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I really wish the author and the publisher would once again put this selection back into print.
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The subject of Mr. Chisholm's book is his mother, and his love and respect for her shine through on every single page of this hauntingly written book. The fact that he devoted several years to his quest to learn about his mother's past is itself a remarkable undertaking. What he produced as a result of his travels and studies is a compelling look at a woman who wanted desperately to go "home," but was unable to do so. What makes Through Yup'ik Eyes so truly inspiring is that Mr. Chisholm did in fact find a way to take his mother home. Through his efforts, she was posthumously reunited with her relatives after so many painful years of being away.
We live in a changing world, and not the least of the changes are the new ways we are finding to define our identities. Mr. Chisholm succeeded in returning his mother to her beloved Alaska, but he also made a big stride in offering a definition of family. Rather than painting an entire group of people with one brush, what Mr. Chisholm offers is a deeply moving picture of one woman and her relationship to her son.
To create a story about a culture one only has glimpses of as one is growing up because of some silence or resistence that brought the parent to carry is, in and of itself, a very difficult task to bear. Colin Chisholm in blending reality and fiction into a heart-felt document, unfolds the silent stories of many children who, like his mother, were taken away during the tuberculosis and influenza epidemic that killed so many of the Yup'ik Eskimo people at the turn of the 2oth century. In one sense Colin's mother was fortunate to be able to live; whereas so many people such as my grandparents, were not -- who knew and possibly saw Mrs. Chisholm being taken away at such a tender age, never to be seen again. A sensitive topic written with respect about a culture the author only knows a little of is truly an honorable effort. I commend Mr. Chisholm in telling part of my Yup'ik history in a way that brings out the love, the struggles, and the determination to survive that Yup'ik people faced, and continue to face.
How brave and honorable it is to learn that Colin is able to track down the side of his family he doesn't know, and in a culture that is seldom recognized or heard of. The yearning for meaning about family and the love for a mother whom Colin Chisholm pursued ends up in a stronger family relationship. Colin's mother would be so proud of a son that bravely conquered family ties.
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The first half of the book is very comprehensive and is itself divided into basically two parts. Part "A" (6 chapters) covers ecotourism, Hawaii's natural history (including geography and climate), habitats, parks and preserves, getting around, environmental threats, conservation and how to use the book. Part "B" covers Hawaii's animals in just the right amount of detail (and in 6 more chapters). Each chapter explores a major animal group, such as "Amphibians and Reptiles," "Birds," "Mammals," etc. The chapters are well organized and they all include the same sections for each animal group. For example, the chapter on Mammals includes Mammals of Hawai`i, Characteristics of the Mammals, Family Profiles, and an "Environmental Close-up." Each of those sections then includes common subsections. It sounds tedious, but it actually works very well!
The second half of Beletsky's guide contains the color plates used for identifying all of the species described in the first half. They are beautifully done. Each animal has a brief description along with its names (common, Hawaiian and scientific), a habitat icon and a habitat description. There are also lots of interesting "factoids" in this guidebook.
One of the more interesting "environmental close-ups" is the one on spinner dolphins. They often travel with spotted dolphins and/or tuna in what is called a "mutualistic relationship" to protect themselves against sharks. Spinners feed during the night and spotteds feed during the day, so they trade off watching for sharks. They both like tuna schools around because the tuna are better than they are at sensing the presence of sharks; when the tuna take off, so do they!
While this is an excellent guidebook overall, I do have some complaints. The key to the habitat icons isn't anywhere near the color plates or in the index; it's way back on page 77 and very hard to find. Some of the sections are actually contributed by different people and I got tired of reading the same introductory comments about Hawaii's isolation and the evolution of endemic species over and over. The habitat pictures feel like they were just "thrown in" - they aren't captioned very well and they aren't matched to the habitat icons. The plant plates also feel "thrown in" - there isn't a matching chapter on plants in the first half of the book. Fixing those items would make it a "five out of five stars" book.