Two Old Women

I love this beautifully-told story with its bold message about believing in yourself and the power of forgiveness. This native Alaskan legend tells of two old women from long ago. When the tribe faces severe famine during a dangerously cold winter, they abandon the two old “useless” women with no food, leaving them to starve.

Now, the two old women must learn to believe in themselves and fight the elements to survive. They remember forgotten wisdom from their youth–how to make snares and find fish under the ice. They not only survive, but thrive. But once they do, their ultimate… show more.

This is a small gem of a book that I’ve had for years and have read multiple times.

It’s a retelling of an Athabaskan legend that has been passed from mother to daughter for generations on the upper Yukon River in Alaska. The old women of the title belonged to a large migratory tribe that was slowly starving to death in a bitter Arctic winter. The chief and his male council determined the tribe had a better chance of survival if it left the useless old women behind to die.

What happened next? Read the book. I know you’ll love… show more.

Officially billed as a “novel,” this sleeper hit by a Native Athabaskan author is based on a traditional legend told in the Upper Yukon Valley for generations.

The two Gwich’in women, left behind by the tribe during a winter famine in the brutal struggle for survival, are thrown back on their knowledge of the boreal forest and ancient woodcraft skills—trapping, building shelter, wayfinding, and fashioning clothes.

A strange beauty and serenity infuses this book and its heroines, and the tale brings back memories of my interviewing Alaska Native elders in northern communities as part of my anthropological fieldwork. Great to… show more.