Raising Ourselves: A Gwich'in Coming of Age Story from the Yukon River

This story reminded me of my own growing-up years, not in Alaska, but on a reservation, nevertheless. It is a powerful book and reminds me of the strength our people have to survive, despite the odds, and interference of another culture. Velma, thanks for sharing in an honest and sensitive way, and letting us know we were not alone.

Raising Ourselves: A Gwich'in Coming Of Age Story From The Yukon River is the personal testimony of Velma Wallis (a full blooded member of one of the Gwich'in clans that had settled where the Porcupine River flows into the Yukon) on what it was like grow up as a Native American in an Alaska dominated by white teachers, traders, and missionaries. The endless battle against despair, alcoholism, and the loss or forgetting of... Read Full Review

This is a fine follow-up to Alaskan Indian Velma Wallis's best selling book "Two Old Women," which is based on a story her mother told her, just before she would go to sleep in their two-room cabin in Fort Yukon in the Alaskan north country.It was a cabin she shared with her parents and 12 brothers and sisters, and in this book, she helps us to see every nook and corner of that cabin, including all kinds of interesting items... Read Full Review

I read Velma's book with great anticipation of something real and revealing, I was not disappointed. In my mind's eye and my heart I could feel the anguish and fear of her story. Because her story is my also my story.I too know and remember the little pleasures of simple things in a world of want. I too remember the hunger, the drunken quarrels and the shame instilled in us by drunken families. The desperately desired moments... Read Full Review