4 comments about Nunaga: Ten Years Among the Eskimos (History & Politics).

1. I've read several highly recomended books about Alaska and the North American Arctic, and Nunaga takes the cake. Pryde writes with compassion and honesty about his work as a fur trader in northern Canada, and his observations and insights are well drawn and articulate. I read this book with some sadness, knowing that the First Nations cultures he wrote about are all but gone, now. And the book took place barely fifty years ago! But his chronicles are worth it, a fast, fun and informative read. Don't be put off by the skanky hook on the back of some older paperbacks: they do this incredible work a shameful disservice.



2. Duncan Pryde, an orphan from Scotland was bored with his life as a factory worker and wanted to set out on an adventure. He saw an ad in the "Help Wanted" section that had been placed by the Hudson's Bay Company for a fur trader in Canada.
   
   This is the story of a young man who went to work in the Arctic and embraced the native way of life. He gained insights into the Eskimo culture that are rarely revealed to outsiders.
   
   I feel a real sense of gratitude that a man who had experienced a lifestyle that was soon to be lost forever was able to share it with the rest of the world.
   
   I originally bought a paperback edition but I read it so often that it fell apart. I had to get a hardcover replacement



3. Duncan Pryde gives us a story to connect with a culture that until only a generation ago was in the stone age. He reveals the traditions and taboos that effect the everyday life of the Inuit (Eskimo). From birth to marriage to death he covers it all. This book will enlighten whoever reads it. The story arranged in a cronological order which lends itself to enjoyable reading.



4. First of all, don't let the availability of this book daunt you. There are plenty of copies out there to be found by search.

   Pryde was a Hudson's Bay fur trader among the Inuit (Eskimos) of the Northwest Territories. He lived pretty much as they lived, did pretty much as they did, and assembled a lot of cultural, linguistic and handcraft lore about them. Also, worthy of note, he made friends in the process. He passed away in 1997, and the new territory of Nunavut posted a eulogy for him. This speaks strongly for the authenticity of his account; if he had not been truthful, the Inuit would hardly consider him a friend.

   Pryde is very frank about the basic details of life, from his sexual exploits with Inuit women to common myths about the Arctic which he takes pleasure in refuting. However, for an interesting account of what Pryde neglects to tell you about his actions in the timeframe of _Nunaga_, check out the excellent _Going to Extremes_ by James McGinniss, who ran into Pryde in Barrow, Alaska.

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