Midnight to the North: The Inuit Woman Who Saved the Polaris Expedition

I was fascinated by this account of the doomed Hall expedition. Nickerson provides a great balance of historical context and the raw details of survival in the arctic. Although meticulously researched, the story is fast-paced and compelling. Intriguing!

Sheila Nickerson?s travel novel is about balance. The Polaris explorers had to realize that nature, tradition, and sexual cohabitation had to exist in order to see to the safety of the crew. Likewise, Nickerson?s vivid imagery and profound technique equally interweaves the words, emotions and facts of the Polaris?s harrowing experience in a fresh new way to an audience otherwise unaware of the impact that one brave female had on a historical quest for the lost Franklin expedition. One of the focuses of the novel is the struggle between Western European and Inuit tradition. The situations that the two cultures encountered magnified the sometimes polar approach that both cultures took in regards to marriage, birth, death, and treatment to the earth. The great thing about Nickerson is that she doesn?t add personal beliefs or perspective on the biography. She states what was was and doesn?t lead the reader to absolve either sides? approach to a difficult situation. Likewise, Nickerson equally represents the different religious beliefs. Neither Christianity nor Inuit?s beliefs are shed in a one-sided manner. Yet both are represented as an added pressure in the dividing gap between European and Inuit culture. Additionally, the separation of religious homogony only strengthens Tookoolito?s position as the glue that holds this expedition together as she stays true to her own heritage but is also open to Christianity. In regards to writing technique, Nickerson, who is the former Poet Laureate of Alaska, balances out prosaic form with beautiful poetic imagery. For instance, Nickerson uses the available imagery of the natural communion of earth and man to add the ironic spin of making the communion between woman and earth, ?Just as the earth moves counterclockwise around the sun, so was Tookoolito moving counterclockwise, back to the Arctic, back to the swirling black hole of the white man?s dreams? (42). Nickerson?s words like these empower the fight for unknown female heroes like Tookoolito. But as much as she creates beautifully arranged images, Nickerson doesn?t stray from the facts of the expedition. Skillfully, Nickerson shapes her own writing to strongly emulate the historical journals from John Hall and George Tyson. As I was reading, it felt like the historical passages could have been written by Nickerson herself. The pictures and illustrations were also a great balance to the tale. The extensive and exhausting research Nickerson put into this book paid off when I can read a paragraph and then turn to the next page to see a beautiful artistic recreation of what I just read. Not only did it help paint the picture it gave me a chance to see native art that is uncovered by Nickerson?s boldness to speak for the nameless.The only criticism I have is that I didn?t really see the point for the personal anecdotes and commentary. It seems to weaken the strength of the novel. It is interesting to get a peek into the research process,

Sheila Nickerson's Midnight to the North is a refreshing combination of scholarly research and personal reflection. The bibliography and notes attest to Nickerson's meticulous research that is set forth in the book's body in a form friendly to the general reader. Brief sections in Midnight to the North are dedicated Nickerson's personal journey as she researched and wrote about Tookoolito, making the history more relevant to the present than if it were a purely academic text.