This seminal work by Craig Mishler and his longtime research partner Kenneth Drizhuu Frank will serve for many generations to inform Gwich'in citizens and those working in partnership with them in scholarship and advocacy. The book's title references a metaphorical name given with humor and love to Frank's daughter Crystal by her great-grandmother Sarah Frank because “Sarah didn't feel that Crystal's parents (Kenneth and Caroline) were raising her correctly” (p. 23). As a Gwich'in, I feel the metaphor of “crooked on the stretcher board” is an excellent title for this collection of essays because we all need to straighten out and align our Gwich'in history, language, storying, ceremonies, and celebrations.The authors have organized the book into four sections. The first section, History and Biography, contains five chapters and grounds the reader in Gwich'in history and highlights Gwich'in leaders John Fredson and Elijah John. Chapter 5 shares the connecting concept of Tł’yaa or rope and tells the “Boundary Line Story” of how the settler nations split the Gwich'in Nation in two (p. 113). This section integrates the experiences of contact with missionaries, scientists, and anthropologists throughout history.The six chapters in the second section are all about the Gwich'in language and its connections to ceremonial aspects of Gwich'in culture. Several chapters connect linguistic and cultural ways of knowing. However, the ethnographic and linguistic academic research and writing standards do not prohibit the deep cultural meanings to shine through. This section also contains historical photos of the Gwich'in—both black-and-white and color—that have personal meaning to the authors, including a photo of the book's namesake, Crystal Frank-Welker.The four chapters of the third section, Folklore and Folklife, contain beautiful descriptions of cultural elements, such as riddles, humor, and games, that illustrate values and community traditions. For example, Abel Tritt (translated by Moses Paul Gabriel) insightfully explains Gwich'in riddling: Whenever a man finds a bear in its den, he goes back to the village or camp and makes it known to his friends or relatives by gestures. This is called gwizhii ideegwidlii. When you make it known verbally, it's called gwizhii ideeridlii. The reason for the extreme secrecy is to keep the news from women and children because it may bring bad luck. (p. 219)Mishler and Frank helpfully differentiate between “gwizhii ideeridlii (‘wisdom that is told’) and its close cognate gwizhii ideegwidlii (‘wisdom that is performed’),” as well as from “gwizhii k'aachirigikhii (‘wisdom that is asked for’)” (pp. 218–9). All examples—some of them very humorous—show how Gwich'in ways of knowing and values intersect with living and non-living relatives. These relationships are integral to ways of living and being, and the examples shared by Mishler and Frank are profound.The five chapters in the fourth and final section, Rituals and Festivals, share festivals and ceremonies that are part of Gwich'in life, when Gwich'in gather together as a community and with our linguistic neighbors. Mishler and Frank observe how our settler history has impacted these festivals and ceremonies, which continue today as lived cultural events.The afterword and appendices are both informative and scholarly. The afterword contains a photograph in which I appear as a participant and chaperone to my high school students as part of the Gwich'in immersion language class taught by University of Alaska Fairbanks Professor Emeritus Hishinlai’ Peter and a longtime Gwich'in language warrior, the late Lillian Garnett. Frank has taught Gwich'in language and culture for many years in Western school environments and as a Gwich'in with Gwich'in people. This book is a testament to the dedication of both Mishler and Frank to documenting, restoring, and revitalizing Gwich'in culture and language.Mishler quotes the late Judy Erick as follows: “T'aih k'iighai’ gwarandaii. We go on living because of our strength” (p. 373)—which was one of the original suggestions for the book's title—and upon which Mishler expands: One thing we know is that Gwich'in continually strengthen each other. They deeply love their culture and their language. They have joy in their lives. They are historically conscious, they are resilient, they are politically savvy, and they will always find ways to protect themselves, their subsistence resources, their water, and their homeland. (p. 373)I thank Kenneth Frank and Craig Mishler for their work. With deep appreciation and gratitude, I review this book, which I highly recommend to all who work with Indigenous people and who work in the Arctic.
Charleen Fisher (Thu,) studied this question.