From CHOICE
Prepared to accompany the Smithsonian exhibition titled Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska, which will be on display at the Anchorage Museum until at least 2017, this handsomely illustrated volume presents illustrations and descriptions of one-third of the approximately 600 objects on display from at least 20 different cultural groups within Alaska. Selected from collections at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and National Museum of the American Indian, many of these objects were obtained by the diverse expeditions that began to collect Native artifacts from Alaska in the mid-19th century. Perspective on these objects is provided not only by a succinct introduction to Alaska, its landscape, history, culture, and peoples, but also by having Native representatives of the First Peoples comment on the fundamental features of their lives and what was essential in their specific culture. Including these essays by Alaskan Natives is a particularly engaging method for providing their insights into and perspectives on their lives and the changes that are overwhelming their cultures. The work is enhanced as well by numerous historical, period, and contemporary photographs and illustrations of the lives of the distinct cultural communities within Alaska. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates, general readers, and professionals/practitioners. – P. D. Thomas, emeritus, Wichita State University
“Living Our Cultures: Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska is one of the finest recent publications on Native American art and culture. It is gorgeous, interesting, educational, and a model for how established major museums can work successfully with originating communities to create an exhibition and a catalog that replaces thetroubled history of museums and Native people with a celebration of collaboration and cultural vitality.”–Museum Anthropology Review
