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Lily H. Tuzroyluke Quotes

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Famous Lily H. Tuzroyluke Quotes

“On an idyllic summer day, we walked through the meadows and hillsides, sitting in circles, laughing and filling sacks of cottongrass, salmonberries, crowberries, cranberries, mountain alder, northern golden rod, and rose hip roots. We collected cloudberry tea and Labrador tea, and wild celery. The Elders walked together, laughing, talking of the old days when they would travel to the Messenger Feasts, across the channel to Siberia, or south to trade in Qikiqtaġruk. We’d mix a dessert of fresh berries and lard, whipping and whipping the lard until fluffy.”

Historical FictionArcticIndigenous PeoplesHealersInupiaqHealing PlantsMessenger FeastsQikiqtagrukTraditional MedicineTraditional Plants
Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor
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“In ancient times, at this shallow cove, the Koyukon attacked our people. The women fought alongside the men, running half-naked from their homes to show their courage. The Elders took the children into their umiaqs, fleeing to the sea. The Elders shielded the children’s eyes but could not shield their ears, and land went silent. The Elders and children buried the Inupiaq and Koyukon people side-by-side on the stilts of the whalebone, then they journeyed north to begin again.”

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Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor
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“My husband trudged up the ridge, stumbling, but determined. My children and I watched him until he disappeared over the ridge, out of view, vanishing into the abyss. It wasn’t an extraordinary day, not foggy, not stormy, or a bright day. It was grey and cloudy when a good man and a good father walked up to face death like our people have done for a millennia.”

DeathHistorical FictionDeath And DyingIndigenousAlaskaArcticNative American LiteratureInupiaqAlaska Native Literature
Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor
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“Below deck is suffocating, smelling of sweaty, spermy, unwashed armpits, unwashed groins, moldy wood, bilge water, and the green smell of algae, all congealed in thick streams. I’ve learned to sleep by breathing out of my mouth. On deck, we escape the bed bugs biting away at our skin, clicking cockroaches hiding in the shadows, and the rats gnawing away at every cask. I look forward to the cold sea air.”

Historical FictionIndigenousAlaskaArcticNative American LiteratureInupiaqAlaska Native LiteratureYankee WhalersNew Bedford
Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor
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“At the Galapagos Islands, the cook wanted fresh wild pigs. He said we needed fresh meat to last until San Francisco. We tried. We heard pigs squealing on the island, running, large leaves moving as they ran underneath the foliage. Merihim said we’ve no time. So, we killed two large turtles, the biggest I’ve ever seen. The cook dried and cured the meat into jerky.”

Historical FictionSan FranciscoIndigenousAlaskaArcticNative American LiteratureInupiaqAlaska Native LiteratureGalápagos Islands
Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor
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