Elnguq is the first novel written in the Yup'ik Eskimo language of Southwestern Alaska. Its author, Anna W. Jacobson, was born and spent her early years in Iqsalleq, a small, remote and now-abandoned sttlement in the Kwethluk Mountains on a tributary of the Kuskokwim River. As a girl, the author imagined that the inhabitants of Iqsalleq - surrounded as they were by seeming endless wilderness - were the only people in the world. This book, though not autobiographical, draws on those early memories, reflecting a traditional Native Alaskan way of life.
"Elnguq," the name of the young girl who is the main character of the story, is the Yup'ik word for "birch tree," and it also means "strength through flexibility."
Coincidentally, "Elnguq" has another meaning: "that which is."
Cost: $11.

Information about the resource can be found at:

ANKN Clearinghouse P.O. Box 756730 Fairbanks, AK 99775-6730 Tel: (907) 474-5897 or email: ANKN Clearinghouse

Charles Kashatok Yup'ik Curriculum Specialist P.O.Box 305 Bethel, Alaska 99559 Tel: (907) 543-4853 or email: Charles_Kashatok@fc.lksd-do.org

Native-produced

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