From the Print Edition
“John Smelcer is Alaska’s modern day Jack London.”
—W. P. Kinsella, Field of Dreams
“A celebration of the diversity of cultures. Undeniably important!”
—James Michener, ALASKA
“This writer speaks from the land, and for the land, and the people who belong to it.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin
“John Smelcer is an Alaskan literary treasure.”
—Jay Hammond, former Governor of Alaska
“One of our best writers. Few people can afford not to have his writing in their library.”
—Denise Levertov
“A compelling voice, unforgettable and highly recommended.”
—Library Bookwatch
“A talented storyteller.”
—Tony Hillerman
Books by John Smelcer
Fiction
Lone Wolves
The Trap
The Great Death
Native Studies
The Raven and the Totem
A Cycle of Myths
In the Shadows of Mountains
Trickster
The Day That Cries Forever
Durable Breath
Native American Classics
We are the Land, We are the Sea
Poetry
The Indian Prophet
Songs from an Outcast
Riversong
Without Reservation
Beautiful Words
Tracks
Raven Speaks
Changing Seasons
Alaskan
Stories from the Great Land
John Smelcer
Leapfrog Press
Fredonia, New York
Alaskan © 2014 by John Smelcer
All rights reserved under International and
Pan-American Copyright Conventions
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a data base or other retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Cover art ©2014 by Larry Vienneau
eBook published in 2014 in the United States by
Leapfrog Press LLC
PO Box 505
Fredonia, NY 14063
www.leapfrogpress.com
Print edition originally published in 2011 by
Standing Stone Books, Syracuse, NY
Printed in the United States of America
Distributed in the United States by
Consortium Book Sales and Distribution
St. Paul, Minnesota 55114
www.cbsd.com
E-ISBN: 978-1-935248-69-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Information is available from the Library of Congress.
for Ted Stevens, Alaskan
Acknowledgements
Over the past quarter-century, many writers have helped shape these stories. The most important and most enduring is my longtime editor and father-figure, Bard Young. He is my harshest critic, and I love him for that. Every writer should have such a mentor. Also, I received a great deal of incite from Rod Clark. During my years as a Fellow at Binghamton University, Jamie Wriston-Colbert and Jack Vernon gave me useful advice on the craft of writing fiction. I’d also like to thank James Michener, James Dickey, Ursula K. LeGuin, Denise Levertov, John Updike, John Gardner, Saul Bellow, Bill Kinsella, Norman Mailer, James Welch, Ralph Ellison, Michael Dorris, Frank McCourt, Ray Bradbury, and J. D. Salinger. I’d also like to thank Larry Vienneau for the striking cover design.
Stories in this collection have appeared in the following periodicals: Aurora, Powder, Provincetown Arts, Pearl, Witness, Quick Fiction, Talkeetna Times, Fiction International, Rosebud, Buffalo Carp, Prairie Schooner, and Terminus.
Contents
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction to Alaskan
Sunday Drive
The Pond
Darkness
The Bear
The Mammoth Eaters
River’s Edge
The Awakening
The Death of Charley Secondchief
A Stroke Before Midnight
The White Hills of Denali
The Walrus Hunters
The Abduction of Lucy Secondchief
White Moon on Black Water
A Walk in the Wind
Willie Paniaq’s Secret
Solitary Man
New Year’s Resolution
The Ties That Bind
A Quiet Recess of Winter
The Lake
The Berry Pickers
The Lost Journal of the 1886-87 Swedish Polar Expedition to Alaska
Crash
The Boys Who Would Be Men
The Owl That Heard His Name
The Author
Introduction to Alaskan
This selection of stories represents almost thirty years of writing. Ronald Reagan was president when some of these stories first made their way onto paper. For me, the storytelling process began in the early-to-mid 1980s, when I was an undergraduate student majoring in anthropology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (my mother might say it began in the early ‘70s when I used to sit and write stories, some of which she kept). At the time, James Michener was prowling the university’s Rasmussen Library, researching for a historical nonfiction book about Alaska. Michener had a stark little office in the English Department, and I used to walk past it every day. Eventually, we struck up a conversation. For the rest of his residency, we spoke almost daily and lunched together often in the Wood Center, the university’s cavernous student union building. It was during those lunches that we brainstormed the title for his book-in-progress.