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Quote by James Dommek Jr.

“People tend to misspell my English name, but they 100% of the time misspell my Inupiaq name: ??Milukruk??. It means: Warrior Who Pulls Arrows Out of Own Body and Fires Back at Enemy. I’m messing with you. It means Breast-feeding Mama’s Boy.”

Quote by James Dommek Jr.

Book:Midnight Son

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James Dommek Jr.

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“In ancient times, when the world was cold, prosperous, and flourishing, it was a birthing place for our people. Newly married couples traveled to the cove, spending their first days as husband and wife. It is where love began.”

Love Love Quotes Historical Fiction Alaska Arctic Ancestors Indigenous Peoples Inupiaq Birthing Place

Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor

Source: Sivulliq: Ancestor

“Instead, I think of my husband hunting in the foothills surrounded by fog, walking on tawny rocks and smoky green lichen, like we did in our early days of marriage when we wandered in the country on our dog sled, unrushed, unhurried, filled, and content.”

Indigenous Arctic Ancestors Indigenous Peoples Inupiaq

Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor

Source: Sivulliq: Ancestor

“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.”

Historical Fiction Indigenous Alaska Arctic Ancestors Indigenous Peoples Inupiaq Whalebone Bowhead Koyukon

Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor

Source: Sivulliq: Ancestor

“This is how our people face death. We walk to the tundra, underneath the sky, and we face death by ourselves. Even the Elders, old, feeble, and minds like children, somehow, they know when the time is near. I suppose I’ll know when it is time.”

Death Historical Fiction Death And Dying Indigenous Alaska Arctic Native American Literature Inupiaq Alaska Native Literature

Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor

Source: Sivulliq: Ancestor

“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.”

Death Historical Fiction Death And Dying Indigenous Alaska Arctic Native American Literature Inupiaq Alaska Native Literature

Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor

Source: Sivulliq: Ancestor

“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 Fiction Indigenous Alaska Arctic Native American Literature Inupiaq Alaska Native Literature Yankee Whalers New Bedford

Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor

Source: Sivulliq: Ancestor

“We’re splicing rope today. Yesterday we cleaned out the trypots, the pots for boiling whale blubber, dry as an old maid in heat, Remigio says.”

Historical Fiction Indigenous Alaska Arctic Native American Literature Inupiaq Alaska Native Literature Yankee Whalers Commercial Whaling

Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor

Source: Sivulliq: Ancestor

“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.”

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Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor

Source: Sivulliq: Ancestor

“Gerald and I saw the Azore Islands, Talcahuano, Tumbez, San Francisco, and Nome from afar while the captain and officers rowed to shore for fresh food and fresh whalers. Even at Nome, not two days ago, Gerald and I watched the Alaskan town from the ship. We saw Talcahuano at night, the town alive with lights and torches. We heard music across the water. People celebrated an event on shore. We thought it might be a wedding. We imagined walking the clay, brick roads, ordering crabs and clams near the sea, sampling the local exotic fruits and plants growing in their vibrant colors and prickly skins, and of course, seducing the dark- skinned indigenous women emanating macadamia oil, musk, and leafy air. Merihim laughed at our children’s eyes and said to act like men, not like guttersnipes at a bakery window.”

Indigenous Alaska Arctic Native American Literature Inupiaq Nome Alaska Native Literature Azore Islands Guttersnipes

Book:Sivulliq: Ancestor

Source: Sivulliq: Ancestor

“In the world of Habits, the little things count. Sure, we all dream of those big, life-altering transformations, but let's be real: Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither are habits. So why not start small? Instead of aiming for the moon right off the bat, start with something as simple as making your bed in the morning. Before you know it, you'll be crushing your goals with ease, all thanks to those pint-sized power moves.”

Habit Productivity Consistency Personalgrowth Healthylifestyle Selfdiscipline Goodhabits Dailyroutine Habitformation Positivehabits

Author:Life is Positive