SIGNED! Shadows on the Koyukuk: An Alaskan Native's Life Along the River Galena
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SIGNED! Shadows on the Koyukuk: An Alaskan Native's Life Along the River Galena. “I owe Alaska. When his mother died suddenly, 5-year-old Huntington protected and cared for his younger brother and sister during two weeks of isolation. One spring, he watched an ice-filled breakup flood sweep his family’s cabin and belongings away. Condition: Very good Softcover Book SIGNED BY ALASKAN LEGEND and AUTHOR, SIDNEY HUNTINGTON. Light handling wear. Book is clean with good binding. Please see photos. VERY IMPORTANT SHIPPING INFORMATION : PLEASE READ Media Rate shipping is 3-6 WEEKS on average from ALASKA. Packages are sent by boat from Anchorage to Seattle then trucked to where you are. Priority is 3-7 days. If you want to receive your items quickly, select the Priority Rate option when paying. About the Book: “I owe Alaska. It gave me everything I have,” says Sidney Huntington, son of an Athapaskan mother and a white trader/trapper father, Growing up on the Koyukuk River in Alaska’s harsh Interior, that “everything” spans 78 years of tragedies and adventures. When his mother died suddenly, 5-year-old Huntington protected and cared for his younger brother and sister during two weeks of isolation. Later, as a teenager, he plied the wilderness traplines with his father, nearly freezing to death several times. One spring, he watched an ice-filled breakup flood sweep his family’s cabin and belongings away. These and many other episodes are the compelling background for the story of a man who learned the lessons of a land and a culture, lessons that enabled him to prosper as trapper, boat builder, and fisherman. This book is more than one man's incredible tale of hardship and success in Alaska. It is also a tribute to the Athapaskan traditions and spiritual beliefs that enable him and his ancestors to survive. His story, simply told, is a testament to the durability of Alaska's wildlands and to the strength of the people who inhabit them. A Book Review: 5/5 stars - An Amazing Story I really enjoyed this memoir by Sidney Huntington, born in rural Alaska in 1915 to a Koyukon mother and white Klondike gold rusher father. In it, he shares one amazing story after another about living off the land in a very harsh climate. He lived his life with one foot firmly planted in the past, steeped in traditional native ways and tribal stories, and another in what we would recognize as today's Alaska, with most people operating within a global, cash economy. --Janelle About author, Sidney Huntington: Sidney Charles Huntington (1915-2015) was born in Hughes, Alaska. His Koyukon Athabascan mother Anna once walked from Nome back to her family on the Hogatza River alone in mid-winter, a journey of over 400 miles. In 1897, his father came to Alaska from New York looking for gold. When Sidney was five years old, his mother died suddenly leaving Sidney and two younger siblings to survive on their own in the wilderness for two weeks. That experience gave him a spirit of self-reliance that he instilled in his own 20 children and in countless other young people he mentored over the years. Although his formal education ended in the third grade, he never stopped learning and figuring out how to do things on his own. He was a trapper, miner, fisherman, business owner, member of the State Board of Game, civic leader, and advocate for his people. Sidney spent his last years with his wife, Angela, at the Yukon-Koyukuk Elder Assisted Living Facility on the banks of the Yukon River in Galena, Alaska. Sidney celebrated his 100th birthday on May 10, 2015, surrounded by family and friends. He passed away on Tuesday, December 8, 2015. About Galena, Alaska: Galena was established in 1918, and a military airfield was built adjacent to the city during World War II. The city was incorporated in 1971. The Koyukon Athabascans had seasonal camps in the area and moved as the wild game migrated. In the summer many families floated on rafts to the Yukon River to fish for salmon. There were 12 summer fish camps located on the Yukon River between the Koyukuk River and the Nowitna River. Galena was established in 1920 near an Athabascan fish camp called Henry's Point. It became a supply and point for nearby lead ore mines that opened in 1918 and 1919, and from which Galena takes its name Galena is a village located in central Alaska along the Yukon River, 270 air miles west of Fairbanks, 350 miles north of Anchorage, and 1,000 miles northwest of Juneau, Alaska’s capital. As Galena has no connecting road systems outside the village, travel to and from Galena is by air or by water. The Yukon River, after summer thaw, provides travel by boats and barges between neighboring communities within the 150-mile long Yukon-Koyukuk Region. During winter, the Yukon River also provides for less conventional travel of all-terrain-vehicles, snow-machines, and dog sleds. Galena also hosts a former United States AirForce airfield, now a public state owned and operated airport that accommodates heavy air traffic servicing 6+ daily flights from Fairbanks and Anchorage. Galena is the hub for smaller central Alaskan communities who depend upon Galena’s capacity to deliver health, education, cultural, social, and other services and conveniences. Galena has general merchandise stores, churches, a heated indoor Olympic-sized swimming pool, a modern health and dental center, a bar, bed & breakfast lodgings, schools, coffee shop, City Municipal Offices, Tribal government offices (Louden), regional Native organizations, youth organizations, a radio station (KIYU),State Troopers and other governmental offices.
