to the people who depend on caribou for everything they need to live. It's akin to what the prairie Indians got from the buffalo before they were wiped out, both the buffalo and the Indians. The one jarring note comes near the end as the author admits to using an AR-15 rifle to take his yearly quota of caribou. Not really subsistence hunting that!!

[John Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third of Seth Kantner's books that I have read but this is his strongest book, so far. Seth grew up with as a white child living a Native lifestyle near Kotzebue,Alaska in far northwestern Alaska. In this book, Seth Kantner takes us through the seasons of caribou life and those who are dependent on them in Northwest Alaska. He is both a photographer and writer and the book is equal parts pictures and essays. The pictures, mainly of caribou and the landscape are absolutely beautiful. The essays bring out his family's personal history in this place as he continues to live a similar lifestyle to that he experienced as a child. Other essays look at the natural and social history of this remote region, and his questions as the region experiences climate and technological change. Writing from his in-between place, he brings out many interesting questions. A fascinating book.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

An older man doesn't like progress and wishes for the days or yore because of XYZ . . .

This is an overused trope and in the case of this book, it was used to intertwine the author's experiences in northern Alaska with the plight of caribou. I love nature, love the ideals of keeping it pristine, yet understand that any footprints of man will inexorably alter a landscape. One person's footsteps are the same as another's; the changes just vary by the individual. Kantner excuses his own survival needs, his own use of technology, but somehow everyone else is to blame for the greening of Alaska and the changes to the natural world. Everyone wants their own piece of wilderness, but doesn't want anyone else to be able to have the same unless that individual shares the exact same ideals.

With the overused trope, I did learn about caribou, their migrations, their yearly cycles.

[Margie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered Seth Kantner this summer and have read four of his books. They are all superb. Kantner was born in the Arctic far from any village to parents who were subsistence dwellers. In 1,000 Trails Home, his parents' sod igloo was perched on the side of a hill overlooking a river that was in the center of Caribou migrations. This is where he grew up. Kantner celebrates this iconic animal which for thousands of years has offered both physical and spiritual sustanance. Living as Inuit natives, Caribou meat, bones, hide, horns, all parts of the animal, became food, clothing, and warmth. Modernity and climate has changed everything. The old ways of survival are gone. Throughout Kantner's books there is an undercurrent of sadness that runs deep, and yet he retains love for the exquiste beauty of the tundra, its creatures, its seasons and its flora.

[BookSweetie]

Natural History Outdoor Book Award. Loved the many Photos, especially of caribou in northern Alaska. Liked the personal stories as well as the historical, cultural and ecological context the author includes.

Reading this might help folks in the Lower 48 better understand the state of Alaska and the specific region of the Far North where noticeable changes are underway.

Some parts a bit more graphic/detailed -about hunting and food —than matched my interest. Sometimes things were a bit unclear/ confusing but I generally enjoyed the author’s “way with words” and was eager to keep reading.

Aside: The hardback book is somewhat heavier physically (weight) than seems typical for a book of its size.

[Kathy Kysar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Kantner does not dissapoint! His honest description of growing up in a part of America where he was "not the right color" combines with the rawness of nature to create a page-turner. His insights into the world of Alaska before statehood and the implementation of hunting and fishing rules by newly-formed Alaska Fish & Game to areas of the state that were completely out of their range to manage gives the reader a lot to think about and talk about. I found myself recounting story after story to my husband. Kanter's ability to write an entire book about caribou in a way that penetrates the reader page after page is quite amazing!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a memoir and a history centered around caribou, the animal around which the author's life has centered. It covers topics that reach far beyond the biology of caribou - most notably the changes in the arctic climate and in arctic communities, both human and animal.
I really loved this book and would definitely recommend it. I listened to the audiobook version which was extremely well narrated. However, I did find the jumping around through time a little confusing at times, and there were words I wanted defined which maybe the pictures would have helped with. I may end up buying or checking out the full book version.

[Patrice La Vigne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 4th book I’ve ready by Seth, and he is probably my favorite Alaskan author. He never writes sequentially, which sometimes is hard for my brain to follow. But his individual plot pieces are so captivating, it doesn’t really matter. This book was focused on the seasons of the caribou life, and their importance to Alaska Natives for subsistence living. Through the pages of Seth’s book, subliminal messaging was insightful and important with the ongoing threats to open Alaska public lands to more oil drilling, as well as the climate and cultural change.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this sounded interesting since it was based in AK. I enjoyed listening to it for the most part, but didn't realize how much emphasis would be placed on the hunting, skinning, etc of the animals and that it would be described in graphic detail. I am not opposed to people hunting for food (and it is a very central part of life in this case) it's just not something I like to focus on and hear details about. The author's story in general is really unique and I learned a lot about life in northwest Alaska.

[Abby Noon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seth’s books are some of the best ever written about Alaska. His way of storytelling, of weaving in huge topics like climate change and the cultural shifts to the Native Alaskan communities, while focusing on caribou seasons… absolutely incredible. I learned a LOT about caribou, but I also came away from it with so many thoughts about how we live in this world.

100% recommend. It’s not a fast read by any means, but it’s one that sticks with you for a long time.

[Xiaoning · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was about caribou annual migrations. I also thought this book was written by an environmentalist. I was wrong in both.

This book is really a memoir, not about the author himself, but about his family, how an Ohioan found his home in Alaska wilderness and raised a family; It is also about Caribous, how they survive and thrive in this barren land; It is also about Iñupiat, their past, their present and their future.

Beautifully written and vividly painted with lyrical proses, and mesmerizing photos.

[Bettie]

Anchorage Daily News Book review: Beautifully written and deeply introspective, “A Thousand Trails Home” may be the book Alaska writer Seth Kantner has been aiming his powers at all along, a masterwork only he could deliver.

[Abby Howell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both stunning photography and stunning prose. Seth Kanter's life in tundra Alaska, tracing the life and history of the caribou herds. The reader learns much about the caribou, about how climate change is affecting the far north, and also about Kanter's intense lifelong relationship with this challenging land.

[Melinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first book in a long time I haven’t been able to finish. I found it disjointed and rambly. It is an interesting look at a unique way of life, I’ll give it that. I just didn’t need for instance to read Bubba Gump’s 15 ways to cook everything Caribou. It seems like I’m in the minority though.

[Shaun Deane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully constructed book - physically. Well written, great supporting photos. As many have said, it was hard to imagine, in advance, that a book about caribou and hunting could be this engaging but like so many great books, it was a chance to really get away to someplace entirely different, for a while.

[Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a hunter, this book spoke to me deeply. I feel like I know the rhythms of the authors life. I feel like I knew something about caribou that I didn’t know before. I feel like I knew something about Alaska I didn’t know before. I would like to thank the author for writing this book, and sharing his life and his relationship with the land with the native peoples, and with the Caribou most of all.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really satisfying read … beautifully written and filled with information about Alaskan native challenges, global warming effects and helping me understand subsistence hunting and damage caused by “Tourist Hunters”