Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival written
by Velma
Wallis and illustrated by Jim Grant.
Seeing this book on the The Big Read booklist, I was intrigued by the subtitle and couldn't wait to read it. Velma Wallis, an Athapascan Indian, has written down a story told by her mother one evening after collecting firewood for the winter. While she knows the work is hard for her older mother, she is amazed at how she keeps going and completes the task before resting. This hard work reminds her mother of the story she tells, of two old women long, long ago before the coming of Europeans to their part of the world in northern Alaska above the Arctic Circle at the confluence of the Yukon and Porcupine Rivers. One very hard winter The People are starving to death and the council decides to abandon the two oldest members of the tribe. After all, they don't work, they don't hunt and they complain all the time. Though one of the old women has a daughter and grandson in the tribe they dare not speak up for her in the event they will be left behind too. Ch'idzigyaak and Sa' are in complete shock until The People disappear and they realize they must take care of themselves or die. What follows is a story of the magnificence of the human spirit and the will to live. Although this is an adult book, it would make a wonderful read-aloud for the entire family.
by VelmaWallis and illustrated by Jim Grant.
Seeing this book on the The Big Read booklist, I was intrigued by the subtitle and couldn't wait to read it. Velma Wallis, an Athapascan Indian, has written down a story told by her mother one evening after collecting firewood for the winter. While she knows the work is hard for her older mother, she is amazed at how she keeps going and completes the task before resting. This hard work reminds her mother of the story she tells, of two old women long, long ago before the coming of Europeans to their part of the world in northern Alaska above the Arctic Circle at the confluence of the Yukon and Porcupine Rivers. One very hard winter The People are starving to death and the council decides to abandon the two oldest members of the tribe. After all, they don't work, they don't hunt and they complain all the time. Though one of the old women has a daughter and grandson in the tribe they dare not speak up for her in the event they will be left behind too. Ch'idzigyaak and Sa' are in complete shock until The People disappear and they realize they must take care of themselves or die. What follows is a story of the magnificence of the human spirit and the will to live. Although this is an adult book, it would make a wonderful read-aloud for the entire family.
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