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Call Me Ishmael: Memories of an Inuvialuk Elder, by Ishmael Alunik, is a landmark book because it breaks through the wall of alienation and isolation for the Inuvialuit of the Western Arctic. Reading this book was for me an emotional experience; it aroused sadness and anger at the way my people, the Inuvialuit, have been treated by Canada. I became sad because our familial ties and access to the traditional stories, like those now shared by Ishmael Alunik, were severed for most of us at a tender age. I became angry as I read and reflected on Call Me Ishmael because I was reminded once again of the profound damage done by the residential school debacle.
The only way a minority literature can be treated as equal to mainstream literature is if serious critical attention is paid to its development. Thanks to Kolausok Ublaaq Enterprises of Inuvik, Alunik's publisher, and Inuktitut Magazine, the Inuit are reclaiming their community history and an individual identity.
The...