Book:

$29.95

Heart of Windows to the Land,

Volumes One and Two,

Alaska Native Land Claims and Iditarod Trails

 

Heart of Windows to the Land is built on the foundations of Judy Ferguson’s Windows to the Land, Vols. I and II, published in 2013 and 2016, respectively, and now out of print. Windows to the Land, Vols. I and II are in demand as evidenced on Amazon and eBay. With a foreword by David James, book critic for the Anchorage Daily News and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Heart is a response to that need. 


The first section of Heart features statewide indigenous leaders whose collective fire in the belly resulted in passage of Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). Tlingit lawyer William Paul and the eloquent Elizabeth Peratrovich led the initial wave in the 1930s through the 1950s in Southeast Alaska; in 1962 the movement transitioned to the Interior. Al Ketzler, the first president of Tanana Chiefs Conference, led the way to the US Congress. Four years later, Emil Notti, pictured on Heart’s front cover, became the first president of the newly established Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN). Five years later in 1971, Athabascan land claims activist, Al Wright won the ear of President Nixon and convinced him to sign the Alaska Native land claims which resulted in the largest Native American settlement in history. 


Today a new challenge is on Alaska’s threshold. The Great Land is facing the mineral hunger of the New Green Deal, but extraction of much-sought minerals such as lithium and graphite as well as precious metals is hobbled by Alaska’s lack of infrastructure. A glaring result is a tug-of-war over how to transport gold ore removed from Tetlin’s Manh Choh mine. It is further complicated by Kinross Gold’s plan to truck the ore over public highways, 24/7, free of charge. The story of Manh Choh is told through Kevin Gunter of Tetlin and President Tracy Charles-Smith of Dot Lake. 

From her childhood, Tracy remembers the Tok Race of Champions and the Alaska Native heroes of sprint racing. The Iditarod began with these dog men of Alaska’s rural villages. In the Iditarod’s early years, Alaska Natives won and dominated the great race. In Heart, five of these men and women tell their own story of how it was to break trail, careen down the slopes of Happy Steps and to try and outsmart each other. These champions along with those of the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics share the last portion of this unprecedented book. Most importantly, Heart of Windows to the Land is the candid voice of leaders of each of our Alaska Native cultures, sharing history as it has never been told before—from the perspective of statewide leaders of all of our indigenous cultures.