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In 1952, circumstances finally allowed Alice to join her who were steadfastly determined not to take advantage husband on one of his assignments in the : a two-year of the dog-drawn transportation used so proficiently by sojourn to northern . It was now the height of the indigenous people they encountered. Manhauling was the Cold War, and the U.S. Weather Bureau had decided to the way of the British to the bitter end of Captain Scott’s set up a weather station in cooperation with the Danes at journey to the early in the 20th century. Nor- North Star Bay, near the ancient settlement of Umanak and wegian and American Robert Peary, on the the Thule trading station established by Peter Freuchen and other hand, were quick to incorporate dogs into their expe- Knud Rasmussen in 1910. When the Crowells arrived, they dition planning, both as a means of transportation and as were astonished to see an armada of 40 ships in the bay— food. The author, for some reason, neglects to mention the landing 10 000 men and supplies in one massive, round-the- extraordinary exploration of Otto Sverdrup and his men, clock exercise during the brief Arctic summer. The U.S. who traveled widely by dog-drawn in the High Arctic Strategic Air Command was in the process of establish- between 1898 and 1902. ing an enormous base and fuel-storage facility at Thule. In The section ends with two more detailed accounts of Appendix A of the autobiography, readers will find Alice the use of dogs by explorers Nansen and Peary. “Nansen’s Crowell’s excellent description of her time at Thule. Dogs” were used during his drift expedition across the Crowell’s remarkable post–Thule period career undoubt- Polar Basin in Fram and his unsuccessful attempt to reach edly could have filled an additional volume; however, even the North Pole with his companion Hjalmar Johansen and the very condensed version in the final part of this book a team of dogs. The most interesting part of this discussion is filled with amazing stories about constructing landing is the story of how Samoyed dogs were procured in Sibe- strips on ice islands in the Arctic, visiting Peary Land, and ria and transported to Khabarova on the shores of the Kara supervising the building of the research vessel Hero for Sea, where Nansen brought them onboard Fram. In the sec- work in the . ond account, readers learn about “Peary’s Dogs,” used dur- Spencer Apollonio has done an excellent job in compil- ing his six attempts to reach the North Pole between 1886 ing this book, and readers will enjoy both the book and the and 1908. accompanying DVD: I certainly did. In the book’s second section, “Dogs of the Antarctic,” the reader is introduced to the Norwegian-born Carsten Peter Schledermann Borchgrevink, leader of the first Antarctic expedition to use #312, 9919 Fourth Street sledge dogs and to overwinter on the continent. During the Sidney, British Columbia, Canada expedition, Borchgrevink and two companions, using dogs V8L 2Z6 and skis, reached 78˚50ʹ south. His achievements received [email protected] little attention in England—he was, after all, not British. As a further illustration of the British reluctance to use dogs on polar expeditions, the author presents us with “Scott’s RUN UNTIL DEAD: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE Dogs,” hardly the conveyance championed by Robert Fal- POLAR EXPEDITION DOG. By MARGET FLORIO. con Scott. The dogs used during the British National Ant- Mercersburg, Pennsylvania: The Polar Press, 2010. ISBN arctic Expedition should more appropriately be known as 978-1-4507-3550-6. 138 p., maps, b&w illus., sources, Meares’ Dogs, for the amazing character Cecil Meares, index. No price indicated. who was instructed by Scott to head to Eastern and purchase dogs and ponies for the expedition. The story of The reluctance of British explorers to use their dogs as Meares’ trials and tribulations getting the animals to New food for other dogs and expedition members was the excep- Zealand for embarkation to Antarctica and his further tion in the early days of . When Danish involvement with the march south is a worthy account on explorer Einar Mikkelsen visited England in 1905 to seek its own. funding for an expedition to the Beaufort Sea ice fields, In remarkable contrast follows the story of “Amundsen’s Queen Alexandra was initially receptive. But her enthusi- Dogs,” used during ’s successful quest asm for the project cooled considerably when she was told to reach the South Pole, beating Scott to the illusive point that, if necessary, the dogs would be on the menu. in the white wilderness by one month. Always the metic- In Run Until Dead, the author presents an ode to the ulous expedition planner, Amundsen relied on the dogs to expedition dog as a crucial component of the success- haul sleds and to be served up as food for other dogs and the ful or unsuccessful completion of numerous polar expedi- men along the way. The sole survivor among the dogs was tions. The book is divided into three main sections. In the “The Colonel” who was brought back to Norway by Oskar first, entitled “Dogs of the Arctic,” after a very abbreviated Wisting, one of the Pole party members. The second section description of the use of dog-drawn sleds for exploration concludes with descriptions of the dogs attached to Antarc- transport, the author provides the reader with a condensed tic expeditions led by Douglas Mawson, Ernest Shackle- version of 19th-century polar travels. It should be noted ton, , Richard Byrd, Robert Dover, and Vivian that most of these attempts to get to the North Pole or voy- Fuchs. age through the Northwest Passage were led by the British, REVIEWS • 239

