Ride shotgun with the heroic mushers whose bravery inspired the Iditarod. In the winter of 1925, Nome, Alaska, was hit by an unexpected and deadly outbreak of diphtheria. Officials immediately quarantined the town, but the only cure for the community of more than 1,400 people was antitoxin serum and the nearest supply was in Anchorage—hundreds of miles of snowbound wilderness away. The only way to get it to Nome was by dogsled. Twenty teams braved subzero temperatures and blizzard conditions to run over 600 miles in six days in a desperate relay race that saved the people of Nome. Several of the dogs, including Togo and Balto, became national heroes. Today their efforts, and those of the courageous mushers, are commemorated every March by the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Jon Van Zyle’s stunning oil paintings capture the brutal conditions, pristine wilderness, and sheer guts and determination demonstrated by the heroic mushers and dogs.
United States
Materials from United States of America
Dance On A Sealskin
In today’s Alaskan Yupik Eskimo communities, villagers still gather in the kashim to sing, drum, and dance, carrying forward the ancient traditions of their forebears. This is the heartwarming fictional story of Annie’s “first dance,” a coming-of-age ceremony to signify official entry into the Eskimo community. 20 color illustrations.
Diamond Willow
There’s
more to me than
most people
see.
Twelve-year-old Willow would rather blend in than stick out. But she still wants to be seen for who she is. She wants her parents to notice that she is growing up. She wants her best friend to like her better than she likes a certain boy. She wants, more than anything, to mush the dogs out to her grandparents’ house, by herself, with Roxy in the lead. But sometimes when it’s just you, one mistake can have frightening consequences . . . And when Willow stumbles, it takes a surprising group of friends to help her make things right again.
Using diamond-shaped poems inspired by forms found in polished diamond willow sticks, Helen Frost tells the moving story of Willow and her family. Hidden messages within each diamond carry the reader further, into feelings Willow doesn’t reveal even to herself.
Ojibwas (Native Americans)
Presents the history, culture, and contemporary life of the northeastern Native American people who, in the 1400s, migrated from the North Atlantic coast and settled around the Great Lakes.
Just Talking About Ourselves: Voices Of Our Youth (Just Talking About Ourselves , Vol 3)
Collection of stories depicting Native life in urban and reservation settings.
An Eskimo Birthday
Young Eeka lives in Point Hope, Alaska, well above the Arctic Circle where there is little daylight during the winter months. It’s her birthday and Eeka is hoping that her mother may have found the right fur for the newly made velveteen parka that her mother has just made for her. However, with the coming of a storm, her attention moves towards the safety of her father who may be caught in the great winter storm that has developed while checking his traps. From Eeka escorting her younger cousin home from school, to the stories of survival and legend told by Eeka’s grandfather, young (and older) readers will be introduced to a bit of Eskimo culture. Lastly, Glo Coalson’s lovely and descriptive illustrations are integral to the book.
Mishomish Book : The Voice of the Ojibway
The Ojibway is one of the largest groups of Native Americans, belonging to the Anishinabe people of the northern United States and Canada. This book includes Ojibway creation stories and legends, the origin and importance of the Ojibway family structure and clan system, the Midewiwin religion, the construction and use of the water drum and sweat lodge, and modern Ojibway history.
Winter Camp
Two orphaned siblings struggle to survive a harsh Alaskan winter looking after a badly wounded miner, while their guardian, an old Athabascan Indian who has taught them the ways of their ancestors, searches for help.
The Eagle’s Shadow
In 1946, while her emotionally distant father is in occupied Japan, a twelve-year-old girl spends a year with her mother’s relatives in a Tlingit Indian village in Alaska and begins to love and respect her heritage as she confronts the secret of her mother’s disappearance.
Just Talking About Ourselves: Voices of Our Youth
Collection of stories depicting Native life in urban and reservation settings.