Our Voices

Storytelling is a precious, vibrant tradition among the Native peoples of the Far North, especially in the Athabaskan communities of interior Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Collected here for the first time, these stories are the best of this tradition-the tales that Athabaskans tell about themselves, their communities, and the cold, beautiful world they inhabit. Our Voices showcases twenty storytellers and writers who represent a full range of Athabaskan languages of Alaska and the Yukon. Men and women, young and old, recount popular tales of legendary times-such as the Great Raven who shaped the world-as well as meaningful, sometimes intimate stories about their own lives and families or the history of their people. As representatives of an art transmitted through countless generations and now practised with renewed interest and vigour by people reclaiming their cultural heritage, these narratives create a broad, brightly coloured, richly detailed picture of Athabaskan myth and reality, present and past. James Ruppert is a professor of English and Alaska Native studies, and John W. Bernet is a professor emeritus of English, both at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Ruppert’s books include Mediation in Contemporary Native American Fiction. Bernet’s articles on Alaska folklore and Native literature have appeared in numerous periodicals and newspapers.

Author Biography

James Ruppert is a professor of English and Alaska Native studies, and John W. Bernet is a professor emeritus of English, both at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Ruppert’s books include Mediation in Contemporary Native American Fiction. Bernet’s articles on Alaska folklore and Native literature have appeared in numerous periodicals and newspapers.