Make Prayers to the Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest

By Richard K. Nelson

Book Overview

A powerful account of the deep connection between the Koyukon people of western Alaska and the natural world that sustains them

A blending of ethnography, personal reflections, and natural history, Make Prayers to the Raven is a moving account of the Koyukon people of western Alaska, who follow a traditional lifeway of hunting, trapping, and fishing in remote villages scattered across the boreal forest. Intimacy with nature is the foundation of their existence, and they have accumulated a masterly knowledge of their environment. The Koyukon hunter moves through a watchful forest, kills with humility and respect, and treats his catch as a being filled with power.

In Make Prayers to the Raven, Nelson describes, from a Koyukon point of view, elements of the earth, sky, and atmosphere of the boreal forest, as well as the significant plants and animals. He retells their origins in the dreamlike Distant Time, their spirit powers, their behavior and personality, and the rules dictating their proper treatment by men and women. Make Prayers to the Raven leads the reader to an appreciation of the power and substantiality of Koyukon beliefs, and it serves the Koyukon people themselves by educating others about their way of life and by providing the Koyukon with a means of passing on traditional knowledge to their children.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226571637
• ISBN13: 9780226571638
• Release Date: June 1986
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating

Nelson's work is so absolutely excellent. His sentence and paragraph structure are so easy to flow with that I think he could make just about anything interesting. Often anthropologies are dry or are just this side of being believable....as is the case in some books about adventures among far-flung populations. Nelson is so thorough in his describing of myth, language and native understandings which engage the reader's imagination. He's an incredible writer-just as good as those fiction writers who are touted as being great artists in the New York Times Book Review that comes out with the Sunday edition. His writings are well grounded and there is nothing New Age or simplistic in his portrayals of the natural world or indigenous peoples in this case. I find his realism refreshingly accurate and precise when alot of what appears on his same subjects are vague emotional tomes that can be finished in an afternoon and promptly forgotten. If his name appears as author on any written work, read it!!

Seeing Alaska

As an anthropologist trained in Alaska, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand something more of what they see in Alaska than they can get from a tour guide. It will enhance your sensitivity to the power and mystery of Alaska and you'll see more than you would have if you hadn't read it.

Anthropology and Humility

A fresh direction for anthropological study that is from the "inside." The author lives "among" the people and learns from them, taking pains to distinguish the influence of "western" cultural values. The relationship between this "outsider" and the people who recieve him among them should be the model for all such explorations.

Excellent source of information on the Koyukon of Alaska

I really enjoyed Nelson's book and found it helpful in my research on the Koyukon people. This is ed in specifics. Nelson presents a sensitive and unbiased ethnography that is well written and enjoyable to read.