During the Richard Byrd expeditions, dogs may not The book consists almost exclusively of transcrip- have been eaten, but their fate was far from secure. At the tions and translations of oral histories and stories told by end of Byrd’s first expedition, insufficient space on board a select group of Nelson Island people (listed on p. liii the expedition vessel necessitated the shooting of 17 dogs. and liv), without standard academic analysis. The original A far worse fate awaited dogs used during Byrd’s 1939–41 Yupik stories are transcribed on the lefthand pages of the United States Antarctic Service Expedition, when a hasty book and the English translations on the right. These sto- retreat by air from the base left no room for dogs. A tim- ries were collected during a three-week circumnavigation ing device linking three 50-pound cases of dynamite set in of Qaluyaat (Nelson Island), in sessions featuring hands- a triangle with the dogs staked down in the centre was set on experiential learning and oral history lessons. As Fie- to detonate following lift-off of the expedition members. nup-Riordan writes, “We did not set out to document place However, according to the author of this book, something names. Rather, the places, their names, and their stories apparently went wrong, because a visit to the site five years were what elders thought we needed to know” (p. xxx). later revealed dogs scattered about, some hastily shot and Through these transcriptions, place names and associ- some that had apparently escaped and subsequently starved ated stories emerge as an embedded and embodied collec- to death. tion of wisdom that includes metaphysical descriptions of The third section is a very brief afterword by the author, Raven; haunting stories of the non-human people, ircenr- entitled “A Salute to the Superdogs.” In light of the treat- raat; and insights into the changing patterns of subsist- ment of dogs during Admiral Byrd’s expeditions, it seems ence practices over time. From a non-Yupik perspective, to paradoxical that this final section is accompanied by the read through these histories is to be immersed in a complex photo of a memorial plaque dedicated by Admiral Byrd on and mysterious philosophy. Unlike many anthropological October 8, 1938 to “All Noble Dogs whose lives were given or linguistic texts on Alaska Native place names, Rearden on dog treks during the two expeditions to Little America, and Fienup-Riordan do not present a linguistic analysis or Antarctica to further science and discovery.” categorical taxonomy of the names. There is no summary A more encompassing work about the use of dogs during of what Yupik place names can tell us or analytic descrip- polar explorations could have been wished for. However, as tion of Yupik ways of knowing. Rather, the nuances of sto- the author remarks, this is a brief introduction to the sub- ries and the wisdom therein accumulate for readers as they ject and as such is a good addition to any polar exploration become accustomed to the pace, linguistic structure, and library. subject matter of the stories themselves. For a Yupik reader, these stories will no doubt present further nuances of mean- Peter Schledermann ing, depth, and detail. # 312, 9919 Fourth Street This book likewise represents an operational para- Sidney, British Columbia, Canada digm of anthropological research that is new, though it has V8L 2Z6 often received lip service: that is, a serious effort at the co- [email protected] creation of knowledge by academic researchers and Alaska Native research participants and communities. The research methods, presentation of content, and authorship, and pub- QALUYAARMIUNI NUNAMTENEK QANEMCIPUT OUR lication itself (by the Calista Elders Council), all speak to NELSON ISLAND STORIES: MEANINGS OF PLACE this partnership. In this way, this book provides an impor- ON THE BERING SEA COAST. Transcribed and tant example of how Alaska Native communities can take translated by ALICE REARDEN; edited by ANN FIENUP- the lead in research projects and how academic researchers RIORDAN. Seattle: Calista Elders Council in association can act as important facilitators for these projects. A great with the University of Washington Press, 2011. ISBN compliment to Fienup-Riordan, throughout this book, is her 978-0-295-99135-1. liv + 441 p., maps, b&w and colour ability to do what must have been significant amounts of illus. Softbound. US$50.00. work and then get out of the way. The audience for Our Nelson Island Stories, therefore, This edited collection of Nelson Island place names and is likely to be Nelson Island residents themselves, social stories is a contribution to the literature that is beautiful in scientists interested in place naming, subsistence use, and both content and form. The authors, editors, and storytell- mythology, and to a lesser extent, a general audience inter- ers present an important addition to the growing collection ested in Native Alaskan and Yupik history and worldview, of recorded Alaska Native wisdom, history, and geography as told by Yupik people. Geographers and natural scientists presented through place names and the stories associated will appreciate the detailed maps of place names and asso- with them. Moving through the landscape, the text offers ciated descriptions of landscape and subsistence practices. readers Yupik place names, each followed by descriptions Through some inference, a researcher could piece together of important events that transpired in that place, why the changes that have taken place over time in the landscape place received a particular name, and the significance of and in species availability. With some additional analy- that place for subsistence practices and traditions, as told by sis, this collection could be valuable as a contribution to Yupik elders and other Nelson Island residents.