Island Between

by Margaret E. Murie, Olaus J. Murie (Illustrator)

Island Between is a story from another time.  One day, a giant who had one foot in Siberia and one in Alaska threw a handful of rock and dirt into the water, and it remained there as an island between two great continents.  In this first-ever paperback edition, Margaret Murie weaves a tale of Eskimo life on Sevuokuk, known today as St. Lawrence Island.  Through the life of Toozak, a young man embarking on his first year as a hunter, the narrative traces the experience of the people of Sevuokuk through the yearly cycle that defined their lives.  The story is a lively tale of love, jealousy, struggles to overcome the difficulties of daily life, a retelling of ancient teaching stories and of first contact with strange, white-skinned people.

228 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1977

About the author

Margaret Thomas "Mardy" Murie (August 18, 1902 – October 19, 2003) was a naturalist, author, adventurer, and conservationist. Dubbed the "Grandmother of the Conservation Movement" by both the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society, she helped in the passage of the Wilderness Act, and was instrumental in creating the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She was the recipient of the Audubon Medal, the John Muir Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the highest civilian honor awarded by the United States.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Nola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know how Margaret Murie was able to research the lives of indigenous people on Saint Lawrence Island in such amazing detail. To know which part of which animal is used for each article of clothing and how ceremonies were conducted before and after hunting and for curing the sick is an extreme level of detail. All these details and many more are constructed into a fictional story that in and of itself is as page-turning as any fictional novel. The characters are likeable and the events of their lives are always interesting when not absolutely astounding. Margaret Murie is able to bring the beauty and respect in the lives of the people to life in this book. The part where alcohol first comes to the people is devastating and puts a face to a story that I have only heard before as numbers.